Comments on these titles? at DVinfo.net

John Locke · October 15th, 2003, 06:08 PM

It's book-ordering time, boys and girls, and so I'm wondering if any of you have pre-purchase reviews/comments about any of the following titles:

Film Lighting by Kris Malkiewicz
Lighting for Film and Electronic Cinematography by John David Viera, Dave Viera
Placing Shadows by Chuck B. Gloman, Tom Letourneau
Motion Picture and Video Lighting by Blain Brown
Setting Up Your Shots by Jeremy Vineyard, Jose Cruz
Cinematography: Image Making for Cinematographers, Directors, and Videographers by Blain Brown
Painting With Light by John Alton

Ken Tanaka · October 15th, 2003, 06:59 PM

"Placing Shadows" - Not bad, but a better title would be "Hardware to Place Shadows". Heavy on stuff, light on technique.

My current favorite book is "Reflections: Twenty-One Cinematographers at Work" by Benjamin Bergery (ASC Press). It's a bit pricey but it's rich in color stills, lighting diagrams and expert commentary. Take a look:

At the ASC site (the publisher), sample chapters, good description.

At amazon (better price).

Rob Lohman · October 16th, 2003, 04:12 PM

I must agree with Ken. I have the book as well and it is exactly
as he describes it.

Not familiair with the other books...

The other book you mention sure is expensive. You almost think
they wouldn't want you to buy it. Perhaps santa has a deep
enough pocket this year.

Josh Bass · October 17th, 2003, 01:42 AM

I have Cinematography and Film Lighting. Cinematography is somewhat of an all around book, covers screen direction, angles, things like that, as well as how light can be used in storytelling, color theory, set protocol, lots of mathematical formulas for depth of field and other fun stuff. . .goes on and on.

Film Lighting is all interviews with cinematographers, interspersed with a diagram here and there and stills from actual movies to illustrate the diagrams. Different cinematographers describe their tips, tricks, techniques, and such.

Dan Uneken · November 19th, 2003, 10:59 AM

I have "Setting up your shots".
It has a strange format: the back is 19cm and it is 28 cm "long" (imitating widescreen).
It's full of illustrations and it describes cinematic techniques with examples (drawings) from movies and it gives references to more films where the techniques can be found.
It's especially great if you have the videos of the films available to have a look at them.

Michael Wisniewski · November 19th, 2003, 04:27 PM

<<<-- Setting Up Your Shots by Jeremy Vineyard, Jose Cruz -->>>

This is a great book, very simple, straightforward, and easily accessible for an amateur like myself. You could read it in 30-60 minutes. If you work in the industry though, this book might be considered movie making 101. It might even be the first pop-quiz in your cinematography class!

I absorbed most of this book one weekend by actually planning and shooting each type of shot with some friends. We improvised a silly story based on whatever shot came next in the book. Instead of "what shot fits the next scene?", we played "what scene fits the next shot?". Great fun and a good workout for your creativity.

Matthew de Jongh · December 5th, 2003, 08:27 PM

ditto on "setting up your shots"

it is sort of a coffee table book to flip through for ideas on shots and in the beginning it sure helps to recognize the stuff on tv/movies so that you start noticing the crane shots etc.

i'm still trying to find a decent reference on storyboarding...

without meaning to, setting up your shots makes a pretty good introduction to storyboarding.

matthew

Mike Rehmus · December 7th, 2003, 01:17 AM

It has been a while since I read, "Painting with Light," but I remember it was pretty good. I think it is one of the classics for DPs.

Me, I'm just happy to have light!

