Video Production Books

this book is a must for all tsukamoto fans.contains all the info you want to know about the man and his work.as a bonus you get a bunch of profesional high quality photos about his movies.i red this in just one day..gripping and full!!

Mes seems to find the perfect blend of delivering information and criticism in an enjoyable fun to read manner. Its a rare and pleasent experience when I can devour a crit book like I would a standard novel. While Agitator, his book on Miike, focused more on the individual films and their effect/genre/crit, Iron Man seems to be more about the person and thought process behind the films. It puts a nice fresh spin on things.

Tom Mes, Iron Man: The Cinema of Shinya Tsukamoto (FAB Press, 2005)

Shinya Tsukamoto makes very good, very odd films. He became something of an overnight sensation in underground cinema with his first theatrical release, Tetsuo: The Iron Man, and it's all been uphill from there. Tom Mes, author of the previous Agitator: The Cinema of Takashi Miike, has written the first comprehensive critical work on Tsukamoto, and, like Agitator, it is a must for the library of any fan of Japanese film.

As with Mes' previous book, Iron Man is sectioned up film by fil, taking a close look at each both on its own and also within the greater scope of the themes that run through all of Tsukamoto's films. It's fascinating to see how Tsukamoto's own obsessions shape each film on which he works in the same way it was seeing how Miike's themes worked, and Mes is just as adept at teasing the underlying symbolism here as he was there. A must-own for Tsukamoto fans, and highly recommended for anyone interested in film criticism. ****

Great compilation of interviews with the polemical JLG, film students and other filmmakers.Illuminates JLG's trains of thoughts and ideas he explored in many of his most famous movies.

i can very simply sum up how i feel about this title: one cannot possibly go wrong with the words straight from jean-luc "cinema" godard's mouth. made up of interviews with godard over the decades of his career, this book illuminates godard's various phases and his astounding ideas on cinema and art and life in general. the man is an amazing artist, and if you are at all familiar with his films, you owe it to yourself to read some of what he has to say. his insight into filmmaking and his personal output greatly increases any understanding of his cinematic works. i recommend this book to any student of cinema, academic or just curious, or to anyone who has ever watched a godard film and still had many questions after the screen turned dark. and of course, if you're a godard nut like myself, you should buy this right now and thank me later; this is required reading for godard devotees.

Along with GODARD ON GODARD, this book is a must-have for any serious cinema affecionado. The interviews with Jean-Luc Godard are relevatory and thought provoking, and are essential to read alongside viewing his films. It covers his work from his (more popular) early/mid-sixties films through his video work in the eighties and back to his films of the nineties. Highest recommendation.

This book is wonderful and is the best resource book for Cinematic job information that I've seen yet. It is a must have!!

As far as I know there are two books on the subject - the other being Eric Taub's "Gaffers, Grips and Best Boys". From those two Hines' book is the more encyclopedic one. It is well structured into chapters preceeded by organigrams showing the job dependencies. All jobs featured - although it's the more complete approach of both books, don't expect the book to contain every movie job - are precisely described with pre-, production and post-production duties. If you need 'technical' and concise information, buy this book.

This is a great book for anyone who has ever wondered what each person in the credits does. This edition is far more comprehensive than others (including associate producer, line producer etc.). It could be a little more comprehensive and better organized if the headers were easier to read and each new job started on a new page. However, I'm an independent filmmaker and it's a valuable resource to have.

Jumpstart Your Awesome Film Production Company by Sara Caldwell was a great read to this film production owner just starting out!!! I feel some really basic questions I had where answered! Thanks for writing this 'gem' Sara Caldwell! Keep up the good work and I hope our paths cross someday :) FILMMAKERS GO OUT AND GET YOUR COPY TODAY!!!!!!

These fine guides will help film producers and animation artists, providing specific industry-tested tips and insights. Sara Caldwell's JUMPSTART YOUR AWESOME FILM PRODUCTION COMPANY follows the steps necessary to turn the dream of a film into reality, using real-life stories from many filmmakers to review pros and cons, challenges along the way, and more. From creating a financial plan and locating and working with investors to making industry contacts and promoting a film, JUMPSTART YOUR AWESOME FILM PRODUCTION COMPANY is packed with great ideas.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I appreciate the instruction, examples, and experiences in the book. It is well worth the information as an overview to help set up your first business. Half of the book was the stories of tiny struggling young wannabes that are finally having some success. The other half was useful to direct and warn against pitfalls. I welcome a second, advanced book that would fill in the actual procedures, budgets, infrastructure, and daily activities from a seasoned stronger feature film producing company. This book is a good start and I recommend it.

Occasionally the book was either wrong or would tell you a much harder way of doing things. In all it was a good book though. I would buy another book from them.

Great guide for the money. Really help me through the end of the game. I would by more guides for my other games after using this one.

