Lourdes V. reviewed on + 9 more book reviews
This book is a quick read. Freddie takes the reader back to when he first started at the infancy of his and film making history. Truly a case of someone falling into a job and finding his calling, his profession of a lifetime. We should all be so lucky. He explains in terms that we can understand how the camera works, who is actually running the camera, how the film is developed and how the scene is lighted. He explains this and the development of better and improved techniques of filming and how they achieve the special effects. It is like a class of basic film making from the silents till the 80s. Amongst this are the stories of working with famous directors like Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean and George Cukor plus the stories of working with stars like William Holden, Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner and Spencer Tracy. He also tells the stories of other cameramen people you and I never heard of but are a part of Freddie's life and we meet them and they become our friends too. Perhaps you have seen the movies Dr. Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia, and Ryan's Daughter? Freddie won an Oscar for each of theses films as best cinematographer. He tells of the making of these films. How they did it, his opinion of the stars mostly flattering sometimes not, the locations like how Spain stood in for Russia in Dr. Zhivago, the "snow" that wasn't snow for Zhivago and how they dealt with all that sand in Arabia. He explains his famous mirage scene in Lawrence of Arabia. The working of other men and woman to achieve a pictures success -it is all here. Plus Freddie's personal life told in a straight forward fashion-no tell all. He just tells it like it was or how it should be and how he wishes it was. If you are interested in learning of film making in its various stages this book is for you. Freddie puts you in his back pocket and you are thankful for the ride.
