Tim Tyler Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 New users on this forum often ask for book recommendations. Readers in the USA can visit the Cinematography.com Amazon Bookstore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Wuijts Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 I've read Blain Browns book to shreds, i love that one. The negative aspects of the book are the terrible quality of the filmstills and strange typos and mistakes in calculations. You have to watch out for those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ken Maskrey Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 (edited) The one video that is a MUST SEE for all new filmmakers is Into Oblivion with Steve Buscemi..not a tutorial by any means, but you'll see more of how a real low budget set works in that movie than anywhere else. Edited July 19, 2006 by Ken Maskrey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Brad Grimmett Posted July 20, 2006 Premium Member Share Posted July 20, 2006 The one video that is a MUST SEE for all new filmmakers is Into Oblivion with Steve Buscemi..not a tutorial by any means, but you'll see more of how a real low budget set works in that movie than anywhere else. It's actually called Living In Oblivion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Calson Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Has anyone read Matters of Light and Depth? I hear its fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Sunlin Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 New users on this forum often ask for book recommendations, and suggestions of movies to watch specifically for camera technique. Cinematography.com has compile a list of books at http://cinematography.com/shop/books.asp There are 45 books in that list. Maybe someone could volunteer to pare that down to a few (less than 10) of the best books? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Peline Posted October 24, 2007 Share Posted October 24, 2007 For me for beginners I would suggest - in the following order from simple to more complicated: Reflections: Twenty-One Cinematographers At Work (Paperback) by Benjamin Bergery http://www.amazon.com/Reflections-Twenty-O...1353&sr=1-1 Lighting for Film and Digital Cinematography (with InfoTrac ) (Paperback) by Dave Viera http://www.amazon.com/Lighting-Film-Digita...1562&sr=1-1 Film Lighting by Kris Malkiewicz http://www.amazon.com/Film-Lighting-Kris-M...1262&sr=8-1 Cinematography (Screencraft) (Paperback) by Peter Ettegui http://www.amazon.com/Lighting-Film-Digita...1562&sr=1-1 New Cinematographers by Alex Ballinger http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-h...lex%20Ballinger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew Hoffman Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 I'd have to recommend: "Set Lighting Technician's Handbook" by Harry C. Box "American Cinematographer Manual" by Stephen H. Burum "Film Lighting" by Blain Brown There are three books by Paul Wheeler that are also very good. There's one for film, digital, and HD... they're very good. "Reflections" by Benjamin Bergery and "Film Lighting" by Kris Malkiewicz are very good at covering a variety of things. In my opinion, one of my favorites is "If It's Purple, Someone's Gonna Die" by Patti Bellantoni... I think it highlights the collaboration between the Director, Cinematographer and Production Designer in a way that isn't covered very often. More than that, it covers how colors in visual storytelling enhance and effect the story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Carlile Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 Here's three fantastic books, all British, all out-of-print, all expensive, but worth the search: Photographic Theory for the Motion Picture Cameraman Practical Motion Picture Photography both by Russell Campbell, and Principles of Cinematography, by Leslie Wheeler. The first Campbell book is basically an expanded version of the Wheeler, almost chapter by chapter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Glen Alexander Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 (edited) What about anything by Roger Corman? Robert Lippert? Bert I. Gordon? Sandy Frank? ha ha ha yes I still watch old episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000... I"d like to read more about the practical and personal antecdotes rather than some stale old book the the 'one-shot' directors, the one who went ballistic with lilly tomlin the director whose main style was slow zooming, ha ha these are classic, think david mullen posted about these. example what is Lucas really like on a set? Coppla "? insert name here " ? Edited May 1, 2008 by Glen Alexander Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Dzyak Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 lol, sooooo many books to choose from! :blink: I am a complete beginner, so could someone please give me one or two books to choose from. That would be greatly appreciated. JJ What do you want to know? :) Of course, I'll recommend to anyone who is just getting a start in this business to begin by reading What I Really Want to Do: On Set in Hollywood. I've lost count of the number of established professionals who tell me that they wish this book had been available before they got into the business. Really, if you want to be in the industry, there is SO much more to know than the technical nuts & bolts (T-stops, lenses, etc.) What I Really Want to Do puts the job you want into context so that when you do read everything else (the nuts & bolts books), then it makes a whole lot more sense. For a list of some of the excellent nuts & bolts books as well as other resources available (websites, movies), please visit www.whatireallywanttodo.com and click on the Additional Resources link at that top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Kast Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 lol, sooooo many books to choose from! :blink: I am a complete beginner, so could someone please give me one or two books to choose from. That would be greatly appreciated. JJ For a complete beginner, "The Five C's of Cinematography by Joseph V. Mascelli. And also Blain Brown's "Cinematography: Theory and Practice : Imagemaking for Cinematographers, Directors & Videographers" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rut Briones Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 ...mmm... Hi, I'm looking for a quite complete book that doesn't leave me with the... 