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Rebel Without a Crew, or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker with $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player
In Rebel Without a Crew, famed independent screenwriter and director Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Sin City 2, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Spy Kids) discloses all the unique strategies and original techniques he used to make his remarkable debut film, El Mariachi, on a shoestring budget. This is both one man's remarkable story and an essential guide for anyone who has a celluloid story to tell and the dreams and determination to see it through. Part production diary, part how-to manual, Rodriguez unveils how he was able to make his influential first film on only a $7,000 budget. Also included is the appendix, 'The Ten Minute Film Course,” a tell-all on how to save thousands of dollars on film school and teach yourself the ropes of film production, directing, and screenwriting.
285 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1995
About the author
Robert Rodríguez
94 books64 followersRobert Anthony Rodriguez is an American director, writer, producer, cinematographer, editor and musician perhaps best known for making profitable, crowd-pleasing independent and studio films with fairly low budgets and fast schedules by Hollywood standards. He shoots and produces many of his films in Texas and Mexico.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 345 reviews
April 1, 2008
now that i'm a month from earning my bachelor's degree in film production here's how i would do it if i were to do it all over again:
1. take out a student loan, but use it to buy a camera instead of classes.
2. get the super maxed out netflix subscription that allows for 10 dvd's at a time. start from the silents and watch every important film anyone ever mentioned (and some bad ones for balance)
3. purchase 'rebel without a crew'. read it in two hours (it really is a fast read) and follow every word of advice rodriquez lays out. which essentially is to watch some movies, buy a camera, and get out there and shoot some movies.
his book is a quick read, to the point and more importantly it is incredibly useful information for any aspiring filmmaker. he broke all the rules, did everything his own way and still became a well-paid and better yet well respected filmmaker (that's if we don't count spy kids 3D or once upon a time in mexico).
even those who don't make movies, but like to watch the behind the scenes docs on the DVD extras will get a kick out of his smart-ass tone and rebel style.
1. take out a student loan, but use it to buy a camera instead of classes.
2. get the super maxed out netflix subscription that allows for 10 dvd's at a time. start from the silents and watch every important film anyone ever mentioned (and some bad ones for balance)
3. purchase 'rebel without a crew'. read it in two hours (it really is a fast read) and follow every word of advice rodriquez lays out. which essentially is to watch some movies, buy a camera, and get out there and shoot some movies.
his book is a quick read, to the point and more importantly it is incredibly useful information for any aspiring filmmaker. he broke all the rules, did everything his own way and still became a well-paid and better yet well respected filmmaker (that's if we don't count spy kids 3D or once upon a time in mexico).
even those who don't make movies, but like to watch the behind the scenes docs on the DVD extras will get a kick out of his smart-ass tone and rebel style.
March 15, 2022
I was one of those people who was really taken by El Mariachi when I first saw it in the nineties. I actually much preferred it to its big budget remake, Desperado. Although it was clear to me straight away that the original had been low budget, to begin with I hadn’t realised it had initially been made for the astonishingly low sum of $7,000, albeit that Columbia Pictures spent considerably more on sprucing up the cinema version.
This book relates the remarkable story of the making of El Mariachi, as told through a diary kept by Rodriguez at the time. He wanted to be a filmmaker and decided the best way to learn was to make his own film, doing all the filming and production himself. He aimed to sell it to the Mexican home video market, hopefully for about $25,000, although he would have taken an offer of $10K. That’s where he set his budget - any less and he was in danger of losing money. He raised $3K for the film by volunteering for a month as a lab rat at a drug test facility. Whilst there, he made friends with another volunteer called Peter Marquardt, and persuaded him to play the part of the crime boss “Moco”. The character was meant to be an American who spoke bad Spanish, but Marquardt didn’t speak any Spanish at all. In one scene, Marquardt is seated and speaking into a phone held in his right hand but has his left hand cupped, as he was reading his lines from there. He is wearing sunglasses to hide the fact he is looking down to read. Rodriguez says Marquardt felt bad about doing the scene like that, but Rodriguez told him not to worry as only about 5 people would ever watch the movie.
I found the stories of improvisation in making the film to be the most entertaining part of the book. Rodriguez did his filming in Ciudad Acuña, on the Mexican side of the Coahuila-Texas border, and he benefited from the “relaxed” attitude of local law enforcement. The reference below to “Carlos” is to the lead actor, Carlos Gallardo.
"Carlos asked the Chief there at the jail if they have any machine guns. The Chief opened the drawer to his desk and there was a Mac-10. In another drawer was the extension barrel. We asked if we could shoot it outside with our blanks. They came outside with us and we shot a few blanks. Carlos said that we can get permission from the mayor to borrow a few guns, as long as the cops are around when we use them. Cool."
I don’t know about the US, but if you were an independent film maker in the UK, you would be as likely to travel to Mars as persuade the Police to let you borrow submachine guns.
The second part of the main text covers how the film got noticed by several big studios, and how Rodriguez eventually signed a deal with Columbia Pictures. Originally the plan had been just for him to remake the film with a proper budget, and Columbia bought the rights to the original just so they had control of that. Eventually though they decided to release El Mariachi itself. Rodriguez was mystified at this decision, describing the film as “my blow-off Spanish home video mexploitation flick”, and thought people would laugh at it.
There’s quite a lot of technical stuff in the second part, which would be of more interest to film makers. Because it’s a diary, there’s also quite a lot of banal information about what Rodriguez had for dinner, and so on. The book ends with a couple of appendices, one of which has the original script for the film.
It’s fairly clear from the book that Rodriguez has a high opinion of his abilities. Then again, he wouldn’t have made it in the film industry otherwise. A decent read for anyone interested in that industry or for those who, like myself, are just fans of El Mariachi.