October 15th, 2003, 06:08 PM	#1
John Locke Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Austin, TX USA Posts: 2,882	Comments on these titles? It's book-ordering time, boys and girls, and so I'm wondering if any of you have pre-purchase reviews/comments about any of the following titles: Film Lighting by Kris Malkiewicz Lighting for Film and Electronic Cinematography by John David Viera, Dave Viera Placing Shadows by Chuck B. Gloman, Tom Letourneau Motion Picture and Video Lighting by Blain Brown Setting Up Your Shots by Jeremy Vineyard, Jose Cruz Cinematography: Image Making for Cinematographers, Directors, and Videographers by Blain Brown Painting With Light by John Alton __________________ John Locke SursumFilms.com

October 15th, 2003, 06:59 PM	#2
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	"Placing Shadows" - Not bad, but a better title would be "Hardware to Place Shadows". Heavy on stuff, light on technique. My current favorite book is "Reflections: Twenty-One Cinematographers at Work" by Benjamin Bergery (ASC Press). It's a bit pricey but it's rich in color stills, lighting diagrams and expert commentary. Take a look: At the ASC site (the publisher), sample chapters, good description. At amazon (better price). __________________ Lady X Films: A lady with a boring wardrobe...and a global mission. Hey, you don't have enough stuff! Buy with confidence from our sponsors. Hand-picked as the best in the business...Really! See some of my work one frame at a time: www.KenTanaka.com

October 16th, 2003, 04:12 PM	#3
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	I must agree with Ken. I have the book as well and it is exactly as he describes it. Not familiair with the other books... The other book you mention sure is expensive. You almost think they wouldn't want you to buy it. Perhaps santa has a deep enough pocket this year. __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

October 17th, 2003, 01:42 AM	#4
Josh Bass Slash Rules! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 5,472	I have Cinematography and Film Lighting. Cinematography is somewhat of an all around book, covers screen direction, angles, things like that, as well as how light can be used in storytelling, color theory, set protocol, lots of mathematical formulas for depth of field and other fun stuff. . .goes on and on. Film Lighting is all interviews with cinematographers, interspersed with a diagram here and there and stills from actual movies to illustrate the diagrams. Different cinematographers describe their tips, tricks, techniques, and such. __________________ The Bass' camerawork The Bass on IMDB

November 19th, 2003, 10:59 AM	#5
Dan Uneken Major Player Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Andalucia, Spain Posts: 301	I have "Setting up your shots". It has a strange format: the back is 19cm and it is 28 cm "long" (imitating widescreen). It's full of illustrations and it describes cinematic techniques with examples (drawings) from movies and it gives references to more films where the techniques can be found. It's especially great if you have the videos of the films available to have a look at them. __________________ Film & TV locations & production Spain http://www.fotofilmvideo.com/

November 19th, 2003, 04:27 PM	#6
Michael Wisniewski Wrangler Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Makati, Metro Manila Posts: 2,706 Images: 32	Re: Comments on these titles? <<<-- *Setting Up Your Shots* by Jeremy Vineyard, Jose Cruz -->>> This is a great book, very simple, straightforward, and easily accessible for an amateur like myself. You could read it in 30-60 minutes. If you work in the industry though, this book might be considered movie making 101. It might even be the first pop-quiz in your cinematography class! I absorbed most of this book one weekend by actually planning and shooting each type of shot with some friends. We improvised a silly story based on whatever shot came next in the book. Instead of "what shot fits the next scene?", we played "what scene fits the next shot?". Great fun and a good workout for your creativity.

December 5th, 2003, 08:27 PM	#7
Matthew de Jongh Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: sounthern maine Posts: 344	ditto on "setting up your shots" it is sort of a coffee table book to flip through for ideas on shots and in the beginning it sure helps to recognize the stuff on tv/movies so that you start noticing the crane shots etc. i'm still trying to find a decent reference on storyboarding... without meaning to, setting up your shots makes a pretty good introduction to storyboarding. matthew

December 7th, 2003, 01:17 AM	#8
Mike Rehmus Wrangler Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vallejo, California Posts: 4,049	It has been a while since I read, "Painting with Light," but I remember it was pretty good. I think it is one of the classics for DPs. Me, I'm just happy to have light! __________________ Mike Rehmus Hey, I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel!