Best book/material for cinematography

J

jwolford76

Member
Looking for opinions on the best books or online info. for learning cinematography and lighting. Like a lot of others, I am the writer, director, producer, and editor. I really need to learn more about cinematography and lighting to be able to get the best shots I can. Books can't teach everything, but I would like a better foundation on these topics.
 
I second that, Shot By Shot is THE de facto cinematography book. I'm willing to bet that every film school out there uses it as part of their curriculum.
 
-The Five C's of Cinematography by Joseph Mascelli
-Lighting for Digital Video and Television by John Jackman

I'm reading both right now and finding them to be excellent. Mascelli's book is supposedly a classic -- a little wordy, I think, but packed with a lot of good fundamental concepts. Jackman's book has been highly recommended on threads here and elsewhere -- I've finished most of it, and think it's great.
 
I just started watching the 'hollywood camera work' DVDs, and for learning the language of camera moves, this looks like it will cover more any book (or DVD) could, but then again it's 6 DVDs! and costs $479 (though if you're a DVXUSER they're still honoring the DVXUSER discount of $150! so in the end it cost $336.34)

As far as "Cinematography" books go, I guess I'm partial to the ones with pictures, and I have all of the ones listed and a few others, so far I really like 'Placing Shadows' by Chuck Gloman and Tom Letourneau, 'Film Lighting' & 'Cinematography' by Malkiewicz are both good, and one book that I'm really enjoying just for the personal first-hand accounts is called 'New Cinematographers' by Alexander Ballinger, it has a lot of pictures, storyboards, etc, and a lot of interviews with explanations on how they did certain things in certain film scenes.
 
craigbowman said:
Hollywood Camera Work is fantastic. There is one side effect..

It will make you get a crane and track dolly!
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Hell, I needed a dolly after watching the sample clips on their website. Fantastic stuff.

I also recommend Jackman's book. It helped me out a lot.
 
Does anyone want to rent me their copy of the Hollywood Camera Work DVD's ?? I just can't spend another $400 right now. If I could, I would buy a tripod.
 
Shawn Murphy said:
I just started watching the 'hollywood camera work' DVDs, and for learning the language of camera moves, this looks like it will cover more any book (or DVD) could, but then again it's 6 DVDs! and costs $479 (though if you're a DVXUSER they're still honoring the DVXUSER discount of $150! so in the end it cost $336.34)
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Shawn, who did you talk to about the DVXuser discount? I'm thinking of ordering the DVDs. Thanks in advance.
 
strancali said:
Shawn, who did you talk to about the DVXuser discount? I'm thinking of ordering the DVDs. Thanks in advance.
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I didn't actually speak with anyone, I saw the DVXUSER thread that stated the discount would still be around for awhile (the creator posted on 5/18): http://www.dvxuser.com/V3/showthread.php?t=24792&highlight=Hollywood+Camera+work


but I'm sure you could write them to be certain. There's a field for the school acc# discount code, you put in 'DVXUSER' and this occurs before the purchase is actually placed, so you should see the discount before the process is completed.
 
For Cinematography get Blain Brown's "Motion Picture Lighting", John Jackman's "Lighting for Digital Video and Television", The 5 Cs of Cinematography, and Cinematography by Kris Malkiewicz. The Hollywood DVDs are very good. I will be selling mine on Ebay next week.
 
galt said:
Does anyone want to rent me their copy of the Hollywood Camera Work DVD's ?? I just can't spend another $400 right now. If I could, I would buy a tripod.
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Normally I would rent, borrow, and in some cases perhaps even copy, but this company made a very heartfelt and believable plea to not copy or otherwise circumvent their sales. It spoke legitimately to the massive amount of time and hard work (money) that went into making the series, and I suspect that being as specialized as they are they're not making the kind of cash back that even an average movie would make back. So, like Ernest I will probably list them on eBay when I'm done studying them, though admittedly at 6 DVDs that could take a long time.. sorry, but though I should at least comment on your earlier request.
 
Copying = bad and I truthfully never do it. renting or borrowing seems fine to me. In truth, they might actually have MORE sales if people can share costs. Not any real difference between selling on eBay or renting, IMHO. If I can connect with a few more decent videographers in my area, I am going to try to set up a shared library among us. That would let us buy things that none of us can afford or justify by oursleves. But I am now keeping my eye on eBay also. It does seem that last few eBay transactions for this item were fraudulent though, so eBay may not be a good place to look.

But thanks for reply. :)
 
yeah, I bid on several of the eBay auctions just a couple of weeks ago, and they all fell through or were fraudulent, then I realized I could get it cheaper (or the same cost) buying it new with the 'DVXUSER' discount.

I agree about sharing with people in your local area and the potential for increasing awareness and subsequent sales.
 
First of all, I just bought them last night (June 27th) and the discount still works (you gotta remember to put DVXUSER in the school account box AND hit the button next to it)

Secondly, after I watch them I'm pretty sure I'm going to want to sell them, as I think a few other ppl are, so if even the $350 is too much, theres still hope :)
 
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