Good walkthrough but would have benefited from having the extras (elemental fruit and elixirs) mixed into the walkthrough instead of at the end in an "extras" section. I had to go back and walk through many of the same areas to find the stuff I had missed.

I'm about one third of the way through this book, and I'm really impressed! Most of the information is on lighting, but I'd never realized how important and complicated lighting could be. This book also covers some related topics for creating good looking video -- though I haven't gotten to those yet. The author has a lot of relevant technical expertise, and does a very good job of conveying that knowledge. No previous experience is required, but I wouldn't call this a beginner's book -- the depth of technical knowledge conveyed is impressive. This is a third edition, which tells you that "Lighting for TV and Film" has sold well over many decades.

This is a marvelous book as an advanced course in lighting. It provides a classic grounding in light effects and light theory. I would characterize it as an intermediate to advanced text book, so it is not a good choice for those just starting out. And while it is chocked full of valuable information, the writting style is very much text book as well, so many people may find the presentation a bit dry. Be aware that the focus is more on television, although most of the advice applies to film as well. If your interest is digital cinema, then this would be a plus for you. The book is also beginning to show it's age in the section on lighting instruments. There are a number of instruments in common use today that are not covered in this book. That information, however, is readily available from manufacturers. Buy this book for it's timeless information on light and its critical importance in the look of TV and film.

This skilfully illustrated book is a practical guide to lighting for television and film. It covers the principals, techniques and equipment involved in lighting for single-camera location shoots, as well as multi-camera studio productions. It is an excellent handbook to help film students understand all aspects of lighting, but can be retained throughout your career in the motion picture industry for reference purposes. It starts off with the basics and gradually moves on to more complicated aspects of lighting. The emphasis is on the practical application of the theory behind lighting. In this respect it is full of examples of common problems and how to solve them in practice. It is clear that this book was written with the knowledge gained from years of practical lighting experience.

To the best of my knowledge, this is the only book ever written on epic producer Samuel Bronston. I guess for that reason alone we should all be grateful. But even though on the thin side, I wish the book had more to say about the man and his movies. You could say Bronston was the next generation of Cecil B. DeMille and ironically whereas DeMille was ultra right wing and an infamous crusader of Red-baiting in the 1950's, Bronston was the man who gave sanctuary to a number of Hollywood's blacklisted writers.

After World War II, Hollywood producers for reasons of economy and new locations, started to venture off of their studio backlots and were discovering distant places like Mexico. Bronston however, went even further going all the way to Spain. Taking advantage of tax breaks and legal loopholes, he secured financing for his various epics through european partners. It seems like Bronston was only interested in making epic size movies and indeed he put a lot of laborers, plasters and painters to work, not to mention thousands of civilian extras and even foreign army personnel. His formula was always the same, an average script, American lead actors and plenty of British and other European secondary and character actors. EL CID was by far his best remembered epic, it starred Charlton Heston who sadly died last night at age 84. Heston also made 55 DAY'S AT PEKING for Bronston, there are some good insights into those two movies sprinkled with doses of behind-the-senes trivia. FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE's claim to cinematic fame, was that it was the largest movie set ever built. Ultimately with a changing 1960's cinema style, movie epics were seen as old as the stories they told.

Mel Martin as done a fine job of researching Bronston, who never seemed to be taken seriously by Hollywood. Now maybe if he had taken on the western genre he would have beaten Sergio Leone to the draw by a good few years and secured his fame to boot. Samuel Bronston was a showman for sure, a man who cared about the look and the details of his pictures. I can well imagine what he'd think of today's DIGITALLY produced epics. No class he would probably say!

Ever since I was a boy I have always been in love with the "EPIC" film genre, and the main reason for this was Samuel Bronston. With the release of the fully restored "EL CID" on Jan 29 08, this is indeed a timely release of Mel Martin's biography. The book is jammed packed with information on all his major productions, a handy reference to keep on the table next to the TV as his titles are released to DVD.It explains his shunning of the Hollywood system to set his own up in Spain. this book is the most complete study of a producer I've always referred to as 'the cream of the crop Only a small gripe,no color photos inside. But a great, involving book to read. I wished for a Volume 2. Excellent, of 10. out of 10.

I had the opportunity to review several chapters of this book and review the pictures before it went to the publisher. Now that I have received and read my Amazon copy I am even more impressed. I highly recommend it to anyone who remembers El Cid, 55 Days at Peking, and The Fall of the Roman Empire. Martin really did his research here including talking to a family member and collecting never before seen pictures. He discusses all of Bronston's films, including John Paul Jones, King of Kings and Circus World as well as Bronston's life and times. He also offers insight into many of the actors personalities gleened from his research. It has re-inspired my interest in the Bronston's movies and I look forward to El Cid and 55 Days coming out on DVD's next year. I have A Walk in the Sun coming from Netflix now. Enjoy the show!

