DSLR Cinema: Crafting the Film Look with Video

[Tim Tyler]

 

DSLR Cinema: Crafting the Film Look with Video

 

Video-capable DSLR cameras give filmmakers a quality previously impossible without high-end cinema cameras. Exploring the cinematic quality and features offered by hybrid DSLRs, this book empowers the filmmaker to craft visually stunning images inexpensively.

 

Learn to think more like a cinematographer than a videographer, whether shooting for a feature, short fiction, documentary, video journalism, or even a wedding. DSLR Cinema offers insight into different shooting styles, real-world tips and techniques, and advice on postproduction workflow as it guides you in crafting a film-like look.

 

Case studies feature an international cast of cutting edge DSLR shooters today, including Philip Bloom (England), Bernardo Uzeda (Brazil), Rii Schroer (Germany), Jeremy Ian Thomas (United States), Shane Hurlbut, ASC (United States), and Po Chan (Hong Kong). Their films are examined in detail, exploring how each exemplifies great storytelling, exceptional visual character, and how you can push the limits of your DSLR.

[Benjamin Davis]

I actually picked up this book from Barnes & Noble a couple months ago and I don't even own a DSLR. I use a Canon HV40, which doesn't utilize a 35mm lens (but can with a 35mm adapter attached) and this book still applies to digital filmmaking. I really enjoyed the first few chapters, giving some back-history upon Canon's creation of installing video capture as an almost last minute decision between the CEO and the engineer. Overall, the book did give an inspiring insight regarding the "renaissance" of filmmaking. How cinema evolved from still photography, and how that evolution is taking place again with this DSLR. Not to say that this book is one gigantic advertisement for Canon, in fact is gives A LOT of very helpful information regarding blocking, framing, and composition that seriously help accommodate what digital movies are missing from film movies. It uses a good amount of exemplar work from short films that were shot with DSLRs, giving illustrations, specific breakdowns of lighting and lens set-ups, and overall a very addictive reading experience. I liked it, would recommend it if you're having some difficulty finding that professionalism with your digital work. I'm still learning as much as I can, so it helps to have books that give pointers from time to time.