Job & Edu

The Filmmaker's Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for the Digital Age

From Plume

Binding : Paperback
DeweyDecimalNumber : 778.53
EAN : 9780452286788
ISBN : 0452286786
Label : Plume
Manufacturer : Plume
NumberOfPages : 832
ProductTypeName : ABIS_BOOK
PublicationDate : 2007-09-04
Publisher : Plume
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Customer Reviews

Rating:
Summary: Don't buy a used copy of this book!
Comment: If you buy a used copy of the book, you might get sent an earlier edition. This book is subtitled "A comprehensive guide for the digital age" but the version I got didn't have that subtitle. It was printed in 1984 and only deals with analog concepts.
Rating:
Summary: Great Advanced Shooter's Bible
Comment: This covers everything for both film and analog & digital video including High Def.

This is a great book for the serious prosumer or pro. I am learning professional video at present and I've read half way through this book and I would say out of the many other books and numberless websites I've read this book has given me about half of my useful knowledge and covered everything in other books I've read so far except the consumer grade silliness. It gives really great explanations of technical stuff like file formats and codecs, compression, organization and camera movement to name a few examples. I like to understand stuff for myself and not just take the author's word for something, and that's how this book works. I especially like the useful examples and analogies.

If you are a non-tech Consumer making Point & Shoot home videos and just want a quick, easy, color picture guide to video then you don't want this book although it still could be handy for a reference.

If you are a Pro you definitely want this book and it's possible you might not need another except for books specific to certain areas or equipment. This book covers in moderate to heavy depth everything from planning to budgeting to lights to sound recording to editing to marketing.

Bottom Line: I highly recommend this book! (Make sure and get the latest edition - as of 7-2010 it's 3)
Rating:
Summary: A good Handbook for the Business End with some How To's
Comment: This book is actually well put together as a review of equipment and doing the business end. However it does not have a very in depth chapter of the "How To Do This" from the storyboarding or from a cameraman's point of view, there are some pointers but not as much as I had hoped for in that area. Still a good read so far.

Yes it is worth the read, especially if you want to put together a production company.
Rating:
Summary: Good General Overview of How Movies are Made
Comment: Great Deal for Aspiring Indie Filmmakers
I recently purchased and read the 832 page monster known as The Filmmaker's Handbook. This book is pretty awesome for anyone looking to make their first documentary or fictional film. The book covers everything from the equipment used to the different roles of the crew. This book is somewhat up to date and includes most of the current digital technology but also deals with traditional film as well. It is written to inform the reader of how the film industry works and some of the fundamentals required. It isn't a substitute for formal film school but this is a great read for amateurs.

Likes
- Covers audio quite well
- Very plain talk, explains industry terms well
- Covers tons of topics

Dislikes
- It didn't cover a whole lot on specific shots
- While it's not completely out of date (2007), it references HD-DVD and HDTV as new technology
Rating:
Summary: Nothing better!
Comment: Awsome resource. This book has everything you need to know about filmmaking from codecs to lighting. If you want to learn about film/video, buy this book.