Rebel without a Crew: Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker With $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player Paperback – Illustrated, September 1, 1996

Not because he's a great writer or director, but because with every single project he makes me feel like I can DO this. I can make good movies that people will enjoy watching. And you can, too.This is one of the most inspiring books on filmmaking I've ever read--it depicts, in detail, all the ups and downs that went into making and selling EL MARIACHI, the $7000 sensation that opened doors for Rodriguez.A lot of filmmakers argue that EL MARIACHI isn't a great film, that the story's kind of silly, that the version that most of us saw had $500,000 worth of post-production work added, and on and on.But they're talking about it. It's 2003 and people are still talking about the amazing feat Rodriguez pulled off with this film. For $7000 of his own money, plus a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears, he got himself noticed and made a career out of his hobby. "Do what you love, then find someone who will pay you to do it."This is a how-to manual for the basement movie-maker, written by a man who is excited about using movies to tell his stories: in this book, in the commentary tracks for his movies, in his Ten-Minute Film School installments, I have never once felt like Robert Rodriguez was bored with either his work or his achievements. The guy has fun, and his personality gets its fingerprints all over his work--if you can't enjoy yourself while watching a Rodriguez movie, you're expecting too much and thinking too hard.This guy is not changing the face of American cinema: he wants all of US to change the face of American cinema, and this book is an open invitation to do just that.Devour Rodriguez. Consume this book and engorge yourself on his DVDs. Chow down on special features on how he did it that also show YOU how to do it. If, after a week-long diet of Robert Rodriguez, you DON'T want to make your own movie IMMEDIATELY, seek a different destiny: making movies is not for you.

As has been mentioned, this is a memoir about how Robert Rodriguez made his film "El Mariachi". I just finished it and was thoroughly fascinated by it. This is not a technical manual (although there is plenty of technical knowledge and "pearls of wisdom" to be gleaned from it) so much as it is a motivational book. It is also a book about seeing a project through to its completion, regardless of the obstacles that may come up. It is written in a day to day format and tells how he came up with the concept, the unusual methods of funding that he came up with to make the film, the obstacles that he had to overcome, and how he pulled off a feature length film for $7000 that was eventually bought by a major Hollywood studio.If you are tired of technical books, I highly recommend Rebel Without a Crew. But first, I recommend renting "El Mariachi" and watching it. Its a good action movie, better than some of his later films such as "Desperado" and "From Dusk Till Dawn". As Rodriguez discusses some of the shots, you will be able to visualize these scenes and see why he had to film them the way he did. I found it to be an entertaining and educational read.As I mentioned, this is not a technical manual. It is not written in a "how to" format, so to speak. But he does go into detail about how and why he shot many scenes the way he did, how he came up with props and locations, how he cast roles, paced the movie, and how he sold it. I believe that any aspiring indie filmmaker will find ideas that he can apply to his own film making.

Rodriguez, much like many independent filmmakers, entered the cinema world with a movie that cost not even a skirmish of a typical Hollywood blockbuster. To make the movie, Rodriguez used his own money (a piddling $7,000) by participating in a experimental clinical drug testing and even veto some of the seemingly inexpensive movie tools (slate) to keep the costs down. The result was "El Mariachi", the movie that launched his career and showed that with a little creativity, anyone could make it in the business.No matter what your opinion on the movie is (which is very good, in my opinion), you cannot deny that "Rebel Without a Crew" is a fantastic read. Rodriguez depicts the making of the film and then its subsequent celebration at film festivals in chronological order, breaking them down into dates like a diary. In the process, he shows what he did to keep the costs down and used a variety of techniques to make a movie look like a million bucks, such as using a ladder instead of crane for crane shots, a wheelchair for a dolly a la Godard or using a sound effects track on a VHS camera. It's also important to note that Rodriguez shot this whole film with only one camera and not a single crew member on the set. He was also 23 years old, two years younger than Orson Welles was when he made "Citizen Kane". This is a rags-to-riches story straight out of "Cinderella" and yet it's true. The book is so gripping that it would make an excellent movie. That's how good it is.This book is extremely entertaining, but it's also very informative and refreshingly without prejudice towards Hollywood. When reading this book, you get a complete understanding of what it takes to get not only your movie made but also sold, distributed and promoted. Rodriguez gets to meet or contact with many of premier directors at that time, most notably Jonathan Demme, Richard Linklater and, of course, his future war buddy Quentin Tarantino. As the movie becomes more successful, Rodriguez achieves critical recognition, winning numerous awards and successfully entering the mainstream with films like "Desperado" and, after the book's release, "The Faculty" and "From Dusk Til' Dawn". In the end, Rodriguez had done the near impossible: he became an independent filmmaker that succeeded in Hollywood without losing his roots.The icing in the cake, however, is the astonishing "Ten-Minute Film School", one of the book's final appendixes that details how you could make a movie without the need of a million dollars or even ten THOUSAND dollars. Rodriguez argues that using your smarts to overcome financial barriers, rather than being expensive, can turn a bad little movie into a great little movie. In the end, he offers encouragement for aspiring directors to keep their passions strong and following them will lead you to enormous fulfillment. Amen to that, hombre."Rebel Without a Crew" is one of the best books about making movies ever conceived, a tonic to the costly film schools and programs that promise you many and deliver little. At the same time, it's also a great underdog story of how a certain nobody used his brains and wit to achieve the impossible and become a success story - all for a mere seven grand. Engrossing, insightful and endlessly engaging, "Rebel Without a Crew" belongs in every movie lover's collection. Don't even think of making movies without buying this book first.Strongest recommendation to buy.