Practical DV Filmmaking: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners (Book & CD-ROM) [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Russell Evans (Author) "'Four years ago, if you had a video and you wanted people to see it, you had to invite them all over to your house..." (more)
Key Phrases: lavalier mics, camera language, edit software, The Crunch, Martin Scorsese, Alfred Hitchcock (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"...A very useful book that....features extensive technical information, but is concerned with aesthetics as well."
- American Cinematographer -- Review

Review
"...A very useful book that....features extensive technical information, but is concerned with aesthetics as well."
- American Cinematographer
'The practicalities of filming are covered in detail. The author is keen to encourage ambition while stressing the limitations of zero budgets and the importance of keeping your feet firmly on the ground. The projects are varied and interesting.'
- Tomas Lewis, Media Education
'Practical DV Filmmaking will be of interest to many people I feel but especially those who find themselves asking questions like; Where do I start?; What’s a storyboard?; What is DV?; How does the Camcorder work; and what sort of movie can I put together? Practical DV Filmmaking does an excellent job of answering these questions and maybe a couple of thousand others (I kid you not).'
- Des Owen, Creative Cow

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Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Focal Press (June 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0240516575
• ISBN-13: 978-0240516578
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #779,381 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The absolute best introduction to the field, January 14, 2003

By A Customer

This book should be the first on every aspiring filmmakers shelf, and should be the next addition for every filmmaker who is already hard at work. Evans presents the information in a practical, well thought out format and supplies plenty of examples, sources of further information, and a ton of helpful internet links. If this book doesn't have enough depth for you, it will certainly point you in the right direction. The examples used are familiar films, both current and clasic (and of every genre), as well as examples from low budget and student films. All of these elements form the best book I've read about filmmaking aimed at the industrious DV pioneer. This book was actually more helpful than 4 years of film school classes. Buy this book, read it, and go make some movies.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, August 25, 2004

By	Stephen L. Noe "Stephen L. Noe" (Boca Raton, FL) - See all my reviews

The book itself is excellent and answered most of my questions. The depth of the book is in the supporting material. So many internet links to great content can take you months to read if you wanted to spend the time. Very intelligent in the layout. It gives you exercises to complete before you go to the next step and the exercises are designed to get you to know yourself as film maker and to get to know your equipment and tools (ie limitations). This book goes a long way in helping you realize yourself as a DV film maker.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tells you Everything you know!!!, January 3, 2006

By	White Shark (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Practical DV Filmmaking, Second Edition (Paperback)

This book is fantastic. Evans outlines everything from the direction that audio waves are received depending on which external mic is used, to the compression rate for web movies. The book is incredibly up to date, as it should be considering it just came out. The set up of the book is very much like the 'for dummies' series, considering that there are projects along the way for you to undertake to sharpen your skills, along with info and ww link boxes. Most other books out there just outline what you need to do but don't tell you how to do things. This book really tells you what is going on when your making a film, and just doesn't say, if you do this then the picture will look pretty. He gets technical, and that's what needs to be said to give people getting into this a better understanding of what they are doing . He starts off with a great intro, for those who are just getting into digital filmmaking it really outlines what needs to be done to succeed. He identifies each technical aspect that he is going to cover, and then goes on to explain how you need to get to know your camera. Its obvious that a ton of research has been put into this book, as it really tells you everything you could possibly need to know. If you buy this book first then there really is no need for any other book out there. I've read this book cover to cover 1 time so far, and plan on reading it 2 more times.