This book relates the remarkable story of the making of El Mariachi, as told through a diary kept by Rodriguez at the time. He wanted to be a filmmaker and decided the best way to learn was to make his own film, doing all the filming and production himself. He aimed to sell it to the Mexican home video market, hopefully for about $25,000, although he would have taken an offer of $10K. That’s where he set his budget - any less and he was in danger of losing money. He raised $3K for the film by volunteering for a month as a lab rat at a drug test facility. Whilst there, he made friends with another volunteer called Peter Marquardt, and persuaded him to play the part of the crime boss “Moco”. The character was meant to be an American who spoke bad Spanish, but Marquardt didn’t speak any Spanish at all. In one scene, Marquardt is seated and speaking into a phone held in his right hand but has his left hand cupped, as he was reading his lines from there. He is wearing sunglasses to hide the fact he is looking down to read. Rodriguez says Marquardt felt bad about doing the scene like that, but Rodriguez told him not to worry as only about 5 people would ever watch the movie.
I found the stories of improvisation in making the film to be the most entertaining part of the book. Rodriguez did his filming in Ciudad Acuña, on the Mexican side of the Coahuila-Texas border, and he benefited from the “relaxed” attitude of local law enforcement. The reference below to “Carlos” is to the lead actor, Carlos Gallardo.
"Carlos asked the Chief there at the jail if they have any machine guns. The Chief opened the drawer to his desk and there was a Mac-10. In another drawer was the extension barrel. We asked if we could shoot it outside with our blanks. They came outside with us and we shot a few blanks. Carlos said that we can get permission from the mayor to borrow a few guns, as long as the cops are around when we use them. Cool."
I don’t know about the US, but if you were an independent film maker in the UK, you would be as likely to travel to Mars as persuade the Police to let you borrow submachine guns.
The second part of the main text covers how the film got noticed by several big studios, and how Rodriguez eventually signed a deal with Columbia Pictures. Originally the plan had been just for him to remake the film with a proper budget, and Columbia bought the rights to the original just so they had control of that. Eventually though they decided to release El Mariachi itself. Rodriguez was mystified at this decision, describing the film as “my blow-off Spanish home video mexploitation flick”, and thought people would laugh at it.
There’s quite a lot of technical stuff in the second part, which would be of more interest to film makers. Because it’s a diary, there’s also quite a lot of banal information about what Rodriguez had for dinner, and so on. The book ends with a couple of appendices, one of which has the original script for the film.
It’s fairly clear from the book that Rodriguez has a high opinion of his abilities. Then again, he wouldn’t have made it in the film industry otherwise. A decent read for anyone interested in that industry or for those who, like myself, are just fans of El Mariachi.
December 26, 2022
Probably one of the best books I’ve read on the process of filmmaking, or ever will. And it’s inspiring on a whole different level at the same time, you can understand how much this man loves making movies, to what extent he is willing to go, both physically and psychologically, to achieve whatever he wants to, and also how he doesn’t give a f*ck about conventions or budget-constraints. El Mariachi was already one of my favourite movies of the genre, yet I found it a bit difficult to explain to someone why I liked it so much. It’s the movement. Kind of inspired by Kurosawa, but still. Very few action movies of this scale or genre are so energetic or chaotic.
Rodriguez is also a much, much better writer than he gives himself credit for.
Rodriguez is also a much, much better writer than he gives himself credit for.
December 6, 2016
There are fans of Roberto Rodriguez and there are detractors. The latter will point to Spy Kids (even if their kids love watching them) and Once Upon a Time in the West as proof that he sold out years ago. Personally to them I would point out Sin City (both 1 and 2) as proof that his ability to create visual effects that look like they are straight out of his vivid imagination is hard to surpass. This book of course talks about the legendary filming of El Mariachi which made Roberto a man with a reputation to contend with fellow UT film school friends Richard Linkletter (Boyhood!!! and A Waking Life) and the universally acclaimed Quentin Tarantino). The story of selling his own plasma and robbing dozens of McDonalds for their ketchup packets and filming a full-length movie for an astoundingly tiny budget of $7000 are the stuff of film legend - particularly for this renegede who loves to be involve in every piece of production end-to-end. This is a great read and again putting aside the controversy about what came later (even if one has a hard time stifling a laugh during even the most grotesque scenes of From Dusk to Dawn or Planet Terror or Machete), no one can deny Rodriguez' particular genius that led him from broke visionary to Hollywood insider based mostly on this book and this initial film.
November 16, 2021
definitely fun & inspiring. what's happened to him since? rolling in dough & chillin'?...
December 12, 2012
This is probably the most inspiring film I've read on going out and just making a film. Rodriguez doesn't want to hear your excuses: if you have access to a camera, ANY kind of camera, there's no reason why you can't go out and make a film. My favorite insight in this book is early on regarding screenplays. Basically, he says that everyone has to write a bunch of crappy screenplays until they get good at it; likewise, everyone has to make a bunch of crappy films until they get good at it. His decision was brilliant: as soon as your write your first crappy screenplay, film it as cheaply as possible, that way you start getting both out of the way. I love the "learn by doing" approach, and the fact that not having a tripod and just having a shaky, hand-held camera actually works well if you're doing an action film, since it makes the scenes more lively than if you kept the camera still. The wheeling and dealing stuff near the end of the diary got kind of repetitive, but it's a fantastic book and a must for film fans.
May 15, 2023
the holy bible of guerrilla filmmaking. still holds up due to the fact that it demystifies the process and supercharges the battery in your back as a filmmaker.
inspiration juice.
a book that holds a special place in my heart, and always will.
inspiration juice.
a book that holds a special place in my heart, and always will.
November 9, 2022
this is like if tony robbins marketed to cinephiles
July 17, 2009
I think I would give this book 2.5 stars really. Rodriguez definitely knows how to craft a story, whether it is in a film or this book laid out in diary form. It moves quickly, like the movie he describes making, but sometimes he goes a little too quickly, especially once he becomes enamored with Hollywood (he protests he isn't, but I think what he tells us about really shows that he is). One of the most frustrating parts is when Rodriguez tells us that Quentin Tarentino gives him some writing advice that really helps him, but doesn't tell US what it is.
