Shoot It! is a revealing history of how Hollywood, with its eye on the bottom line, arguably lost its ability to support the work of creative filmmakers; it is also a passionate portrait of the American independents, and others inside the international film scene, who have risen up to fill the void.
As a devout fan of Independent Film, I was very excited to read Shoot It! by David Spaner. I had first gotten into watching Independent Films when moving in with my husband roughly five years ago. As a new person into the genre I was pretty surprised to find that a large majority of the films that I had watched were arguably better than what Hollywood had been pushing out. In a time when all that was topping the charts were sequels and reproduction movies of previous Hollywood Blockbusters, I wanted something new, fresh and exciting – something with a bit more acting in it.
Shoot It! Hollywood Inc. and the Rising of Independent Film covers the answers to two questions: Why are movies so bad these days? (The Rise of Studio Film) and Why are they so good? (The Rise of Independent Film). It follows the history of how films were previously made, how they are made today, actors/producers/directors and even movies that broke the barrier of what was expected and how Independent Film changed everything.
There was an expected style in making a movie, like a template, and to deviate from it was highly suspect. That kind of sensibility was boring after awhile. Whoever has the most credits always gets the job, no matter what – if it’s the sound man or if it’s the DP (director of photography). Yet the guy who’s never acted before may be the most exciting choice. You always made these a-little-more-safe decisions because money was riding on it. I got tired of it.
David Spaner was a movie critic, feature writer, reporter and editor for numerous papers and magazines as well as the author of Dreaming in the Rain: How Vancouver Became Hollywood North by Northwest. Shoot It! is an incredible book that delves into the politics behind making movies and the evolution of film from it’s roots to the digital age. Featuring some great interviews and pieces from many remarkable film greats: Gus Van Sant, Mike Leigh, Claire Denis, Atom Egoyan, Catherine Breillat, Sally Potter, John Sayles, and Ken Loach and showing the movements of film in seven countries.
It would be detrimental to be coming from the point of view, “Oh, those were the good old days.” I’m just saying that, from the beginning, theater, music, opera, and film were communal experiences, and that’s where the power was. To me, it is the only real church that there is, the only religion I am interested in: you get a group of people in a dark room and they watch {the movie} together. They experience it and each of them goes somewhere. It is so disappointing to see the screen of visibility for film constantly shrinking.
Reading this book was in a lot of ways like talking to my husband who is very much a film fiend who believes that Film is the ultimate Artform of expression. In many ways we can see this if we consider the rise of Documentaries and how they have changed the face of activism, in their own a kind of Indie Film. Reading this book had enlightened me to why I felt such a strong pull to going to the movies, why there has been such a decline and what amazing things are coming from the rise of Indie Film – viva la revolution!
This book is a celebration of those determined filmmakers who, despite it all, overcome every obstacle and just shoot it!
A must have book, especially for film buffs. Wonderfully written, rich in history and passion towards film from someone who has watched from the beginning credits.
Connect: You can read more about Shoot It! and David Spaner on the website and/or @DavidSpaner on Twitter.
Purchase: You can purchase Shoot It! Hollywood Inc. and the Rising of Independent Film by David Spaner on Amazon for $18.25.
