Chapter Five, "Postproduction" Summary and Analysis

In the introduction to this chapter, Rodriguez writes that he was surprised to find that having his rolls of film developed and transferred to video cost only $6500, which was $500 less than the original budget. The task at hand is now to reduce the four hours of footage to an acceptable length for his action movie, but first Rodriguez studies the footage to make an attractive, fast-paced trailer for El Mariachi, which will help him entice movie distributors. The entries in this section are from September 5, 1991 to November 26, 1991.

Rodriguez uses his old double VCR system to edit the trailer. He is very focused and ends up with three trailers for his movie, each with a different soundtrack. Not only is Rodriguez a creative person, but he also seems to be business savvy. He knows that an...