But overall, if you can get past the gloss of a self-marketing whiz afraid to tell the details (this book is all forest and few if any trees), the book is fun. It's not going to help you make your own movie on the cheap, but it very likely will motivate you to want to. And that's a start.
But overall, if you can get past the gloss of a self-marketing whiz afraid to tell the details (this book is all forest and few if any trees), the book is fun. It's not going to help you make your own movie on the cheap, but it very likely will motivate you to want to. And that's a start.
June 13, 2018
8/10
Kesinlikle çok keyifli bir günlük.
Sinema ile ilgilenen herkesin mutlaka okuması gerek. Özellikle sektörün işleyişi hakkında gerçekçi bilgiler mevcut. Şahsen Robert Rodriguez'e saygım arttı.
Kitabın sonundaki On Dakikalık Film Okulu bölümü de çok faydalı ve kitabın bir özeti niteliğinde. "Aslında çok zor değil" diyor Rodriguez, "herkes film çekebilir" yeter ki çok isteyin ve filme dair her sorumluluğu siz üstlenin.
Kesinlikle çok keyifli bir günlük.
Sinema ile ilgilenen herkesin mutlaka okuması gerek. Özellikle sektörün işleyişi hakkında gerçekçi bilgiler mevcut. Şahsen Robert Rodriguez'e saygım arttı.
Kitabın sonundaki On Dakikalık Film Okulu bölümü de çok faydalı ve kitabın bir özeti niteliğinde. "Aslında çok zor değil" diyor Rodriguez, "herkes film çekebilir" yeter ki çok isteyin ve filme dair her sorumluluğu siz üstlenin.
May 31, 2017
Brilliant. An amazing, creative, get it done story. Rodriguez is the man and an inspiration. It's impossible to read this and not feel creatively charged and challenged.
June 18, 2022
I originally bought this for an independent study in literature and film I did last year, but I only just got around to reading it through. Robert Rodriguez is certainly not the best director when it comes to impactful and meaningful films, but this book is a great look into how he made his first film. It’s meant to serve as inspiration for beginner filmmakers to simply go out and make movies, and it definitely achieves its goal. It intentionally stays away from “industry advice,” or how to make movies with any sort of budget or crew, which is a good mindset for any beginner filmmaker without any budget or crew. However, a considerable chunk of the book is devoted to the film festival circuit and the industry deals, which is a bit less inspirational/educational and more just somewhat entertaining.
July 13, 2018
the most important & useful thing you need to be a filmmaker is "experience in movies" ,as opposed to "movie experience"...
and what is a movie, anyway? a completely creative endeavor. Anything you can do to get away from the things that aren't important,the better chance you have of being truly creative...
There's a million different ways to achieve the same result, so find what works for you & DO IT !!!!!
and what is a movie, anyway? a completely creative endeavor. Anything you can do to get away from the things that aren't important,the better chance you have of being truly creative...
There's a million different ways to achieve the same result, so find what works for you & DO IT !!!!!
February 6, 2020
I can't believe it took me this long to get around to reading - this was ridiculously inspiring, even for someone whose made several films. The advice is a bit dated, but aspiring filmmakers should have this on their must-read list.
March 22, 2018
Interesantísima crónica de como se gestó y tuvo lugar el rodaje de El mariachi, además de todo lo que ocurrió luego. Es una lectura interesante porque Rodríguez la cuenta de primera mano, sin artificios, como si estuvieramos leyendo directamente su diario personal, casi sin filtros. Es honesto y sincero y su intención lo es más: meterte el gusanillo de lanzarte a rodar tu primera película de bajo presupuesto, tal y como él hizo con El mariachi. Imprescindible si uno quiere lanzarse de cabeza en lo de rodar películas y necesita alguien que le anime, especialmente para aquellos que no podemos gastarnos un dineral en ello.
November 28, 2021
Aspiring film makers who have made movies with smartphones probably have Rodriguez as an inspiration. He loves to talk about movie making and his dvd commentaries on El Mariachi and Desperado were basically classes on how to make movies with little to no money. This book are those commentaries in written form. Inspiring, honest and eye opening.
May 1, 2015
In 1991, Robert Rodriguez was just another film fanatic who wanted to make his own feature-length movie. Unlike the bulk of people in the same situation, he actually did something about it - volunteering himself for medical trials to raise the funds, being his own crew, sorting out his cast and location and actually making a film. Then his $7,000 movie, intended as a test-run to be sold to Spanish-language direct-to-video, was picked up by Columbia Pictures and Rodriguez became “a Hollywood Player”. I remember reading about him in Premiere at the time (though it was long after this that I got a chance to see the film - in fact, I think I saw “Desperado” first) and being impressed both with his attitude and his story. When I was in London recently, on the Crusty Exterior get-together, I found the book in Skoobs and picked it up and I’m glad I did. A diary, from 8th March 1991 (the start of the project) to 26th February 1993 (as the film opens wide), this follows the “El Mariachi” saga all the way through - we experience the highs, lows and great fun of shooting, the frenzy from the studios and what happened next. Rodriguez is a good guide to the whole thing, as amazed as anyone - though full of self-belief - and not quite able to believe his luck (but constantly thinking about how he can help his large family with the funds he suddenly has access too). It helps that he has a great approach and knows his stuff (and what he doesn’t, he’s more than willing to learn) and has clearly put the work in (his previous short films had won various awards at film festivals). The Hollywood experience is dazzling - he’s unsure about his “little” movie being on the big screen (“It’s not that I fear failure. I just fear failure in front of other people.”) - and absurd at times, though the roots of his on-going friendship with Quentin Tarantino are clearly shown, as both film-makers approach each other with mutual respect. The book also includes “The Ten Minute Film School” (a sort-of ‘call to arms’ that could apply to someone working in any of the creatives fields, that’s really quite galvanising) and the full screenplay to “El Mariachi”, with some amusing annotations. Funny, well told (though a bit of judicious copy editing wouldn’t have gone amiss) and thoroughly enthralling, this is a great read for anyone creative who’s ever had a dream. Highly recommended.
