Customer Reviews

Setting Up Your Shots: Great Camera Moves Every Filmmaker Should Know

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I don't normally write reviews, but I am so insulted by this book (and I've never been insulted by a book before), that I feel compelled to write this review. If I can save one person from spending money on this piece of literature, then I will at least have got some satisfaction out of buying what is the worst book I have ever owned.

The review above by Robert Zraick is spot on, it's insulting, badly written, badly illustrated. I'm mystified as to how anyone could give this crap a rating of five, let alone even publish such utter rubbish. I just wish I had listened to Robert. Anyone that disagrees with Roberts review must either have an agenda (i.e. they have a relationship with the talent-less author), or they are actually quite intellectually challenged.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a professor, and I'm only an amateur photographer, but this book is just terrible, so if I can work that out most of you will too.

This book is written by Jeremy Vineyard, who is apparently "a writer and avid student of film" (his description).......This should read, who has never completed any elements of formal study, has no industry experience, has never worked professionally as a DOP and is a world expert in setting up a shot...

In short, this guy sat in front of his video player watched a ton of movies, wrote down as many different types shots as he could identify, had his mate draw up some equally amateur pictures (by Jose Cruz, who is unfortunately talent-less as well. I'm not kidding, an 8 year old can do better illustrations) and then made up some really neaty names for each one (just to help you remember the shots)..... my god, how did this is ever get published, it's a total tragedy.

Just to help us further, he's included some tuition in the form of some really brilliant exercises to help with your development. These follow after each chapter, which is to help hone your skills. Here's a word for word example of an 'exercise' from `Exercises' page 22. "Read a few good books on composition" (no recommendations given). That's Jeremy's very special piece of advice, just for us. Thanks Jeremy, you're a star. I'm running out the door right now to find that good book. Your wisdom, direction and skilful tuition techniques has truly changed my life. Another personal favourite is "Visit an art gallery or read a photography book" (also a verbatim copy of an `exercise').

On every page you get "This Jeremy's made up name for the shot", followed by the title "What does it look like" then a couple of paragraphs and then the title "Where can I see it" which is where he points you to a specific film (not the scene as that would require additional writing skills)....this is on every page, it drives you crazy.

Unless your IQ is the same size as your shoe size, don't buy this crap. Go and get a copy of "The Five C's of Cinematography" and don't waste you time on this amateur (it's not even amateur, its actually worse than that) attempt to be creative. The 5 C's is written with the same intent as this book, but delivers what this doesn't, and it's written by an experienced professional.

This book is B grade rubbish, do yourself a favour, don't buy it.

I was very disappointed in this book. "Setting Up Your Shots" tries to fill a needed gap for a book that explains the basic visual vocabulary of video composition. This book ends up being nothing more than an extended glossery with thubnail descriptions and B&W line drawings to illistrate the shot. But it goes into very little detail about when these shots are used. It does mention a film or two that uses each shot. There is not even a brief discussion of ideas like open vs closed form or any other guiding principle of choosing which shot to use. There is often little or no instruction on how to acheive a shot. For instance, it tells you what rack focus is, but not how to exicute one. There is a brief discussion of axis of action, also known in video as the vector line, but it is so brief as to be useless. Mostly, the book seems written to a ninth or tenth grade level. This book might be of some use to a beginner who just bought their first camcorder and wants a quick apply-it-right-now manual, or to a juinor high student. But there are better books available that discuss shots, like "Picture Composition" by Ward, or chapters 2 and 3 of "Understanding Movies" by Louis Giannetti, although these are more expensive and take more work to read and understand. Also, the author recommends reading other books on subjects like compositon, but there are no specific books recommended. Spend a little more money and time and find a more complete and useful resource. This might work as a glossery to a larger book, but it doesn't stand alone very well.

This is without a doubt one of the most worst books I have ever read. It is written for a child and has a tone which will be insulting to anyone who is intersted in professional film making.

In some cases the author is simply incorrect in his terminology. The author is a wannabe film maker who has a snowball's chance in hell of ever doing anything other than to write this innane piece of crap.

This book was obviously not written by a professional film maker, but by an amateur for amateurs.

