Includes bibliographical references and index.

Learn the vocabulary of film
Learn the language of the set
Pick your ten best shots
What is a shot, anyway?
If it's not in the shot, it doesn't matter
Stories don't have to be linear : consider creative ways to warp time
Don't leave money on the editing room floor : size matters
Don't underestimate the power of a single line
Move the walls, not the trucks : building a set gives you total control
Know your way around the marketplace as well as the palace
Great cinematographers are worth their weight in gold
Seal the deal with a great operator
Shoot on a low floor
Shoot in flat light
Unless the sun plays a role in the film
The color palette is critical
Move into your car
The strip board is the Rosetta Stone of filmmaking
What should be in your back pocket when you show up on set
Face the realities of the budget : even fifty million won't seem like enough
Fifty-three shooting days
now what? : how to schedule a movie
Shoot a short day
Blocking is overlooked and undervalued
The background action : how to keep it real and why to get it right
Matching for continuity : why it's critical
Working between the sheets : the only thing "hot" is the lights
The wisdom of the unrehearsed scene
The actors don't always have to be in frame
Consider stealing some shots
A film is a work in progress
Expensive toys aren't always worth the money
Don't use a flamethrower when a match will do
Forget about the monitor
Move the camera : they invented the dolly for a reason
Then let it stand still : virtues of the static camera
The absolute brilliance of the single master shot
Assume nothing
Night work : know when the suffering is worth it
Earth, wind, and rain : you can't ignore the fundamental elements
Fire and brimstone : full-body burns and the impossible shot
The set has a chemistry : big egos, big money, big art
Magic hour, magic moments
But it's not all autographs and sunglasses
"Poor man's process" : consider ways to go "cheap"
Sweat the small stuff
routinely
Filmmaking is always about both the art and the money
Or is it? : The auteur filmmaker versus the gun for hire
If you're not in a union, you probably won't get to work on a feature film
Hire the best crew : the teamsters matter
Always have a nice lunch

Film production veteran Tom Reilly has worked on motion picture sets for more than three decades. Here, he explores the art and the craft of filmmaking from the vantage point of someone actually running the movie set. Using examples unlike those in other books on film, Reilly exposes not only the power and the personalities, but the secrets of the pros. He shares the insights he gleaned while working with more than sixty Oscar-winning professionals--from Woody Allen, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and Vanessa Redgrave to Sydney Pollack, Sven Nykvist, and Barbra Streisand. In these fifty entertaining, illuminating short essays, Reilly answers such questions as: What is it like to shoot a love scene? How do you do a full body burn? What is it like to film in the Everglades or in a morgue? How do you decide when to build a set? And many more.--From publisher description