Read
July 4, 2023Read in 2 days. Cool quick read. Informative. Read-scare anytime Harvey Weinstein’s name came up shich is only like 2-3 times lol. Haven’t seen any of his movies in a while. Probably should check them out to see if his style actually works
December 8, 2015
Robert Rodriguez is a fine example for what can be accomplished with a bit of talent and work ethic. This book is actually his published journal from the time he spent making his first feature-length film, El Mariachi.
It's a fascinating account of how one guy can make something happen. It's the whole "if you want something done right you have to do it yourself" thing. For those who don't know, El Mariachi was shot for just seven thousand dollars. How was he able to keep it so cheap? He pretty much did everything himself. He wrote the script while donating his body to science testing drugs. It was from these tests that he got the initial capital to begin filming. He acted not only as director but also as cinematographer, lighting crew, sound crew, ADR guy, subtitler, catering, etc. etc. You name it, he did. It's incredible.
The book then goes into detail about how El Mariachi blew up popularity and the enormous amount of work it took to take it from 16mm film to large screen format.
This isn't the standard "making of" account. If you need inspiration to get your own creative project off the ground, then you should probably check this out to spark your drive.
It's a fascinating account of how one guy can make something happen. It's the whole "if you want something done right you have to do it yourself" thing. For those who don't know, El Mariachi was shot for just seven thousand dollars. How was he able to keep it so cheap? He pretty much did everything himself. He wrote the script while donating his body to science testing drugs. It was from these tests that he got the initial capital to begin filming. He acted not only as director but also as cinematographer, lighting crew, sound crew, ADR guy, subtitler, catering, etc. etc. You name it, he did. It's incredible.
The book then goes into detail about how El Mariachi blew up popularity and the enormous amount of work it took to take it from 16mm film to large screen format.
This isn't the standard "making of" account. If you need inspiration to get your own creative project off the ground, then you should probably check this out to spark your drive.
September 5, 2017
Not sure why I didn't review this when I finished a couple months ago. As a fan of the Desperado movies it was fun to get this behind the scenes story. It was an easy read and a good story. Unlike many readers I'm not a film student so all that didn't carry as much fascination to me.
It's a classic Horatio Alger - rags to riches story - through hard work and unflagging focus on a goal he gets the big dream, happy ending. I liked the "read-my -journal" format and this speaks to the value of journaling if nothing else. You can see Robert crafting his own narrative in the background as he goes through the journey. I don't buy all the "aww-shucks-poor-country-boy" stuff. He knew what he wanted. He worked tirelessly and sacrificed for it.
It's a great example of a growth mindset in action.
The American Dream.
Chris Russell - September 2017
It's a classic Horatio Alger - rags to riches story - through hard work and unflagging focus on a goal he gets the big dream, happy ending. I liked the "read-my -journal" format and this speaks to the value of journaling if nothing else. You can see Robert crafting his own narrative in the background as he goes through the journey. I don't buy all the "aww-shucks-poor-country-boy" stuff. He knew what he wanted. He worked tirelessly and sacrificed for it.
It's a great example of a growth mindset in action.
The American Dream.
Chris Russell - September 2017
July 22, 2021
Film school told Rodriguez to become a production assistant and learn filmmaking from the bottom up and eventually if things broke right, you could make movies too. I'm sure that works for some. John Singleton did it that way. Rodriguez’s rebellion was deciding the best way to make movies was to make movies. He planned to make a movie for the Mexican home video market as cheaply as possible, but he’d shoot on 16mm film rather than video so that it would have greater production values. The actors would be volunteers. He would be the entire crew. The goal was to sell the film for enough to make his next one. He would do this until he made a trilogy of movies and would have enough experience and a reel to pitch Hollywood. The conventional wisdom said it wouldn’t work and he heard a bunch of naysayers tell him that. But he had seen those Mexican videos and he knew he could beat them. He was risking $10,000, on himself and making it necessary to succeed.
Having just read David Mamet’s book on directing movies, there is some interesting overlap. Both believe it’s constraint that leads to creativity. Mamet gives himself the constraint of using fewer words, and Rodriguez was constrained of having no money. You could conclude that Hollywood films are hampered by their endless budgets. Don’t know what to do on page 78? Blow something expensive up. Hollywood movies look better and better and they are less connected back to the human experience.
One of the attributes of this book is its diary form. Rodriguez chronicles the process of writing the movie, making the movie, and pitching the movie all by a day-to-day reckoning. You get the process, the conflicts, the doubt, the confidence, and the amazement that things went differently than planned.
Quotes from the book that appreciate having no crew:
“On the Taxi Driver disc Scorcese said something funny; he said that shooting a movie is a horrible experience. All day long people ask you questions questions questions, all day long, what do you want to eat? what color should this hat be? etc. That's why shooting Mariachi was so much fun!”
“I flew out to LA for the final dub. We found out that our foley editor has been doing a bum job. There is a lot of stuff that was cut way out of sync. I got really pissed off. You have to do everything yourself in this town. Pathetic. No wonder movies are getting worse and worse while the costs get higher and higher.”
In college, I read Syd Field who came up as a script reader in Hollywood. He read a lot of garbage, but he probably also read some decent stuff that he discarded because it didn’t follow his 3 Act concept of filmmaking. Rodriguez seemed to find his 3 Acts by accident. By doing every scene more or less the same 3 times with different outcomes, he had fewer setups and he could shoot in less time.
