Customer Reviews

DV Filmmaking: From Start to Finish (O'Reilly Digital Studio)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Up front: I liked this book. However, I don't think the blurb or other reviews give a very accurate picture of it.
Good points:
- The book gives a very good general overview of all the steps involved in a DV production.
- It goes into quite a lot of detail on the editing and post-production side, especially for green/bluescreen projects.
- It's recent (pretty much current at the time of writing this review).
- Great layout, easy to read, good included materials.

On the down side:
- On the production side, it's too general for anyone but the absolute beginner.

Personally, I was more interested in the hands-on aspects of production. Things like setting up good three-point lighting, framing, camera and boom handling, shock-mounting and wind-gagging mics, balancing a tripod head, and so on. The type of things that pro's learn with experience, and would be valuable to hand down to relative beginners. Things like essential gear lists for different types of shooting, and what to look for in tripods, mics, filters, etc. specifically for DV cameras, would have also been very useful to me. You will find very little of the above in this book.

As I result, I think the "From Start to Finish" subtitle is a bit of a misnomer (hence only 3 stars). The "Start" and "Finish" parts are fine - it's the middle that is lacking depth. If you're coming to the field absolutely cold, or are more interested in editing (especially with alpha-channels), this book is very good.

However, if your needs sound similar to mine, you may want to investigate more production-oriented titles.

Are you an aspiring filmmaker? Do you want to create films, but aren't sure where to start? Are you currently an amateur filmmaker, but need to tune some of your skills? This book doesn't just show you how to be a filmmaker, it lets you follow along with sample projects on the included CD.

Most of the book concentrates on producing good video. The author discuss topics including lighting, special effects, sound and sound editing, nonlinear editing, compositing images, and color correction. I was most impressed with the examples in the book, which illustrate many of the concepts with a sample movie project (which can be found on the accompanying CD-ROM), or discuss how a familiar movie utilized the concept (e.g. color matching in Open Water). These types of illustrations really make the filmmaking concepts come alive.

The last section of the book discusses how to release your finished product. Once the film editing is complete, the book discusses how to distribute your film-perhaps on DVD, perhaps with 5.1 sound-and what some of the ins and outs of each option are. Finally, the author discusses the basics of negotiating a distribution deal for your film.

I was very impressed with the depth and breadth of content in this book. I would highly recommend it to any aspiring DV filmmaker.

This book is unusual in that it's not linked to any hardware or software, per se. With the exception that it's about digital video. That leaves a lot of room for putting in information about general practices for creating good video for setup, lighting, angles, shooting and more. The information on post production and editing is also excellent.

This is an good resource for anyone looking to create movies with digital video technologies.

I am a novice filmmaker doing training and educational videos and have been reading several magazines for about a year or so, slowly expanding my skills and knowledge base. Ian Aronson's book DV Filmmaking was perfect for presenting the wide range of essential topics in an easy to read and understandable whole. The book really is start to finish. I particularely liked Ian's inclusion of source materials to experiment on with the techniques being taught. I have read several video books and this is by far the best I have had the pleasure to read.

A great book!
"DV Filmmaking" is an excellent book for anyone who wants to go beyond the basics of digital video.

I recently completed a video-based project for my M.A. thesis, and used this book as my guide. Each time I encountered problems, this book gave me the answer. For example, after I shot, I noticed some severe lighting trouble in a few very important interviews and I started to panic because I didn't have enough time to shoot them again. I had more than three hours of interview footage that looked pale, shady, and just plain depressing. Frustrated, I opened this book. The solution was there, in the section on color correction!!! I could fix my footage so that it was not only usable but looked really good.

I also relied on the section on compression and encoding to make
professional quality video for the Internet (something I would not have been able to do otherwise).

This book covers all aspects of the video production process, from planning, to production, and distribution. I'd like to
recommend it to anyone who is new to the world of digital video, as well as people who want to take their work beyond the level of
point-and-shoot to make something really creative.

