Single-Camera Video Production

I had to purchase this book for one of my college classes at the Art Institute of Phoenix. This book shows the ins and the outs of filming films using only one camera. If you are going to be going to school to be a filmmaker I strongly suggest this book.

This a very comprehensive review of all the elements that go into video production from beginning to end. My son is a documentary film maker, and now I have a much deeper sense of the complexity and range of the skills that he needs to doing the excellent work that he does. Definitely a valuable read.

I used this very informative book to teach a video production class

This book is AWESOME!!!

I majored in Art in High School, so I have a small basic knowledge of both photography and film making. A small amount of knowledge is like having no knowledge at all when it comes to the complicated skills of film making in the ever changing world of digital videos. I have bought several books over the years to try and become better educated at making better family home movies, as well as making films for a collector's group, but the books were not really reader friendly and way too technical. When books are too technical for me, I feel I am spending way too much time looking up things in a dictionary or encyclopedia that could be spent practicing with my camera.When I first began reading this book, Single-Camera Video Production, I immediately could see I was being taken into the beginnings of film making and it quickly became apparent that the way film making began is very different now with digital instead of analog. The very little I knew about film making from school was truly nothing in this digital world. The only thing that digital does not do is replace your knowledge of composition, shot sequencing or construction of your story line needed to assemble a good film. The authors give you simple basics for composing and organizing your film as they cover pre-production, production and post production. Even though, taking home movies does not require a story line, composing and organizing everything will make editing easier later and give you better results.Once I read the chapter on the different choices you can choose from for your camera- standard definition (SD), high definition (HD), 4:3 or 16:9 frame aspect ratio, interlace or progressive scan and an associated frame rate (24p, 30p, 60p or 60i), frame resolution of 480, 720 or 1080 vertical pixels and the type of camera (consumer, prosumer industrial, video capable DSLR's, professional broadcast or high end digitals)- I was happy to see the authors explain everything in simple detail, so I can decide which type of camera is best for my needs. I found that the consumer grade cameras- pocketcam, flipcorders and palmcorders can take good pictures, but the prosumer and even DSLR cameras can give you a much more professional look. When it comes to cameras, it's really all about how much you want to spend, as with an education in lighting, audio, using tripods or your body to keep the camera steady and editing, you can make a great film from any camera.I found that with filming in digital, the basis of production are even more important to learn because the high level of resolution and clarity made possible in the digital formats reveals every flaw. This high level of clarity of your film will show poor lighting, bad frames and incorrect exposures. The authors cover pixels, which I knew a little about from my photography. I was happy to know that a larger image yields a better picture even if the megapixels are lower, as that's how I took all my best shots. I have 5,600k (nice bright daylight) Led's for my best indoor shots, but I never knew that closing all window light from the room would give me a much better picture. I was shocked at how much better and brighter the picture turned out.I also learned a lot about audio, editing software, tripods, incident and reflected light meters, pixels, CCD and CMOS chips and white balance. I never knew how important it was to get your white balance reading before shooting- and I found it makes a world of a difference in your sharpness, brightness and colors. Another thing I found great was the importance of manual controls on your camera. I tend to depend on the auto features of my camera, as I was afraid to set things myself due to my lack of knowledge- but after reading this book- I can't wait to take my own white balance and light readings. I love the simplicity of the writing and learning all the basics needed to make a good film, and the fact that I tried some of the basics right after I finished this book and my films have already improved 100%. This is a wonderfully simple 5 Star book that will give you a solid foundation to improve your videos.

Many moons ago, when I was in high school and my first year of college, I was obsessed with film. Unfortunately it was the dawn of the digital film-making age. I knew some basics and all of the editing I knew how to do was pre-software editing. I later taught myself how to use some of the basic software tools but have since not used the skills in years. I picked this book up to refresh myself on the little I did know, and to update some of my skills with the new technologies (lighting has always been my downfall).I found this book to be very thorough and honest about what making a good single camera film requires. It isn't all technical or locked into a specific set of technologies. Instead it is more of a survey on what you do from planning to pre-production to post production. The information was all good, very well written though at times it got a bit dry (it is a textbook after all).I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in taking their videos from selfies and random i-phone shots to the next level. You don't have to own a several hundred dollar camera to employ the skills you can get from this book. You can do almost all of these things with your cell phone camera and just come out with a better product in the end.

The introduction says this is for beginners and from the description one could suspect that you are going to dive right in and start taking videos. Not at all. Which is actually the correct way. The book begins with helping you understand what you will run into and what to prepare for. For instance, they give you an overview of sound and how it is measured and compares to human hearing and why you can get distortion, etc. Dull stuff for those wanting to play with the equipment but important to help you plan so that you can get great videos, not the point and shoot that most of us get.Unfortunately it does read like your typical text book. I found I had to force myself to read a lot of it. But it is important information and can help you get it right or at least prepare you so that you know what to do when there are problems.This is a book all beginners should read - it will help your viewing audience!

Helpful in learning video production

It's amazing the number of books written that only tell you the simple what of something and not the underlying why of something. This book explains the why of technical terms and issues re: videography. With the why comes knowledge; more surface information is still just information.Easy-to-read narrative and logical sections exactly what you would expect from an advanced degree earner.Highly recommended for someone tired of equipment manuals simply showing you where to locate the white balance button instead of explaining why there is a white balance button, why it's important and how it works inside the camera.