The book as a whole reminded me of the debate in the 1990s about funding or defunding the National Endowment for the Arts. The argument was framed by the idea that the arts could not exist without government subsidy. The liberals supported funding of the kinds of things the public wouldn’t choose to pay for as individuals. The conservative’s opposition was that art should represent mainstream values. Bill Buckley suggested art that was over 50 years old could be subsidized so that people could get more Shakespeare or Beethoven, but no Mapplethorpe. An outlying argument I heard was that Van Gogh did not need government assistance to create art. Van Gogh created art because his soul demanded he create art, even when he had no market to sell it. This is what Rodriguez did with El Mariachi. Art for art’s sake. I made short movies with my VHS camcorder in high school too, but I wouldn’t have thrown $7,000 at it. I probably understood that I would never get that 7K back and I valued the money more than I needed the art.
Personal Notes:
When I went to college to study radio, TV, and film, I was disappointed that there was very little opportunity to innovate, although it gave us experience editing on ¾ tape. The degree required we work 3 semesters on a practicum television show that aired on the local PBS. 30 minutes every week of education news. EDUCATION!?!? Boring. My pal Kevin and I tried to spice is up by adding our little quirks into our personal packages. These were met with the producer chopping us up and meetings with our faculty advisers. I was never going to make it in the news business if I kept this up. I didn’t want anything to do with the news business. The one thing that kept me from getting horrible grades was the producer telling the faculty that my audio quality was the only one he didn’t have to fix on the final master. They hadn’t taught anyone else to mix the audio by watching the meters on the U-matic decks. I somehow taught myself that.
After trying us on straight news for a few weeks they moved us both to the college sports beat which we liked better. Eventually they stopped assigning us our own packages and we both given to older female reporters to be their shooter/editors. It was a smart move on their part. It not only split us up, they thought we would be better behaved around pretty girls. My reporter later became an anchor in Sacramento.
I took the mischievousness to corporate video where we learned that Vice Presidents liked humor more than HR. We just had to figure out how to get our humor directly to the executives before the authorities could intervene. Sometimes we could do so directly, by not finishing the edit until right before the VP saw it with HR. They didn’t dare change what a VP already approved. Other times we had to use satire or faint sarcasm to get our humor across. Those were our constraints and they were easier to overcome in the private sector than in the world of academic freedom.
Having just read David Mamet’s book on directing movies, there is some interesting overlap. Both believe it’s constraint that leads to creativity. Mamet gives himself the constraint of using fewer words, and Rodriguez was constrained of having no money. You could conclude that Hollywood films are hampered by their endless budgets. Don’t know what to do on page 78? Blow something expensive up. Hollywood movies look better and better and they are less connected back to the human experience.
One of the attributes of this book is its diary form. Rodriguez chronicles the process of writing the movie, making the movie, and pitching the movie all by a day-to-day reckoning. You get the process, the conflicts, the doubt, the confidence, and the amazement that things went differently than planned.
Quotes from the book that appreciate having no crew:
“On the Taxi Driver disc Scorcese said something funny; he said that shooting a movie is a horrible experience. All day long people ask you questions questions questions, all day long, what do you want to eat? what color should this hat be? etc. That's why shooting Mariachi was so much fun!”
“I flew out to LA for the final dub. We found out that our foley editor has been doing a bum job. There is a lot of stuff that was cut way out of sync. I got really pissed off. You have to do everything yourself in this town. Pathetic. No wonder movies are getting worse and worse while the costs get higher and higher.”
In college, I read Syd Field who came up as a script reader in Hollywood. He read a lot of garbage, but he probably also read some decent stuff that he discarded because it didn’t follow his 3 Act concept of filmmaking. Rodriguez seemed to find his 3 Acts by accident. By doing every scene more or less the same 3 times with different outcomes, he had fewer setups and he could shoot in less time.
The book as a whole reminded me of the debate in the 1990s about funding or defunding the National Endowment for the Arts. The argument was framed by the idea that the arts could not exist without government subsidy. The liberals supported funding of the kinds of things the public wouldn’t choose to pay for as individuals. The conservative’s opposition was that art should represent mainstream values. Bill Buckley suggested art that was over 50 years old could be subsidized so that people could get more Shakespeare or Beethoven, but no Mapplethorpe. An outlying argument I heard was that Van Gogh did not need government assistance to create art. Van Gogh created art because his soul demanded he create art, even when he had no market to sell it. This is what Rodriguez did with El Mariachi. Art for art’s sake. I made short movies with my VHS camcorder in high school too, but I wouldn’t have thrown $7,000 at it. I probably understood that I would never get that 7K back and I valued the money more than I needed the art.
Personal Notes:
When I went to college to study radio, TV, and film, I was disappointed that there was very little opportunity to innovate, although it gave us experience editing on ¾ tape. The degree required we work 3 semesters on a practicum television show that aired on the local PBS. 30 minutes every week of education news. EDUCATION!?!? Boring. My pal Kevin and I tried to spice is up by adding our little quirks into our personal packages. These were met with the producer chopping us up and meetings with our faculty advisers. I was never going to make it in the news business if I kept this up. I didn’t want anything to do with the news business. The one thing that kept me from getting horrible grades was the producer telling the faculty that my audio quality was the only one he didn’t have to fix on the final master. They hadn’t taught anyone else to mix the audio by watching the meters on the U-matic decks. I somehow taught myself that.
After trying us on straight news for a few weeks they moved us both to the college sports beat which we liked better. Eventually they stopped assigning us our own packages and we both given to older female reporters to be their shooter/editors. It was a smart move on their part. It not only split us up, they thought we would be better behaved around pretty girls. My reporter later became an anchor in Sacramento.