"DV Filmmaking: From Start to Finish" is a great read for anyone who is interested in digital filmmaking. The book really does cover the topic "from start to finish," starting with why you should consider digital video through to selling and promoting your finished product. It's full of helpful illustrations, both visual and verbal, that demonstrate the concepts and techniques used in digital filmmaking.

For me, the most enjoyable aspect of this book is the way Aronson incorporates lots of anecdotes and examples throughout, making his lessons all the more compelling and memorable. You really feel like you are benefiting from his years of experience with digital video, as though he is letting you in on his trade secrets. This personal writing style makes the book very approachable and enjoyable to read.

But the book is not limited to personal musings. Aronson also does a terrific job of combining technical tips and techniques with non-technical concepts and approaches. Instead of simply providing step-by-step instructions for how to do certain things in Photoshop, Final Cut Pro or Adobe After Effects (which he does, in some cases), he also provides the context for WHY you would want to do these things and how some of them work (e.g., "What an Alpha Channel Does" in Chap. 11).

Just as the author talks about returning to great films and learning new things each time, I know that this is a book to which I will return often and from which I will continue to benefit over time.

This is the kind of book I love-- the material included is concise and detailed, yet it covers subjects broad enough to be of real, practical use, both artistically and technically.

For a compulsive hobbyist like me, it hits that sweet spot: specific material that far surpasses basic, but is not overwhelming. Because it is not limited to a particular software application, information is provided within the context of the complete digital film making process, which helps it all make sense.

I've spent a lot of time in fields adjacent to digital filmmaking, and this book did a great job of filling in the gaps-- all those things you pretty much know are there, but need an expert to organize and present to you so you can actually DO it--without the unnecessary heartbreak of figuring it all out yourself the hard way.

Even a short film I put together for a high school reunion last summer would have been in a lot better shape had I encountered this book earlier. I'll be glad it's on my bookshelf when I tackle my next, more complicated project.

This is a comprehensive and very well written introduction to DV filmmaking. The author covers a vast array of topics (as the subtitle says, "from start to finish"). Most of the technical pitfalls waiting to trip filmmakers are discussed, at least to the level of making one aware of the problems and the direction to head for a solution. Numerous sidebars offer references to outside sources (web, magazine, etc.) for more information. The DVD included with the book worked well on my Mac and had all the digital resources necessary to complete the exercises. The extensive discussion of film versus video is interesting, though I suspect, not terribly important to the target audience, who probably won't even consider shooting on film due to cost. Zed Safeed writes an excellent forward, comparing word processors and writing to camcorders and filmmaking. He does, perhaps, overstate the book's focus on aesthetics; the author's examples and discussions are great, as far as they go, however, readers will want to complement the text with additional resources that focus more on the grammar of filmmaking. It is an optimistic book, promoting self-funded independent filmmaking without advance distribution, by relating successful strategies used by no-budget filmmakers to shoot, finish, and distribute their work. I am more cautious, having assisted a half dozen friends bankrupt themselves with independent features that failed to find distribution. Other texts offer more information about financing independent film production and seeking funding outside of the film festival "lottery." Although the book was published just in advance of the new camcorders from JVC and Canon (HDV) and Panasonic (HD), the author frequently discusses HD issues that will become ever more relevant. Overall, a superb introductory text.

"DV Filmmaking : From Start to Finish" may be useful for any kind of DV filmmakers. It explains every step of Digital video that my intensive digital video class didn't offer. Through a variety of concrete examples, the author tells us how to make a successful DV film. The text is so easy to understand that we don't need to waste our precious time to chew each word over and over again. I particularly appreciated the editing possibilities in After Effects; it seems that the author is concerned with not only technical attributes of DV, but also its creative aspects. In short, "DV Filmmaking" shows the intelligent way to realize any kind of exciting projects (big or small).

DV Filmmaking From Start To Finish by Ian David Aronson's will reach both amateur and professional digital video users with a basic primer on differences between digital and print mediums. Familiarity with Final Cut Pro or Adobe After Effects, the two programs used here, will aid in understanding DV applications in either PC or Mac formats, while the author's background as a teacher of digital media lends a logical progression to his tips and practical applied examples.