Two films that show the ups, and more often the downs of filmmaking are "8 ½" by Fellini and "Day for Night" by Francios Truffaut. The films follow around the crew and cast who are in the process of filming a movie. What is of most interest are the difficulties movie producers and writers grapple with, even the exaggerated problems that could only happen in movies. Both films have their similarities and differences in film content and methods of filming which we will discuss.
             One important characteristic of filmmaking in both movies is the difficulty, the problems, and sometimes the solutions that filmmakers come across. I say sometimes because sometimes there's nothing you can do which can eventually lead to the closing of production as we see in 8 ½. In 8 ½ there are not to many production problems but only because the director Quido won't give anyone a script or tell anyone what the movie is about. Towards the end of the film you come to realize that the film is somewhat of a documentary of his life, and at the same time a documentary about the difficulties a director faces when under pressure. In actuality most of the problems in the move seemed to be personal problems, Like that between himself, his wife Luisa and his mistress Carla; not forgetting Quido's crazy dreams and flashbacks that just make the movie even more confusing then it already is.
             Day for night has a different set of problems, unlike 8 ½ many of the problems are occurring during production, and not limited to one person but instead much of the cast and crew. Granted some of the problems are a little more realistic than others. For example, in one scene you see the crew trying to film a cat drinking milk and we must sit through it along with the crew who try repeatedly to get the cat to drink. That is a relatively realistic example compared to the lead actor who is going out with the script girl only to be l...