I took the mischievousness to corporate video where we learned that Vice Presidents liked humor more than HR. We just had to figure out how to get our humor directly to the executives before the authorities could intervene. Sometimes we could do so directly, by not finishing the edit until right before the VP saw it with HR. They didn’t dare change what a VP already approved. Other times we had to use satire or faint sarcasm to get our humor across. Those were our constraints and they were easier to overcome in the private sector than in the world of academic freedom.
November 30, 2014
As a film school graduate and independent Chicago film lover, this book really inspired me to keep going and forget Hollywood. I wish I would have read it BEFORE I went to film school but that's just too long and boring of a story.
Robert Rodriguez shares his journal entries as his first feature film "El Mariachi" kicks ass from LA to Toronto, putting him on the map of important filmmakers. He is real, honest and funny. I loved everything about this book and have much respect for the man. Highly recommended for do-it-yourself filmmakers and for anyone that thinks you have to be in Hollywood to make it. Bravo Mr. Rodriguez!! <3
Robert Rodriguez shares his journal entries as his first feature film "El Mariachi" kicks ass from LA to Toronto, putting him on the map of important filmmakers. He is real, honest and funny. I loved everything about this book and have much respect for the man. Highly recommended for do-it-yourself filmmakers and for anyone that thinks you have to be in Hollywood to make it. Bravo Mr. Rodriguez!! <3
April 25, 2018
TLDR: Be a workaholic genius and you, too, can have success in Hollywood.
February 1, 2020
Для таких солидных ребят, как "Манн, Иванов и Фербер" довольно заметные косяки в переводе. В событиях 1993 года фигурирует взрыв Всемирного торгового центра, это что за пиздец?
October 1, 2019
Say what you will about Robert Rodriguez, but you cannot deny the man has come into his own as a true 'one man crew'. The versatile director of films like 'From Dusk till Dawn', 'Spy Kids', 'Sin City' (co-directed with Frank Miller) and more recently 'Alita: Battle Angel', the man truly knows how to make a movie fun and memorable, and can do most of everything on his own.
So it only seems right that he gets to depict his own enjoyable, if somewhat flawed, rendition of his rags-to-riches tale about making his first feature length film, 'El Mariachi'. (I would like to note that I haven't seen the film itself, which may or may not have hindered my opinion)
Told in a diary format, which is how he wrote the inspiring story, he comes across as likable and friendly, and details his times getting funding through as a lab rat and finding distribution for his completed film. It is all interesting in some way, but I find the most interesting parts are about the making of the film; personally, I felt that Rodriguez should have spent more time talking about making the film and less on trying to get it released. Part of the problem is that the formatting doesn't allow for a well-structured story. It goes from skimping over some things and then spending too much time on others, particularly in the middle. At best, Rodriguez is kind and insightful; at worst, he drones on about things that slows the pace down. It tends to hinder his great tale rather than enhance it.
Despite the muddled structure, the book's saving graces are, surprisingly or perhaps not so surprisingly, when Rodriguez talks about how to bring creativity to your movies and even shows us his original screenplay for 'El Mariachi'. I found myself thinking of ways to make movies that I either never knew or needed to re-learn, and like Stephen King before him, Rodriguez encourages his readers to go out and make what they want and how to work around problems, some of which he points out in the screenplay section.
His inspiring and helpful comments that focus on spending as little money as possible yet still creating something worthwhile were fantastic to take in and it never seems like he is being arrogant or forceful, but rather tells us in a way that can help us be the best at our creative endeavours.
The story, although inspiring and fun to read, is altogether riddled with structural flaws and slow pacing; the filmmaking instructions and screenplay, however, allow us to see what he went through to make his movies and his work ethics. An inspiring story, of course, but a better filmmaking book than an autobiography.
So it only seems right that he gets to depict his own enjoyable, if somewhat flawed, rendition of his rags-to-riches tale about making his first feature length film, 'El Mariachi'. (I would like to note that I haven't seen the film itself, which may or may not have hindered my opinion)
Told in a diary format, which is how he wrote the inspiring story, he comes across as likable and friendly, and details his times getting funding through as a lab rat and finding distribution for his completed film. It is all interesting in some way, but I find the most interesting parts are about the making of the film; personally, I felt that Rodriguez should have spent more time talking about making the film and less on trying to get it released. Part of the problem is that the formatting doesn't allow for a well-structured story. It goes from skimping over some things and then spending too much time on others, particularly in the middle. At best, Rodriguez is kind and insightful; at worst, he drones on about things that slows the pace down. It tends to hinder his great tale rather than enhance it.
Despite the muddled structure, the book's saving graces are, surprisingly or perhaps not so surprisingly, when Rodriguez talks about how to bring creativity to your movies and even shows us his original screenplay for 'El Mariachi'. I found myself thinking of ways to make movies that I either never knew or needed to re-learn, and like Stephen King before him, Rodriguez encourages his readers to go out and make what they want and how to work around problems, some of which he points out in the screenplay section.
His inspiring and helpful comments that focus on spending as little money as possible yet still creating something worthwhile were fantastic to take in and it never seems like he is being arrogant or forceful, but rather tells us in a way that can help us be the best at our creative endeavours.
The story, although inspiring and fun to read, is altogether riddled with structural flaws and slow pacing; the filmmaking instructions and screenplay, however, allow us to see what he went through to make his movies and his work ethics. An inspiring story, of course, but a better filmmaking book than an autobiography.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 22, 2018
Hoe makkelijk is het eigenlijk om een film te maken? In 1991, toen het avontuur van Robert Rodriguez begon, was het nog best een technisch gedoe. Je had nog fysieke film nodig, die je kon kopen in de winkel, om iets op te nemen, laat staan een videocamera zelf. Zelfs op dat moment stelt hij al de vraag aan de lezers: waar wacht je nog op? Dit is supermakkelijk. Je moet het gewoon doen!
