User Reviews

Whereas the first of these 10 Minute Film Schools was packed with tips for indie film-makers, this is more centered on one thing... storyboarding. Rodriguez did not do storyboards for El Mariachi, as he didn't actually have a crew and did not need to tell them what he wanted to achieve, but he did some for Desperado, since he had Columbia backing him, and was expected to make(and certainly delivered) a bigger, more epic film(which is not to say that it was necessarily better, but this is not the place for a debate on that). He tells us that he did not want a storyboard artist, as they then dictate basically what shots you will be doing for the film... and as he was a cartoonist, he did some boards, himself. For those who aren't skilled at drawing, and something Robert had to do, himself, is video-storyboarding... bringing a low-tech video camera to tape rehearsals at the location, to figure out which angles to do. Most of the short(which is actually considerably closer to the length in the title of this series... which shows how much less material he had(I'd say that good ol' Rob blew most of the great tips on the first one), and he even veers slightly off topic in the very last bit) revolves around this, with shots from the rehearsal inter-cut with footage from the final cut of the film, as he describes the process. What's a real credit to his skills as a storyteller and editor, however, is that you're still not bored for a second. That, as well as the great tidbits of behind the scenes material found in this is what brings it up to such a high rating. While the original is still the best... as is usually the case with any creative effort... this is a worthy follow-up, and helps to explain to people how the same man who was behind El Mariachi was able to pull off Desperado, and still save both money and time. It looks studio, and Rodriguez brings it down to a level where anyone interested in and excited about film-making can understand it. I recommend this to any fan of the first Ten Minute Film School, El Mariachi, Desperado and Robert Rodriguez in general. Definitely worth your ten minutes. 8/10