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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good info, well written, confusing audience, September 18, 2010
This review is from: Lighting for Digital Video and Television, Third Edition (Paperback)
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This is a great book with a wealth of info, properly organized and from that standpoint well-written. Includes lots of examples and is an interesting read-always a big plus when you're studying something technical. From a lighting perspective, it assumes you know nothing which is always a great place to start. It begins with an explanation on why you need lighting, and eventually progresses on to advanced methods. It's a textbook that reads like a field manual, and I thought it was an interesting read. No high-faluting mumbo jumbo-just down-to-earth, realistic, generally understandable explanations and diagrams. Books that assume nothing and can still cater to people with a bit of experience are often quality books, and this one is no exception. The only difficulty is, I'm befuddled in regards to defining the target audience. You might think, well, beginner of course since it starts off with something so basic that most people who don't even own a camera know at least some of it already. (No lighting means dark/underexposed work.) Advanced techniques are covered later. True, but the book also assumes you have a complete understanding of equipment, how that equipment works, what it is called, and a complete understanding of related acronyms and industry jargon. Anyone new enough to need a book this friendly to the beginner will probably not have this extensive understanding. Acronyms are used right out of the gate without definition or explanation. That's the only difficulty I can see with it. Otherwise, it's a great book and I'm glad I have it.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent primer that will appeal to many levels of experience, November 4, 2010
This review is from: Lighting for Digital Video and Television, Third Edition (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Lighting for Digital Video and Television is a book that will appeal to a people involved in or wanting to learn more about lighting equipment and proper lighting techniques. In fact, the book begins literally from square one assuming you may not even realize how important lighting is. The author even goes as far as to suggest that the book be read in a linear fashion to facilitate a complete understanding of techniques that will then enable the reader "to improvise, to create new techniques for unique situations rather than having to fall back on some textbook diagrams; and it means you'll be able to do a better job at any lighting scenario." That is quite an ambitious statement and by and large the book delivers, particularly when considering that it is just 261 pages. The reader is taken through a methodical process of exploration. The essential basics are covered in a very textbook like fashion. You'll learn about how the human eye perceives light and the limitations of how a camera perceives light. Contrast, color and how to control both are explained. Then the book moves into some basic concepts of electricity and power distribution. Moving on, the different types of lighting instruments are given attention. Ample illustrations are used as examples. Next you learn about how to control light using things such as scrims, diffusers and gobos which leads to a good overview of basic lighting techniques. Basic lighting techniques cover key, fill and backlighting techniques, soft & hard lighting and things of that nature. Later chapters cover things such as how to solve common lighting problems, like how to properly light dark complexions and how to use kicker lights. Studio lighting is given some attention. And there is a good chapter on more advanced lighting setups that covers topics such as establishing mood and lighting darkness and how to light scenes that have extremes in contrast. As a mostly home-movie type shooter, I was interested in the chapter on lighting low-buget locations, particularly the discussion of using existing light and improvised cheap lighting. This could have been expanded upon but the information presented was valuable nonetheless. Finally the book ends with chapters on specialized lighting, such as lighting for product shots, food shots, automobile interiors, blue & green screen, weddings and live theatre taping. Overall this is a great introductory book on lighting. I think it will appeal to novice filmmakers and those beginning a career in television production. It is primarily geared towards video and television but even a photographer could gain quite a bit of knowledge by reading this book. I feel that some chapters could be expanded into complete books of their own which is to say they are not as complete or deep as I would have liked. But still, the book is an excellent overview and could even lend itself to being a textbook for a class on lighting for digital video and television.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
All You Need to Know About Lighting, October 30, 2010
This review is from: Lighting for Digital Video and Television, Third Edition (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Whether you're a beginner or intermediate level filmmaker, this book is for you. It's full of detailed information and illustrations of everything you need to know about lighting for video shooting. A lot of the information is also helpful for still photography. You'll get an excellent foundation of knowledge here. Besides technical details of "how," the book talks about the "why." Author John Jackman writes, "The real key to fine lighting is not only to simulate reality, but to communicate the proper mood and feeling to the viewer. You need to know more than just basic techniques or tricks; its best to have an understanding of how certain looks will communicate to your viewers." As a beginner myself without a lot of money to buy or rent equipment, my favorite chapter is "Lighting Low-Budget Locations." Jackman talks about ways to use CFLs, worklights, and painters sticks to get a good shot. But don't be fooled. If you can get your hands on the professional gear, then he has that covered too. An invaluable resource for the videographer/filmmaker.
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