General Camera Shots/Techniques Book

[Scott Silverman]

Hi,
Does anyone know a really good book that explains and tells how to adjust your F stop and gain, how to light a scene, how do to different shots (things like the rule of thirds), and how to do transitions? Basically an all around technique and method book. I am not really looking for a book on how to work the camera or how to edit on a computer, but for a book on the art part of DV film making. If the book is DV oriented, that would be the best as I have a DV camera, but if it is a film book that's ok too because I am looking for technique not mechanics. I looked at some of the previous posts in this forum, but nothing was really like the kind of book I was looking for. Thanks for your help!

[Ken Tanaka]

Hello Scott,
Your post is a bit self-contradictory. You say, "I am not really looking for a book on how to work the camera or how to edit on a computer..." but you also say you want to learn, "...how to adjust your F stop and gain...' and "...how to do transitions..." which are related to running your camera and editing, respectively.

You will not find all of these topics covered deeply in a single book. The closest work I can point you towards is "The Little Digital Video Book" discussed at http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...&threadid=2427 which does a fine job of discussing most of the topics you listed within a concise, results-oriented framework for beginners.

Also noteworthy, "The Digital Filmmaking Handbook" http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1584500980 and "The Computer Videomaker Handbook" http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/024080435X each provide more in-depth treatment of nearly all of your topics plus many others in single volumes.

Beyond that, you should really be looking at specific topical books on lighting, scene planning, etc.