Sight, Sound, Motion: Applied Media Aesthetics (Hardcover)

by Herbert Zettl (Author)
Key Phrases: New York, Television Production Handbook, Herbert Zettl (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"I haven’t found anything nearly as comprehensive and focused… it is an easy book to understand."

"The book is a very solid platform for the beginning production student."

"I am extremely satisfied with Zettl’s textbook. It presents the basic principles in a comprehensive and fundamental manner." --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Description
This book should be of interest to undergraduate courses in film studies.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Wadsworth Pub Co; 2nd edition (April 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0534079520
• ISBN-13: 978-0534079529
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,150,549 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Filmmaker's Bible of Aesthetics or What Works and Why, November 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Sight, Sound, Motion: Applied Media Aesthetics (Hardcover)

This is probably the most important textbook a film production student can have on his/her shelf. NOT for how to work with actors or how to light a scene, but for understanding the underlying reasons of why things work due to our learned aesthetics and Western sensibilities.

Professor Herbert Zettl has written the most concise manual on why we has film viewers percieve things the way we do. He explains in detail (and layman's terms) how our aesthetics have been formed to interpret the dynamic medium of film and television.

How editing of action from shot to shot creates the illusion of continuous motion. How stagelines work so not to give the effect that your actor is jumping around from one side of the scene to the other. How to crop your shot BETWEEN the bodies natural cut-off points (i.e. neck, elbow, waist) to prevent the actor from looking like a disembodied head or torso.

This book is cover-to-cover insights into what we as viewers take for granted when we watch a good filmmaker's work, but may not consider when faced with the daunting task of mounting a film production and the on-set "reality" problems that dominate the filmmaker's mind when shooting a film.

I first read this book when I was in film school twenty years ago. Since then I have directed many professional film productions and I still review it before starting a new one to refresh myself.

Just as Syd Field's book "Screenplay" is the bible for screenwriting, "Sight Sound Motion" is the bible on understanding what works in film/video and why.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fundamental book on the theory of the moving image, May 20, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Sight, Sound, Motion: Applied Media Aesthetics (Hardcover)

This was the assigned textbook for my digital video 2 class, and it is simply wonderful. Zettl is a very knowledgable man on the subject of creating images for film, video, and even new media. (Zettl's text Video Basics 3 was used in my digital video 1 class as well) This book lays a solid foundation for the theory behind how and why the viewer perceives the moving image, and how the filmmaker and video producer can create more pleasing and coherent productions.

While the biggest complaint I've heard about this book is it's over-reliance on theory, it still does a good job of contextualizing theory into practical application. Thus the title of the book: APPLIED Media Aesthetics. Although I haven't read any of Eisentien's theories behind filmmaking, I suspect that Zettl's treatment would compete rather well, and is probably more accessible for a modern reader.

This book covers all the bases from color and light, time and space and structuring audio to image. Zettl succintcly deconstructs the intelligent mind behind the images and sound of our cultures film and television productions.

Sight, Sound, Motion: Applied Media Aesthetics explains the WHY of film and video production. If you're looking for HOW then turn to another book.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars motion graphics professor, June 3, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Sight, Sound, Motion: Applied Media Aesthetics (Hardcover)

"Sight, Sound, Motion: Applied Media Aesthetics explains the WHY of film and video production. If you're looking for HOW then turn to another book."

I would disagree with the above review. Only by learning WHY first, can we learn HOW later. This book is more than a cookie cutter approach to film and video. If you want to "click and drag" your way through an editing program, then true, this book is not for you. Add this to your collection if you want a book that teaches how to see and create film. Sight, Sound, Motion: Applied Media Aesthetics has staying power.