For the Record Books

subtitled: How To Avoid The Most Common Mistakes

Slightly dated ( autofocus didn't work so-well in 1988 ), but /damn/ good.

It's a little book, in a simple and straight-forward style, with cartoons illustrating the concepts to /show/ us what is meant, like the Head First series of books by O'Reilly, sorta, and it would improve many /many/ a videographer's practice, believe-me.

If you have been tasked with making a video for your group, no matter whether if you've done many before, strive to improve the work, eh? Because Them That Know(tm) are going to see what one ignored in doing the work. . .

Here's the TOC:
You're a Television Expert
Get the Right Equipment
Avoid the Shakes -- Make Steady Pictures
Be a Sharp Shooter -- Focus First
The Viewfinder -- A Window on the Video World
The Art of Anticipation
The Long and the Short of It
Record Motion -- Don't Create It
Edit in the Camcorder
Let There Be Light -- The Right Light
Sound Advice on Sound
What Do You Shoot When You've Shot the Kids
The Main Thing -- Have Fun


Some of his recommendations, like journalling your realizations about how pro video/film was shot, or what you like about it or don't, are fundamental to getting steady long-term-learning & progress. . .

In this or any-other field of practice. . .

He recommends simple controls, low-light recording capability, automatic iris control
( *I* would recommend manual /as well/ because of what happens when some person fires a camera-flash while you're videoing. . . sudden dark then sweep up to bright again. . and then they shoot another shot. . . makes one sea-sick. Better, then, to find the right level, then lock the exposure to manual, and let the flashes be short overexposures, just like they are in real-life, rather-than have the exposure-motion-sickness go on and on. . . ),
Automatic White Balance, Autofocus, Zoom Lens that covers what you want to shoot ( wildlife photography? loooong zoom lens: a teensy bird in a huge frame isn't interesting bird-videography, is it? ), Macro mode.

Try the thing. Comfortable? Right Weight? Steady to hold? Viewfinder works for you? Works with glasses or has diopter adj? Southpaw functional?

Carry case, tripod, ( I use a monopod with mini-ballhead with quick-release plate on it & bino-cam harness ), lights, spare ( best-quality, not shedding debris in the camera's mechanism ) tapes, spare batteries.

Lean against a tree or building. . . ( improvised support ), or rest your arms on something ( car roof, parking meter ). . .

Focus EVERY shot. Figure-out where autofocus will work, and where it won't: dark? particular colours? lack of contrast? where the stuff of interest is /beside/ the centre of the frame? Fence or glass between you and subject?
Train in focussing in these conditions, and get good at it. . .
Depth of field, using Push To Focus instead of continuous autofocus. . .
Always be ready to shoot

Accurate framing:
Level with horizon.
Right space above ( and beside ) subject.
Use lens at appropriate focal-length.
Avoid distractions ( pipe-through-head or lamp-sprouting-from-head syndrome, AND people walking between you and subject, traffic in background ) by changing angle
before rolling tape.
Make certain you /do/ want this shot.

Timing, anticipation and context. . .
Roll the tape /before/ the instant of interest, or the viewers won't understand what the hell's the shot /for/.
Show the /story/... keep rolling until they understand it sufficiently enough. . .

Complexity: simple scene? short shot.
Complicated scene? give the viewers longer to comprehend it.

If editing later, shoot lots more than you intend to use ( a couple of seconds longer at each end, so you have space to make your joins the way you want )

Panning and Zooming: don't. Motion is what you're recording, not what your camera-holding is doing to the viewer, right?

Exceptions to the rule, and how to do 'em ( carefully ).

Forget the "script", try an outline, instead. . .

The wide-shot, medium-shot, and the tight-shot, and fitting 'em together to create balanced result. . .

using a neutral shot between to other shots, to buffer the transition. . .

The Set-Up Shot. . .

Be Concise

White Balance before you shoot ( I use a Gretag Macbeth white-card for doing that right )

Exposure & Lighting ( especially recommending fixed lighting, high-up )

Sound. Don't film a bird while audio captures squealling-tires that auto-gain-control has amplified from 2 blocks away. . .

The Video Letter, Video as a Coaching-aid, Video for Insurance. . .

It came earlier than expected and in great condition. Good Job!

This is a very helpful tool for the preperation for the AHIMA ccs-p exam the practice coding is a must do.

Public Records - they are there, and that is the extent of one's convenience with them. "The Public Record Research Tips Book: Insider Information for Effective Public Record Research" is a complete and comprehensive guide to expertly searching the government's public records files - covering all aspects of it. Court Record Databases, Criminal Records, Government lists, websites that aren't entirely obvious to use, and a glossary of terms that commonly occur. "The Public Record Research Tips Book: Insider Information for Effective Public Record Research" is highly recommended to community library business collections and for anyone who has to search these records often.

Loved the book. Filled with excellent information and excellent photos of truly giant bass. This book concentrates mostly on the huge bass that have become synonymous with Southern California trout lakes. There is a lot of interesting and helpful information on where Florida strain bass have been transplanted and their effect on big bass populations. A lot of attention is paid to the genius and ingenuity of Allen Cole and his use of large trout plugs for giant bass. Truly a must read for anyone pursuing big bass wherever they might be.

This is the best A&R resource on the planet. Everything is completely updated every other month (6 issues a year). I used this for my band a while back and scored some major contacts that we later used for film placement. We had a demo deal on the table with Elektra (I cold-called them using this directory) until our bass player decided we needed more studio cash and refused to sign the contract. Anyway, this is a great tool to have if you're looking for music industry contacts. I got my copy at getsigned.com and saved about $10 there.

A real valentine to the '98 baseball season, featuring the heroic expoits of McGwire and Sosa. Since it's an "official Major League Baseball" book, all controversy is avoided (such as the "andro" incident). But, overall, the tone is breezy and expert, the layouts are MTVish and contemporary (with big photos and large type. It's a great gift for the baseball fan in your family.

A great how to book on treatment planning. A must read for students and professionals who have been confused about writing treatment plans. Great step-by-step instructions and forms.

This book is centered on the proper way to write process recordings and many other types of forms that are required by Social Workers. All though this is an older book, the content is just as applyable today as it was at the beginning of the Social Work Profession. OUTSTANDING! Always a way to ensure social wokers are doing their recordings as professional as possible.

This is a wonderful journal-type book. Everything you could possibly ever think of recording is in this book from births, to insurance, to medical, to budgets, to religious, to geneology, to weddings, to apartment-sharing contracts & other contracts, to work, to taxes, to accounts, to bills, to credit, to estates, to inventory, to retirement, to resumes, to schools, to pets, to sports, addresses, to memoires, to last wills, etc, etc. The list is endless.