Make Your Own Movies: A Guide to the Craft of Film Making

A guide to making movies at home with whatever equipment you have, learning the basics of cinematographic and storytelling techniques.

Filmmaking, we are told in the introduction, is the ＂reverse engineering of dreams... a spell that brings dreams and visions to life.＂ In this ultimate guide to introductory filmmaking, the author, an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker who teaches acting, directing, writing, and editing at the New York Film Academy, provides readers with the bare bones information they need to help them get started making movies with whatever equipment they already have at hand. Essentially a book about craft, in straightforward layman’s terms, the author explains the different stages in the filmmaking process, shedding light on storytelling methods for a visual medium. Readers learn what makes a good story and, through detailed examples and useful diagrams, how to construct a narrative in a compelling way, in addition to being introduced to such aspects of filmmaking as types of shots, directing actors on a set, choosing locations, lighting, linear and non-linear editing, and sound effects. A comprehensive primer on the craft of filmmaking, the book is ideal for amateur filmmakers, film students, film lovers, hobbyists, and anyone else interested in making movies and bringing their cinematic dreams and visions to life.

Miguel Parga has been in the film industry for since 1997. Working for ABC Network News, he won an Emmy, a DuPont, and a Peabody Award for excellence in journalism. As a writer in Los Angeles, he worked on over 20 feature-length scripts and has also directed 21 short films, some of which have appeared in festivals throughout the world. Since 2007, he has taught at the New York Film Academy, and was the director at the Harvard University and Mumbai summer programs. His filmmaking book, What They Didn’t Teach You in Film School, was published in 2019 by Ilex, translated to Spanish by Hoaki. Miguel is a member of the Directors Guild of America.