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We do not normally carry advertising but this is special.  Tony Shapps of the Widescreen Centre, a long time supporter of amateur movie making and regular writer in our own magazine, has been working on a longer piece.  In his own words he explains: "I have laboured long and hard... burning the midnight oil!". "And why?" you may well ask. Because of you, dear readers! But let's go back to the beginning ...

Some years ago we, The Widescreen Centre, commissioned Ivan Watson (probably the greatest and most erudite writer on movie making ever) to put down - in his own words - a practical guide to the art of film making. Why Ivan? Because he was a man who not only had the experience as a long-time film critic - having viewed thousands of films of all types in that occupation - but also had the know-how to explain simply and succinctly 'how to do it'.

As a journalist of the first order, he was a man who could take the first page of the London telephone directory and make it sound interesting. All you had to do was to follow Ivan's golden 'Rules for Movie Making' and you were virtually guaranteed results. Results that avoided you boring the pants of your audiences.

But, alas, we ran out of copies and had, reluctantly, decided not to reprint when we were met with a demand from you, you, and you out there. "Please can we have a copy of Ivan Watson's book?" you said. And so...at last we gave in...and decided to reprint.

And therein was the problem.

Ivan's book was super (in fact he was the man who actually named Kodak's film baby 'Super'-8 in the first place), but technology - as we all know - has moved on a pace in the last ten or fifteen years. So it fell to 'yours truly' to go though, chapter by chapter, page by page, paragraph by paragraph, and update it WITHOUT CHANGING THE BASIC COMMON SENSE CONTENT one iota.

I hope that I have achieved this, and that you'll enjoy reading the words of the master once again....I know I did.

Whilst I was at it, I also added a complete set of guidelines in a section on filming in Widescreen for 16/9 TV, and the like. It's a book that has been literally 'driven' by our customers. It's a classic, but it's an updated one. And it's ready.

So you can ORDER NOW!

Ivan Watson's 'Manual of SUCCESSFUL MOVIE MAKING'.

The only guide to making films you'll ever need. Jammed full of practical advice in its 80 x A4 pages and open-flat spiral binding; includes new section on Filming in Widescreen. Totally updated throughout. Yours for GBP 24.95 (plus GBP 2.50 post and packing in the UK: overseas postal rate on request).

Ring your order through to:

Lynda on 0870 740 6659 or ask for a leaflet:

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"Men are like slinkies.......not really good for anything but you still can't help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs."

Page updated on 21 March 2008

Authors' views are not necessarily those of The Institute of Amateur Cinematographers

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