'this is quite basic' feeling. Not that I'm an expert or anything, but I've found most of the books are quite basic... Would you say the ASC Manual (both volumes) is worthy? I've seen it named a couple of times and sounds like a good one. And could someone (if you've read it) summarize a bit what's in each volume? Thanks a lot, Rut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Mullen ASC Posted December 10, 2008 Premium Member Share Posted December 10, 2008 There is a difference between a technical manual / reference guide and a textbook -- the second is meant to be read as a book, the first is meant to use for reference, though the ASC Manual does mix in articles with the charts and whatnot. Certainly if you are a shooter, a reference guide like the ASC Manual is worth owning. When I was a film student, I picked up a used version from 1980 that was quite fun to flip through. I find that "intermediate" level textbooks on cinematography tend to go beyond technical issues (at that point, better covered in technical manuals) and concentrate on real-world experiences of professionals. They tend to be interview books. Truth is that once you get beyond the basics of photography, most of the challenges of cinematography tend to be artistic and logistical more than technical. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Mansell Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 I've seen Visions Of Light, what is Cinematography Style like? It's also really difficult to buy here in the UK, i heard the negatives are that it is just interviews and has no actual footage, worth watching? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Tyler Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 Cinematographer Style is a collection of sound bites from interviews with cinematographers. I wish it were 20 hours long but it's just 86 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Martin Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Principles of Cinematography (Leslie J. Wheeler) is an interesting read, though a bit punishing for total beginners and very, very technical. His son, Paul Wheeler BSC, has written three books on Cinematography which IMHO are a bit more user-friendly - Practical Cinematography (great starting point and mainly about 16mm or 35mm film), Digital Cinematography (mostly Digibeta) and High Definition Cinematography (take a guess). That said, to paraphrase someone famous - if you're looking for rules in art, there's the laws of physics and that's about it. Really, get a camera and some lights and see what works. However, reading definitely helps to give you an idea of what to aim for and I'll also vote for Blain Brown's "Cinematography" as an encyclopedia of sorts. Something I don't think anyone has mentioned in this thread is the American Cinematographer magazine - published monthly and available from the ASC site, it details the work of cinematographers past and present. A lot of it is big films, but it is a very interesting read nonetheless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Martin Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 As an addition to the above, I have just read and thoroughly enjoyed Film and Digital LIGHTING, by Dave and Maria Varia. You can pick it up on Amazon. Great book, with a good balance of artistic and technical information. Highly recommended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Weidemann Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I've just ordered the "Cinematographer Style" DVD and found it very entertaining. Of course it includes only interviews and no footage that explains what they are talking about. But I think it's a helpful source for a cinematography - beginner who needs a good starting point to get into it. I've also started reading through "Masters of Light" that includes 15 interviews with some of the greatest cinematographers of all times (including Hall, Storraro, Willis, Williams, Zsigmond etc.). Both sources are in my opinion not useful to carry around on a filmset while shooting a movie, they are no instruction manuals or "how to shoot a movie?" - guidances but you get a very close look into the world of cinematography and its theoretical and technical aspects Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Dunne Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 ...mmm... Hi, I'm looking for a quite complete book that doesn't leave me with the... 'this is quite basic' feeling. Not that I'm an expert or anything, but I've found most of the books are quite basic... Would you say the ASC Manual (both volumes) is worthy? I've seen it named a couple of times and sounds like a good one. And could someone (if you've read it) summarize a bit what's in each volume? Thanks a lot, Rut Hi What about "Hands-on Manual for Cinematographers" by David Samuelson? How does it compare to the ASC Manual? Ultimately, im looking for a book that'll help me learn how to light and film a sequence correctly. For example, how to use a light metre to light a scene or how to wokr out correct focal lengths to use etc. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Jensen Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Adventures with D. W. Griffith, New York, 1973. Karl Brown. Must read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Branko Pasic Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Hi, I'm looking for one book called Visual effects cinematography, author: Zoran Perisic. If somebody have it in pdf format, please send it to me (bane_pa@yahoo.com). thnx, thnx!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt M Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 What about anything by Roger Corman? Robert Lippert? Bert I. Gordon? Sandy Frank? ha ha ha yes I still watch old episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000... I was going to say... Roger Corman isn't exactly who'd I'd look to for GREAT cinematography. But The Gunslinger was one of his better ones. I've always enjoyed THX-1138 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ansis Imaks Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 I foud this one wery high value: The Visual Story - creating the visual structure of film, tv and digital media - Second Edition - 2008 - by Bruce Block Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaiHoong Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 I've read Blain Browns book to shreds, i love that one. The negative aspects of the book are the terrible quality of the filmstills and strange typos and mistakes in calculations. You have to watch out for those. i agree!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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