Reading Books

I am not a big lover of books, but I wanted to learn something new during movie shooting. So I went to the library and took out few books.

First book Video Camera Techniques by Gerald Millerson. To be honest I was not impressed at all. There was only basic information. Space, lens angles, movements, depth of field and exposure - things I am learning last 3 years. Nothing new for me.

Second book Digital Cinematography by Paul Walker. It is a GREAT book, maybe not so colourful and without picture, but really good for those who has just started to do films. I am still reading this book. The first thing I remember. During filming you have to decide in what directions you want to push your image.

• Sharp or soft
• Cold or warm
• Colours saturated or desaturated
• Do you want to reduce skin tone detail?
• Are you going for a 'film look'?

This book covers the 'on-the set' knowledge you need to know - its emphasis lies in practical application, rather than descriptions of technologies, so you will find usable 'tools' and information to help you get the job done. From 'getting the look' to lighting styles and ratios, what is needed for different types of shoots and the technical preparation required, this is complete reference to the knowledge and skills required to shoot high end digital films.

Third book Digital Cinematography by David Stump, ASC. To be honest, I have found my favourite book. I did not find anything for my film, but this is really technical book. I am going to read it till summer. Each page is worth to read. I am technical guy and there is nothing about 90's cameras, everything is new and fresh. This book is what I am looking for to gain my skills working with any camera.

4th book DSLR Cinema by Kurt Lancaster. As we decided to film our documentary also with DSLR's I took this book to find something new. Book starts with basics that I really did not enjoy again. Camera movements, and lighting - same as in a first book. But from the middle of book I found very good information for post-production. I will keep reading because it's about Magic bullet looks and Adobe Premiere which I am exploring right now. And most confusing thing is export settings which I found in this book. And definitely this one of the books I am looking for reading further.

The last book for our project The Videomaker Guide to Video Production. Black and white book for really detailed comparison of software. iMovie, Adobe Premiere and so on. last book gives information about different frame rates and post production looks. It is not bad but I did not find it interesting after reading books I described before.

To sum up everything I would say that all books gave me fresh beginning. I focused more on angles and lighting. I did not wanted to colour correcting our footage too much. I was careful using Adobe Premiere although during editing I almost loose 4 hour work. I would love to suggest to read first 4 books and think about those during filming.