Thursday, August 09, 2007

Ain’t mates great?

Sometime back in March it was Buy A Friend A Book week, and my blogmate Karen was kind enough to give me a gift voucher for Amazon.co.uk

At that time, shortly after my birthday, I had a few books that I had yet to get around to reading. Birthday gifts some, but also some Christmas ones. Hell, who am I kidding? I've got books from years ago that I've never got around to...

Anyway, bottom line is, I didn't want to rush out and buy the first thing that came into my head only to have it sitting there doing nothing. I wanted to pick the appropriate gift. And I wanted to pick something as close as possible to the value of the voucher, so that Karen bought me a whole book.

The book I eventually bought, just a couple of weeks ago, was Digital Film-Making by Mike Figgis, director of Leaving Las Vegas and Internal Affairs and one of the biggest proponents of DV in Hollywood.

What a book! I couldn't put it down. For about a week it felt as though I was superglued to that book. In a good way. And it's small enough to carry with you wherever you go. If you are interested in low- and no-budget film-making, this book is an essential purchase. It will now take pride of place on my bookshelf alongside that other low-budget film-making bible, Robert Rodriguez's Rebel Without A Crew.

So, thanks Karen, for buying a friend a book. Sorry it took so long for me to redeem your voucher, but I hope you know it was worth the wait!

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14 Comments:

Blogger Glamourpuss said...

Cool. Seen Timecode? Hailed as the future of digital cinema on it's release. I found it quite a challenging watch, but in a good way.

Puss

09 August, 2007 12:37  
Blogger * (asterisk) said...

It's on its way from Lovefilm right now! I'm kinda looking forward to it, have been for a while, but especially since reading the book.

09 August, 2007 12:41  
Blogger Karen said...

Yay! What a great present! I'm so glad that you waited and found something you really really wanted. And it sounds like an interesting book. My work here is done.

09 August, 2007 12:53  
Blogger Lucy Dee said...

I'm the same way about redeeming vouchers or gift cards. Whatever you purchase has to be perfect. Because now you have no excuse if you hate the item purchased. You chose it! So I say, take your time.

It's funny. In the middle of reading your post, I was just about to suggest to you the Robert Rodriguez book. But you already had it!

I'm a standup comedienne on the other side of the pond, with aspirations toward filmmaking. I chose comedy because it's a quicker medium (over film) with which to get your work out there.

Nice blog! I'm going to have to check back often!

09 August, 2007 12:58  
Blogger Shea said...

well hell...I better read it. I read Rebel Without a Crew though.

09 August, 2007 13:29  
Blogger Milla said...

That's a very nice review. I'll try and order it as an ILL from the British Library if they have it, just for fun.

09 August, 2007 13:31  
Blogger * (asterisk) said...

Karen: Yeah!

Lucy: Hi, and welcome. But with YouTube there's every opportunity to get your comedy to the masses via the gift of video, too. Combine and conquer!

Shea: Yeah, you better!

Milla: What's ILL?

09 August, 2007 14:44  
Blogger Avid Andy said...

i didn't even know there was a "buy a friend a book week." digital film making sounds interesting...cool cover too.

09 August, 2007 16:24  
Blogger Suze said...

A very useful book it could be a interesting read for us as we have just started to produce video footage. :)

09 August, 2007 20:05  
Blogger Martha Elaine Belden said...

buy a friend a book week?? where was i? i love books... buying books... reading books... everything about books. if this happens again, let me know.

and i'm glad you found such a wonderful read! i just told my filmmaker friend about both books you mention here... so thanks for the suggestions :)

09 August, 2007 21:03  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeah Karen, Yeah Asterisk!!! I am crap at redeeming things. I recently found a CHECK from work that I forgot to cash, a couple target gift cards and I still have the dance lesson package from my 35th birthday and spa package again from my 35th bday all unused. I'm sure there are more, I just haven't quite found where I put them yet.

09 August, 2007 23:15  
Blogger * (asterisk) said...

Avid A: Who knew, right? Well, Karen did, that's who!

Suze: I'm sure it would come in handy for you guys.

Martha: I'll keep you posted. Glad to be of assistance.

RefPo: That's so bad, isn't it? It's why I hate giving vouchers, gift cards, etc. They are so easily overlooked, forgotten about, left in old wallets, purses, etc. Have a good hunt around and make sure you use any that are still valid!

10 August, 2007 09:55  
Blogger Milla said...

Sorry *Aste, ILL means Inter-Library Loan. Nothing glamorous ah?

10 August, 2007 10:11  
Blogger Candy Minx said...

I'm going to go pick this up today...you've really sold this book *, !!!

11 August, 2007 14:16  

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