I thought that this guide as excellent and gave me almost eberything I needed to know. Sure, it missed a few monsters... But it has all of the accsseories listed. I love how there are pictures of most monsters, and all of their attacks. If you are new to the game, or even somewhat of a veteran (like myself ;) ) I definatly reccomend this guide!

This guide is great but it doesn't have 2 monsters (One which I know about which is Tigon, the Dragon)It also doesn't give exactly the right directions to get some things but all and all it was great.

This is a pretty good strategy guide, as far as guides go. It's a lot more useful then lots of others I've seen. And it's got lots of examples with pictures to help show you exactly what to do when you're really stuck. It doesn't have a list of all the monsters, but with all the ones that can be found on DVDs and CDs, I think they did a fine job...I'd buy it I were you. Assuming you need it, that is.

Blaine Brown's book provides a decent explanation of set lighting, it's instruments and protocol. The text, though, seems to speak more to the cameraperson or AC who is curious about lighting. There is a lack of attention given to the juicers and hammers who are actually creating and shaping the light. There is a considerable amount of text granted to electrics and the distribution of power, but much more thorough and much more practically explained definitions are readily available in Harry Box's "Set Lighting Technician's Handbook."

The thing about this book is that it is written from a completely professional point of view. It deals with lighting as it is really practiced on professional movie sets - not like most books on cinematography which seem to be written by people who haven't actually done it all that much in the real world. I've bought about every book there is on movie lighting and most of them are a waste of money.

This book covers everything from a basic introduction to color, exposure and electricity up to the more complex technical issues you have to deal with as a gaffer or cinematographer: very thorough and comprehensive. The Set Technicians book is good if all you are trying to be is an electrician, but this is the one you want if you really want to move up as a gaffer, lighting director or Director of Photography. Except for one chapter (film exposure), everything in the book applies equally well to video, digital video or High Def. There is also a very good chapter on video which covers what you REALLY have to know to work in video lighting.

If you work (or want to work) in the motion picture industry, knowing lighting is the key to advancement and success. This is the book to get if you really want to learn motion picture and video lighting.

After a long lifetime as a practicing director of photography, I now also teach graduate film and video lighting at the San Francisco Academy of Art University. In a quest for the best book for my students, one that provides background and needed information to the hands-on work we do, I searched through most of the available texts and found Blain Brown's to be by far the best book out there for aspiring directors of photography. Until this semester, I used his previous edition. I am delighted by this new edition, which brings many out-of-date issues up to date.

For a purely technical book, a gaffer's "bible," see Harry Box's Set Lighting Technician's Handbook, Third Edition: Film Lighting Equipment, Practice, and Electrical Distribution

Despite the hardships endured over the years of trying to get his screenplays in the right hands, Mr. Catherman persisted in his quest. This book is not only for those who strive to follow the same path, but for all of us who need to remember what is important in life. My take away is to follow my bliss and the rest will take care of itself. I expect Mr. Catherman will continue to do the same and we will be seeing him accept his Academy Award before long.

Being a screenwriter myself, I couldn't wait to read about the adventures (or, as it turns out, mostly misadventures) of whom I believe to be the most read screenwriter in motion picture history. In this page turner, Brad Catherman uses the moxie of a bulldog -- along with his "never give up" attitude -- to push, pull and shove his "life" plays in front of everyone from Spielberg to Secretary's of State to movie loving Monks. Catherman's "movie within a movie" moves along at breakneck speed through countless peaks and valleys as his screenplays get the star "treatment" -- at $1 per sale. I laughed, I cried, and I lit a match to hundreds of my own index cards. "Open Field Running" is a must read for anyone and everyone who wish to become a part of the world's oldest profession -- the movie making business.

In Fairy Tale Land, an unknown writer submits an unsolicited screenplay to a studio and it is passed up the ladder until the stogie-smoking studio chief shouts "Eureka! This will make a boffo movie. Get that young hotshot on the horn and tell him he can name his price!"

In the real world, this rarely happens. The math is staggering. Even with a bona fide agent, the ratio of screenplay submissions to "green lit" projects is astronomical. What's a wannabe screenwriter gotta do to get noticed in Hollywood? Brad Catherman attempts to level the playing field by trying every tactic in the book - and several that aren't - to sell a screenplay. If you can scheme it, there's a good chance that author Catherman has tried it.

Open Field Running is a hilarious memoir concerning one man's attempt to get his screenplays noticed, read, represented and produced. Catherman is talented enough to win screenplay competitions and garner meaningful endorsements, but each time he comes tantalizingly close to cutting a major deal..... well, you've got to read it to believe it. Suffice it to say that you'll come to appreciate Catherman's gumption, self-effacing humor and perseverance. You'll be rooting for him all the way. This story does have a Hollywood ending, sort of......