The illustrator claims to be a "professional". The illustrations for this book are equally bad.

Don't waste your time or money on this waste of paper.

I got this book expecting to learn something about cinematography, when to use certain shots and why. This book was ony usefull as basically a dictionary of different shots and lingo. I was expecting to learn the grammer of film to be able to create effective "sentences" (or sequences) of shots. For the most part, this book only gives you the "words" (or shots) without telling you how to use them and when or why.

If you aldready know the basiscs like what pan, tilt, dolly, crane and tracking shots are you know as much as this book will tell you.

I am a film student and currently working on a tv show. I bought this book to augment my school studies in film but found it to be way too basic for me. It can be an excellent starter book for someone interesting in learning what the different camera angles are called. If you are someone you has never even though or analyzed the various angles before this book MIGHT be helpful. But a warning it does not always use the common terms as in the case of the dutch tilt, it barely mention that this angle is sometimes called that when it reality is most commonly refered to as such.

This book is intended for new filmmakers, film buffs and as reference for experienced filmmakers. It introduces the reader to many types of shots and opens one's eyes to many possibilities. Unfortunately, it seems that the negative reviews about this book are centered around it being too simplistic or basic. I believe those reviewers did not understand the intent behind this book and missed the point entirely. I think all subjects should start with the very basics and describe what the goal is first, then one can address how to achieve it technically (which is not what this book is necessarily about). If I had any complaints, it would only be a couple of minor points. The first is that there are a few technical words used, but are not defined for the reader, who has to then look elsewhere to understand them. Next, although the authors clearly state that they had to invent many terms to describe certain shots, there is no way to distinguish which are the standard terms and which are the made-up ones. Otherwise, this is an excellent first step for any new filmmaker and also a great reference for finding the perfect shot for any scene you need help coming up with. And most certainly, I am not going to complain that is was too simple to read and clearly illustrated! I wish all books were written this straight forward!

What this boils down to is an 'avid student' of film-making has produced a listing of shots he's seen from watching movies. The shots are represented by a single story board illustration and a very brief explanation of the shot.

My first reaction was to return this book for a refund. However, I've felt that my shooting style was falling into a rut lately, and I found a couple of examples in the book that I had been neglecting. So, I grudgingly admit I got something out of it, despite the fact the author has little, if any, experience actually producing movies.

I think this book would have been more useful if it had been assembled as a pocket-sized, spiral-bound reference guide that could be used in the field. But, to be really useful, the author would need to learn more of the professional terminology and include good diagrams.

My biggest gripe about this, and a few other "how-to" books, is that it lacks any evidence that the author has ever tried to do what he is telling us how to do. I don't think people who haven't tried out their own advice should be charging for it.

Its true, this book does exactly what the author set out to do. To show us a list of different shots from the dolly to the crane, with simple illustrations. Those who gave the book bad reviews completely missed the point entirely. If you want a "real" book on shot composition and directing get Katz's "shot by shot" Actually I recommend buying both books together. I read Jeremy Vineyard's book in one day and took several notes. For those who think the book was too basic, well you have to start with baby steps and this book definetely helped me. An invaluable reference guide for any newbie filmmaker. Jeremy thanks for taking the time out to watch all those movies and pointing the shots out. Trust me its worth it.

i bought this book hoping to have an additional resource for inspiration when planning my shots, but out of the entire book there's probably only 1 or 2 pages that are even worth printing. the rest of the ideas are so obvious that i 'read' this book in about 20 min.

it's basically a big list of moves, one page at a time. no noteworthy discussions about each one other than maybe a paragraph or two. no talk of blocking, or the logistics of actually setting up your shots on the set.

just a list of ideas... tired ideas.

it's also a very irregular shape, so it sticks out of my library like a sore thumb.



'cinematic motion' by stephen katz is a much better place to start (as is his other book on directing--- 'shot by shot')

don't waste your time with this.

Don't waste your money, I first read this when I was just begining my study of all things film and even then it offered nothing useful. This book my take you all of 15 mins to read since it is mostly pictures. Even for the beginner this book offers noghting new.