Book excerpt: This book is an essential guide to making traditional 16mm and 8mm films, from production to post, using both analog and digital tools. Focusing on low-budget equipment and innovative techniques, this text will provide you with the steps to begin your journey in making lasting work in the legacy medium of great filmmakers from Georges Méliès to Steven Spielberg. The discipline of 16mm or 8mm film can initially seem challenging, but through the chapters in this book, you’ll learn strategies and insight to develop your craft. You’ll discover the right camera for your needs, how to light for film, and the options in planning your digital post-production workflow. The book includes numerous hand-drawn diagrams and illustrations for ease of understanding, as well as recommended films and filmmaking activities to help you build your knowledge of film history, technical and creative skills within each chapter theme. By applying the suggested approaches to production planning, you will see how celluloid filmmaking can be both visually stunning and cost effective. This is an essential book for students and filmmakers who want to produce professional quality 16mm and 8mm films.