Dan leven we nu in een tijdperk waarbij we zelfs zonder na te denken films maken. Denk aan Vine, dat platform waar je zes seconde video's op kon zetten, gemaakt met je mobiel. Waar vond je dat? Op je mobiel. Op het internet! Wat zijn we ver gekomen in die tijd. Nu maken filmmakers zoals Sean Baker en Steven Soderbergh met hun iPhone de beste films. De vraag is alleen maar scherper geworden: waar wacht je nog op?!
Inspirerend is het om te lezen hoe zo iemand begon die echt niemand voorstelde. Voor zijn doorbraak, wat wel erg uitgebreid in het boek naar voren komt, zien we wat zijn plan was en hoe hij het wilde bereiken. Als 23-jarige (nog maar een jaar ouder dan ik!) had hij met verschillende korte films zoveel ervaring opgebouwd, dat hij realistisch en zelfverzekerd kon zeggen: ik kan dit. En hij deed het gewoon.
Het valt wel op dat ik me veel afvraag waarom je nog niet begint. Het is eigenlijk een vraag die rechtstreeks aan mij gesteld moet worden. Ik wil namelijk filmmaker worden en de enige manier om daar te komen is om het te doen. Ik verdiep me in het scenarioschrijven. Ik bekijk alle technieken om te filmen. Ik volg Journalistiek om de inhoud te verrijken. En toch sta ik nog steeds met een lachwekkend cv te kijken van de zijlijn.
Eerlijk is eerlijk: Rebel Without A Crew heeft mij zeker geïnspireerd om te zeggen: fuck it, ik begin gewoon. Het ging bij mij helaas niet verder dan het hardop denken. Als je dit nu leest en je hebt zo'n zelfde idee, wees dan alsjeblieft niet bang om iets te gaan maken, zoals ik dat wel ben, en ga ervoor. Maar als je even dit boek leest, heb je volgens mij mijn motivatie helemaal niet meer nodig.
De film El Mariachi kijken tussen het lezen door is trouwens een aanrader. Heb je een beetje beter beeld wat voor talent deze gast heeft - of is het simpele praktijkervaring? ;)
Dan leven we nu in een tijdperk waarbij we zelfs zonder na te denken films maken. Denk aan Vine, dat platform waar je zes seconde video's op kon zetten, gemaakt met je mobiel. Waar vond je dat? Op je mobiel. Op het internet! Wat zijn we ver gekomen in die tijd. Nu maken filmmakers zoals Sean Baker en Steven Soderbergh met hun iPhone de beste films. De vraag is alleen maar scherper geworden: waar wacht je nog op?!
Inspirerend is het om te lezen hoe zo iemand begon die echt niemand voorstelde. Voor zijn doorbraak, wat wel erg uitgebreid in het boek naar voren komt, zien we wat zijn plan was en hoe hij het wilde bereiken. Als 23-jarige (nog maar een jaar ouder dan ik!) had hij met verschillende korte films zoveel ervaring opgebouwd, dat hij realistisch en zelfverzekerd kon zeggen: ik kan dit. En hij deed het gewoon.
Het valt wel op dat ik me veel afvraag waarom je nog niet begint. Het is eigenlijk een vraag die rechtstreeks aan mij gesteld moet worden. Ik wil namelijk filmmaker worden en de enige manier om daar te komen is om het te doen. Ik verdiep me in het scenarioschrijven. Ik bekijk alle technieken om te filmen. Ik volg Journalistiek om de inhoud te verrijken. En toch sta ik nog steeds met een lachwekkend cv te kijken van de zijlijn.
Eerlijk is eerlijk: Rebel Without A Crew heeft mij zeker geïnspireerd om te zeggen: fuck it, ik begin gewoon. Het ging bij mij helaas niet verder dan het hardop denken. Als je dit nu leest en je hebt zo'n zelfde idee, wees dan alsjeblieft niet bang om iets te gaan maken, zoals ik dat wel ben, en ga ervoor. Maar als je even dit boek leest, heb je volgens mij mijn motivatie helemaal niet meer nodig.
De film El Mariachi kijken tussen het lezen door is trouwens een aanrader. Heb je een beetje beter beeld wat voor talent deze gast heeft - of is het simpele praktijkervaring? ;)
January 31, 2021
4.5/5
I can't believe how lucky we are that Robert Rodriguez decided to keep a diary(apparently it's a regular habit of his), and that we have a book like this in our hands. This was a thoroughly fun and inspiring read. You can't help but get inspired after reading it. Robert's story is such a legendary one. While the first half of the book explores the making of the film, and the attempts of selling it and getting it distributed, the second half walks us through the success, and the fame that Robert finds after he gets so many incredible deals and settling on one with Columbia. Surprisingly enough, this second half of the book stood out to me as much as the first one. Robert's story is so incredible and surreal, I felt that I lived his experience as I was reading the book. It's crazy how things took off for him and how El Mariachi found such huge success and love from Hollywood producers, film-festivals and audiences
This book really has it all. It'll inspire you to go out there and make films. It gives such a good insight of what Hollywood was in the early 90s(it tells you about what goes through behind the scenes of getting a film sold) and it has this legendary story of Robert Rodriguez that almost feels like fiction. The way his path crosses those of the likes of Richard Linklater(who's also from Texas, and studied at UT) and Quentin Tarantino(who eventually becomes a really good and close friend of Robert) is so satisfactory to any film buff out there. I gasped and screamed a lot while reading this book and learning about his stories through El Mariachi.
I'm really glad I read this at this point in time, right where I'm about to start writing my first full script. I'm so inspired by Robert's dedication and creativity that we see through this book. It is also so heartwarming seeing how he tries to reach out to as many beginner filmmakers as possible to encourage them to make their own films no matter what. He's been through what it's like to feel that the dream is impossible and unattainable and he's trying his best to change that crippling mindset for many hidden, yet to be discovered filmmakers.
