Customer Reviews

Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound, Second Edition

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

 

 

I found the book very entertaining to read, Yewdall tells many personal stories which he uses to illustrate points. In fact, I read it more like a novel. He passes his knowledge, and experience to the reader through stories of things he's done, and has seen in his many years recording, producing and creating sound for motion pictures. Some is fact, some is opinion, but his opinions are clear and are backed-up with his own unique style of logic.

There are also more technical areas of the book that cover topics like mic placement, how to record cars/explosions/dialogue, how to catalogue your own sound effects libary, etc. This book would also be useful to directors and producers who want better sound in their films. There's definately lots to learn about sound, and the author has done a good job giving the reader an idea about what motion picture sound is all about.

Author/recordist David Yewdall does a terrific job explaining the highly-technical goings-on behind the scenes in the world of film sound. Recording, mixing, dubbing, and digital audio techniques are all covered in a way that never talks over the reader's head.

The content is absolutely state-of-the-art (as of mid-2000), and is the first thorough book I've ever seen on the subject. Anybody who's interested in recording sound for TV or films -- high budget, low budget, or inbetween -- will get something positive out of this book. Highly recommended!

David is one of my teachers at North Carolina School of the Arts School of Filmmaking and his class is incredibly indepth. Of course, this is the book he uses in class. It is so easy to read and understand. I recommend this book to everyone, even if you know nothing about sound as this book will get up and going quickly and give you everything you need to be successful.

Mr. Yewdall, the author, puts his long time experience into this book. Avoiding pitfalls with producers to working with budgetary constraints while producing academy award winning sound is probably the main emphasis of this book. The CD that comes with it is quite valuable, containing sample audio clips to demonstrates the author's points at various times. This book will save you atleast 2 years of experience in motion picture sound. It's worth every penny.

If you need a good, practical start to film sound, then this is your book. For starters it will help you to realize just how important sound is to making a good film, and how early you need to start thinking about it. It is well written and entertaining as well. Recommended to me by a sound engineer with decades of experience in the business.

Yes this book is really worthless for anyone who's looking for technical information about how to create a good motion picture sound. For more then 550 pages the author is telling about what a terrible genious he is, about how stupid all the others are, about all the stories that he was in (or is it his imagination?). It's also an add for PC Tools and Nagra (however the latter is outdated already for a long time). Don't spent your money nor time on this.

As mentioned, Mr. Yewdall really knows his stuff, and the personal approach is unique and highly effective. It's rare to see a subject like this tackled in such a personal manner, and on that level it works.

However, as a "read" it has its problems. It is extremely lenghty, the writing is at times long-winded, and much of the information is unnecessary. The Pro Tools chapter should probably be removed entirely as it shows a lack of real awareness of how the system is being used by professional operators. (and it really doesn't seem to be his strength anyway.)

More troubling for me was the attitude. He has quite an ego, and his anti-intellectualism is not a positive influence, not for those practicing sound arts nor those who work with them (producers, directors, editors). In many ways, his book is geared toward all practitioners in film, and I fear that his attitude reinforces the perception many people have of the bitter sound guy.

However, while I found that aspect tiring, there's no denying that this is easily the most revealing book on audio for film I've found. If you want an in-depth look at the nuts and bolts process of film sound, you'll definitely learn a great deal in Mr. Yewdall's book.

This is the first book I've read on the specific topic of sound for films. I saw this listed on the Berkely School of Music website as a listed text book, so I figured if it's good enough for them....
There's a lot of great technical tips on many aspects of sound recording, from on-camera dialog, sound effects in the field, foley stage, to editing both linear and non-linear. The only thing less touched on was some techniques on the final mix of a soundtrack, even though the process of it was covered.
This book would be better for someone who's getting ready to enter the professional field, or just starting as tons of politics are discussed which at points made some chapters seems like an E! Entertainment report. Funny, but a little overkill for someone not in "the business".
Lastly, I would have liked to hear more about the mistakes the author made and how he learned from them, with solutions and the problem solving techniques used. Most references are on how everyone else made the mistake of not listening to the author, which comes across a little snooty, but I get the point. Good basic tips and setup for using ProTools as well. If you don't mind all the politics, and camera talk, then this will be a great read and learning expierence.

There's a lot of really good stuff in here - clear, concise, and helpful, even if the author is a little hubristic at times. Sadly, all of the information dealing with computer-based audio is at least ten years old: the author mentions applications like Sound Designer and the 'Audio Media III' hardware card, which went out with beige Macs.

Few filmmaking textbook writers give a reader all the information needed in a textbook to label it one of the top ten books for self-starters in the film industry. This one contains: Technical information about recording sound and about post-production, a practical guide to motion picture set protocal (when to say action), budgeting information and how to avoid budgeting errors based on actual filmmaker's experiences.

The author shows sample budgets and explains in detail with specific examples how using some popular budgeting software, that leaves out "line items", will push a film's expenses over budget (Waterworld!). He offers his personal experience about how people who sign contracts for a production, who have no knowledge of the process, often do not interpret a contract correctly for foley and other post-production sound. This contract mistake can make a budget skyrocket. His emphasis on equating budget control with artistic control makes this a top ten book for aspiring or working Producers and Directors, as well as Sound Professionals.

In my last few years running a website for alternative learning in the filmmaking industry, after reviewing about 70 textbooks, I have yet to find ten books that give professionals with no inside knowledge of the film industry both practical step-by-step insider knowledge of the business as well as artistic and technical information that is understandable to persons with basic skills. I interpret basic skills as technical (camera, computer), artistic (creative), and business.

Tomlinson Holman's Sound for Film and Television textbook is almost wholly technical compared to Yewdall's Practical Art. Holman is the creator of the THX sound system.

For all the reasons above and particularly for Yewdall's use of plain language and specific examples, this textbook is on my list of top ten books, to read and own, as an alternative or supplement to actual hands on experience in the filmmaking industry!

Pamela Curry/Webmaster, Film Director in Training, Film Studio Faux