Best Cinematography DVDs?

M

Mike Brent

Carbonite Member
Hey all,

I like the "Best Cinematography Books" thread but Cinematography is... well... visual, and I think a good instructional DVD would be a better idea for me.

Are there any good instructional DVDs out there? The Philip Bloom one looks really too simple and not deep enough, I also found this:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ..._F784DVD_DVD_Cinematography_Master_Class.html

which I am considering, and this one is for photography but may be worth a watch:

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2008/05/now-available-strobist-lighting-dvds.html

and there is also this one:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...COMMAND_PLUS_DVD_Digital_Cinema_Training.html

Any recommendations?

Thanks
 
The Master Class series is really good, I've seen a couple of them, but I think $600 is pushing it. They aren't as in depth as they could be for that price. And they're outdated. I realize that cinematography is never outdated, but the shooting style and opening slates remind me way too much of crappy educational videos that never taught us anything in High School. But that last part is a personal thing. Get it if you can find a good deal.

I've had a very hard time finding things I can outright recommend.
 
Mike Brent said:
which I am considering, and this one is for photography but may be worth a watch:

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2008/05/now-available-strobist-lighting-dvds.html


Thanks
Click to expand...

I would not recommend a still photo 'strobe' lighting training product. While there are similar considerations, lighting placement, lighting ratio considerations, there are significant 'working' differences between still 'strobe' lighting, and film lighting.

I can with a couple of power packs dump 5000 Ws into a scene with a strobe... at the moment I can only afford to rent at most a couple of KW worth of continuous lights... ok... I can go to Home Depot...

I've heard good things about "Hollywood Camera Work", but I think that is more of a 'director's' training sequence that a specifically cinematographer's.
 
There are several aspects to cinematography, but if you are interested in shot design, shooting for continuity, framing, staging actors, moving the camera and the like (as opposed to lighting, for instance) I feel strongly that there is nothing out there that comes close to "Hollywood Camera Work". It's a six DVD set that thoroughly and sequentially teaches every aspect of blocking and staging. I just wish that there was something even vaguely comparable for lighting. Check their website. At one time they were offering discounts to DVXUSER memebers.
 
Hollywood Camerawork is superb. For lighting, you might want to check out the Digital Cinema Filmmaker's Course:

http://www.digitalcinematraining.com

It cover all aspects, but as I recall it focuses a bit more on lighting than other things. I don't think the quality in general is as high as with the Hollywood Camerawork DVD set, but there's still tons of useful information. I also think it's been substantially revised since I watched it a few years ago.
 
Mike:

I was just looking at the Hollywood Camerawork web site and noticed that they are working on a lighting course. No information about when it might be out, but if it's anything like their Master Course, should be well worth the wait.

UPDATE: Per Holms of Hollywood Camerawork e-mailed me that a directing actors set was scheduled before lighting and that his lighting DVD's might not be out for "three to four years"! So it's back to the Maine alternative as far as I'm concerned!
 
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I'm going to add a "me too" for Hollywood Camera Work. The stuff on crossing the line was particularly handy, as was the idea of "keyframes" with camera movement. Warning: it's information-dense (or I thought so anyway -- fast-talking narrator, etc).

For lighting, to be obvious, Barry Green and Davd Jimerson's DVD I found very helpful -- especially the overview of types of gear and the analysis of how the short films were lit.

I know there's other good lighting DVDs out there (I've seen 'em!), but I can't remember titles.

Less practical (but useful aesthetically):

Visions of Light is a good overview of different styles. From memory, it consists of short segments about famous cinematographers from the start of movie-making to the present. So there's something on noir and John Alton (who's book is wonderful, by the way), something on Gordon Willis's use of down-lighting in Godfather, etc. I don't think it goes into how they actually lit their shots, what lights they used, etc.

Documentary about Sven Nykvist, Light Keeps Me Company, is largely biographical. The main impression it's left on me is to do with his working relationships with the various directors. Interesting to see a snippet of on-set operation, and how he communicated with Bergman and with the actors.
 
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