I can't believe how lucky we are that Robert Rodriguez decided to keep a diary(apparently it's a regular habit of his), and that we have a book like this in our hands. This was a thoroughly fun and inspiring read. You can't help but get inspired after reading it. Robert's story is such a legendary one. While the first half of the book explores the making of the film, and the attempts of selling it and getting it distributed, the second half walks us through the success, and the fame that Robert finds after he gets so many incredible deals and settling on one with Columbia. Surprisingly enough, this second half of the book stood out to me as much as the first one. Robert's story is so incredible and surreal, I felt that I lived his experience as I was reading the book. It's crazy how things took off for him and how El Mariachi found such huge success and love from Hollywood producers, film-festivals and audiences
This book really has it all. It'll inspire you to go out there and make films. It gives such a good insight of what Hollywood was in the early 90s(it tells you about what goes through behind the scenes of getting a film sold) and it has this legendary story of Robert Rodriguez that almost feels like fiction. The way his path crosses those of the likes of Richard Linklater(who's also from Texas, and studied at UT) and Quentin Tarantino(who eventually becomes a really good and close friend of Robert) is so satisfactory to any film buff out there. I gasped and screamed a lot while reading this book and learning about his stories through El Mariachi.
I'm really glad I read this at this point in time, right where I'm about to start writing my first full script. I'm so inspired by Robert's dedication and creativity that we see through this book. It is also so heartwarming seeing how he tries to reach out to as many beginner filmmakers as possible to encourage them to make their own films no matter what. He's been through what it's like to feel that the dream is impossible and unattainable and he's trying his best to change that crippling mindset for many hidden, yet to be discovered filmmakers.
February 2, 2021
El Mariachi came out in 1993. Desperado came out in 1995, From Dusk Till Dawn in 1996, The Faculty in 1998... I watched them all, and on VHS. As a teenager, I loved movies, and I loved books. And yet somehow I'm only now getting to Rodriguez's book that was published more than twenty-five years ago.
Reading this reminded me of how I pretty much inhaled movies from Neighborhood Video (just down the block) and Blockbuster (where I started working in 1996 or 1997). But reading this was humbling too, because while I loved moves then (and still do), it never occurred to me to get involved in making them. Reading what Rodriguez did (and documented) as a twenty-three-year-old boggled my mind. The initiative, the self-confidence, the creativity, the dedication. I thought I loved movies, but I just loved watching them. Reading this book made me miss watching anything and everything, good and bad.
I've always liked Rodriguez's movies, for the most part, even (and maybe especially) the "bad" ones. But after reading this, I have a new appreciation of him as a person and not just a director. He's so much more, and even now, aspiring filmmakers should read this.
Reading this reminded me of how I pretty much inhaled movies from Neighborhood Video (just down the block) and Blockbuster (where I started working in 1996 or 1997). But reading this was humbling too, because while I loved moves then (and still do), it never occurred to me to get involved in making them. Reading what Rodriguez did (and documented) as a twenty-three-year-old boggled my mind. The initiative, the self-confidence, the creativity, the dedication. I thought I loved movies, but I just loved watching them. Reading this book made me miss watching anything and everything, good and bad.
I've always liked Rodriguez's movies, for the most part, even (and maybe especially) the "bad" ones. But after reading this, I have a new appreciation of him as a person and not just a director. He's so much more, and even now, aspiring filmmakers should read this.
June 26, 2020
برشی از کتاب:
پس میخواهی فیلمساز بشی؟ قدم اول، از گفتن اینکه قراره فیلمساز بشی دست بکش. من هم همین کار رو انجام دادم، به همه اعلام کردم که من فیلمسازم و با چهرهای مصمم در مسیری که میخواستم قدم برداشتم. ولی حقیقت اینه «من از روزی که چشمهام رو بستم و خودم رو در حال فیلم ساختن تصور کردم فیلمسازم». بقیه ماجرا خود به خود درست شد. پس شما قرار نیست فیلمساز بشی، تو فیلمساز هستی. برای خودت یک کارت ویزیت درست کن.
...
یک اثر الهامبخش که همانند سینمای رودریگوئز هیجان چاشنی اصلی آن شدهاست. خواندن این کتاب تنها قرائت تجربیات فنی و حرفهای این فیلمساز نبوده و بیشتر به مطالعه جستارهایی در باب تولید یک اثر سینمایی -و میتوان گفت هنری- شبیه است.
در انتها ممنونم از لطف شاهد شفیعی، مترجم این اثر به فارسی که افتخار و لذت اولین قرایت نسخه ترجمه شده این کتاب را به بنده حقیر سپرد.
پس میخواهی فیلمساز بشی؟ قدم اول، از گفتن اینکه قراره فیلمساز بشی دست بکش. من هم همین کار رو انجام دادم، به همه اعلام کردم که من فیلمسازم و با چهرهای مصمم در مسیری که میخواستم قدم برداشتم. ولی حقیقت اینه «من از روزی که چشمهام رو بستم و خودم رو در حال فیلم ساختن تصور کردم فیلمسازم». بقیه ماجرا خود به خود درست شد. پس شما قرار نیست فیلمساز بشی، تو فیلمساز هستی. برای خودت یک کارت ویزیت درست کن.
...
یک اثر الهامبخش که همانند سینمای رودریگوئز هیجان چاشنی اصلی آن شدهاست. خواندن این کتاب تنها قرائت تجربیات فنی و حرفهای این فیلمساز نبوده و بیشتر به مطالعه جستارهایی در باب تولید یک اثر سینمایی -و میتوان گفت هنری- شبیه است.
در انتها ممنونم از لطف شاهد شفیعی، مترجم این اثر به فارسی که افتخار و لذت اولین قرایت نسخه ترجمه شده این کتاب را به بنده حقیر سپرد.
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