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51 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tricks of the Trade from a Master, March 27, 2006
This review is from: Video Shooter: Storytelling with DV, HD, and HDV Cameras; DV Expert Series (Paperback)
To give you a hint of the level of this book, the first sentence on the back cover reads: 'It's now possible to make a high-quality movie or television program using a camera that costs under $5,000. While the book then says it's aimed at the Novice to Intermediate user, a $5,000 camera sorta says to me that this isn't a complete beginner who got a camera for Christmas.
Inside the book is relatively little about the camera. Instead the book is about shooting video. It's lighting, framing, capturing the action that's important. He talks about features of the camera, but from a sense of what that feature means to the shooter, it's not a 'camera a has this, camera b has that.'
Mr. Braverman, above all emphasizes that the idea in shooting video is to tell a story. Much of his commentary goes beyond the technical details into how to capture the story. He talks about what the camera sees, and relates this to what the audience gets from the story. Here are the tricks of the trade from a master.
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31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Braverman packs courses in film and digital video between the covers, January 5, 2007
This review is from: Video Shooter: Storytelling with DV, HD, and HDV Cameras; DV Expert Series (Paperback)
Barry Braverman brought me back to the days when the lust object of every aspiring filmnaker was their own Arriflex, Eclair, Beaulieu or Bolex. Braverman pines for those days, in a way, when he writes: "I hate DV [Digital Video]. I hate everything about it . . . Today I'm no longer that special [film] person as almost anyone can afford a decent camera and be a Video Shooter . . . " and he adds "[t]he issue now is who owns the storytelling craft - and that is a much tougher commodity to come by."
And with those opening words Braverman launches into a thorough exploration of both traditional filmmaking and digital video. It's literally a pair of high level courses in a single book and it is exceptionally well done.
Braverman knows film. Braverman knows digital video. Braverman knows the differences between the two. And Braverman knows not only how to tell a story in film or video, but how to write about it.
For anyone contemplating any serious work in video, this book is a must-have. Those aspiring to a career in video absolutely need it. But Braverman's book is equally useful to the serious hobbyist as well.
The book is lavishly illustrated with lots of how-to and "why you shouldn't" pictures. The writing is concise and natural, without any pretense toward preachiness. Braverman is very adept at mixing the very technical with explaining the art of visual storytelling. Lighting, camera selection sound, operation and shooting techniques. He covers it all. (I really do hope that Braverman authors a new edition every year or so just to keep apace of the changes in the technology.)
The man himself is worth the price of admission. Definitely a book anyone with an interest in telling stories through video will want to have.
Jerry
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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Book - A Must-Have For the DV/HDV Shooter, June 7, 2006
This review is from: Video Shooter: Storytelling with DV, HD, and HDV Cameras; DV Expert Series (Paperback)
This book far exceeded my expectations, even after reading all the five star reviews. The text is both engaging and informative - a rare combination for what might be termed a "how-to" type book. Braverman's book actually stands as an interesting read aside from the technical and artistic information it imparts. His style is refreshingly candid and his guidance practical.
Braverman provides an overview of all the fundamentals necessary to maximizing the quality of DV and HDV productions, including issues related to the equally critical areas of compression and burning to DVD. There are certain limitations inherent in the DV and HDV format, including excessive depth of field and a propensity to burn out detail in high light situations. Braverman helps the video shooter address and compensate for those deficiencies - even where the productions are limited to shooting video of the family. After all, if video isn't well shot, it's not going to be watched.
Looking forward to Braverman's next book.
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