Reviewed by James MacGregor

Publisher; Wildeye      ISBN 978-0-9541899-3-8

It has the elements of all good screen stories; the long slow build of anticipation, the tension, the frustrations and finally, the reveal. Yet the wildlife film is film art in a class all of its own, requiring painstaking research and endless patience, often in less than comfortable surroundings a long way from home. An hour of footage may result in one useable shot, so this is not a film career for anyone who likes to see a quick result.

Television exposure has made wildlife films one of the most successful forms of documentary. People are fascinated by the wild creatures around us and are probably more knowledgable now, about more of our planet's fauna than at any time in the past,  thanks to the skills of wildlife filmmakers.

Chalk Hill Books, L.A, March 2006, 416 pages, $29.95

Low budget film production is a chicken and egg scenario. For the production to be successful you need experience to avoid potentially costly mistakes. If you have that sort of experience already, you are unlikely to be making low budget films at all. If you want to go the low budget route, how do you get the experience you need to make a success of it?

The sensible and constructive answer to all these things is to get your hands on a copy of this book, Planning the Low Budget Film. It will cost you $29.99 which is excellent value and it is a good guide. Seriously good.

Robert Latham Brown who penned it, is known as Bob Brown in the business.  Mel Brooks calls him "Mr On-Budget." Bob Brown has had 30 years in the movie business and accumulated a lifetime of knowledge and hands-on practical experience, on location.

HDV Filmmaking by Chad Fahs

An Authoritative Guide to the Brave New World of HDV

470 pages Thomson Course Technology $49.99

High definition video is the latest technology to enable filmmakers to capture the best possible image at lowest cost. Because it shares tape transport with DV format, it is often see as the next step up, but this is not DV, it is a very different animal and it has far more capability. It carries a lot more digital information and with more control over it, so there's much more that can go wrong, making HDV sometimes a little tricky to handle.

For anyone making that upward step to hi def technology, here is the ultimate guide to the HDV learning curve - one that can get you to the top quickly, easily and safely, with no drop-out.

 Dont Go Wild Without it.....

If you are prone to that urge for the great outdoors and the call of nature, but haven't yet got around to actually filming it, this little book makes an ideal companion.

Slim enough to slip into a side pocket of your rucksac, its 122 pages are packed with  information, making it as essential to the success of your wildlife safari as your camcorder.

This is a pocket book in three acts; Inspiration, Preparation and Delivery. Simple as that. But as we should know by now, making a pitch can never be as simple as it seems, even when it has been reduced to three acts. Help is at hand though, in this little book, a distillation of pitching wisdom from producer Eileen Quinn, filtered and polished through one of her faithful disciples, producer Judy Counihan,