Customer Reviews

Digital Guerrilla Video: A Grassroots Guide to the Revolution

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Hoffer's attitude towards the digital video revolution is a combination independent film producer and midnight computer hacker. His gonzo attitude lends a breezy, hip tone to this compendium of tips and tricks of the trade. His approach is one of passionate artistry rather than pedantry, as his love of the medium shines through the sometimes overcaffeinated prose. He is at his best when describing dozens of workarounds for bad shots, cheaper ways to get the same effect as the big production houses, and how to recognize, capture and recycle good shots for your media library. Best of all, he imparts to his readers the same enthusiasm and wry attitude that keep you going during those long, long hours of rendering and rewinding. Extensive quotes from other pioneers in the DV world, time-management tips, advice on the quickly evolving world of digital delivery (CD versus Web), and survival skills in this highly competitive environment are the best features. Recommended for novice or expert alike.

Video is a creative medium, and this book is just meant to get you thinking, and exploring. For me, I never would have thought of covering my scanner with sand, or tinfoil to create backgrounds. He suggests using compositing tracker data to capture the motion of a natural object like a feather falling, and then applying that motion to your own animation -again I never would have thought of this. The book is full of creative tidbits. It's a "wow, if that's possible, than I could also do this" kind of book. It gets you thinking about all the possibilities and potential that exists for your videos.

The book is well formatted, short, and easy to read. Took me 4 days to read. Recommended.

I was expecting the latest and greatest tips and techniques on how to get the best video with the lowest overhead. However, I was truly disappointed with the content as I felt it was so out of date that it was not very helpful in this digital age. Additionally, I felt the information was not layed out in the best format either. While I am an intermediate film-maker, I felt this book did not provide any new learning, value, or provide any usable take aways or action items to help the readers.

Lots of enthusiasm for the by-the-skin-of-your-pants approach to garage video making.