Books we learned from

Video Shooter: Storytelling with DV, HD, and HDV Cameras Barry Braverman

The best book we know for an amateur videomaker who wants to work like a pro, written by a pro with decades of experience from feature films to no-budget videos. Interesting perspective and refresher even if you worked in this field for many years. Practical, well-written, well illustrated, and always lively. Braverman actually cover much more than shooting, giving useful advice on everything involved in a production. Because we liked the book so much, we sought out Barry for an interview.

Single-Camera Video Production, Fourth Edition Robert B. Musburger

The information you need for setup, lighting and most of your practical shooting is in this book. The style is very dry, but precise and clear. Musberger is a good book if you're serious about the craft of shooting. The book is written by a pro for pros and those who would like to be. There is little flair in the book, but if you want to get better at shooting the information is here and well-explained. While the title is "single-camera", most of the information applies in almost any video shooting situation.

Final Cut Express 4: Visual QuickStart Guide, After Effects CS3 Professional for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickPro Guide, Premiere Pro CS3 for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickPro Guide

Final Cut Pro 6: Visual QuickPro Guide Lisa Brenneis, Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 Classroom in a Book, Adobe After Effects CS3 Professional Classroom in a Book,

For more than a decade, we've been learning from the Peachpit QuickStart, QuickPro, and Classroom in a Book series. The experience they bring to these guides almost always produces an excellent book, designed for effective learning.

How to Shoot a Movie and Video Story: The Technique of Pictorial Continuity Arthur L. Gaskill and David A. Englander.

A short book from which we learned. Now out of print, but Amazon had a dozen used copies.

The Five C's of Cinematography: Motion Picture Filming Techniques Joseph V. Mascelli

“Internet Video” is very different from the films Joe Mascelli wrote about in the 1960's but “The Five C's” (camera angles, continuity, cutting, close-ups, and composition) are still essentials of our craft. Mascilli's clear exposition of basic principles remains right on target and is again in print for about $20. Arthur C. Miller's introduction begins “While production of motion pictures has changed considerably since I photographed The e Perils of Pauline in 1914, some aspects - particularly those involving story telling - are still the same as they were half a century ago.” Yet another half century later, that remains true.

Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting by Sid Field

Field's remarkable book sums up the full range of clichés that define popular movies. While that may not appeal to intellectuals, the screenwriters of an extraordinary range of motion pictures credit Field. His work was crucial to Gorillas in the Mist; Like Water for Chocolate; Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Titanic, Silence of the Lambs, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban\and an amazing number more. Very practical material about building conflict, audience expectations, and the like.

Safari Online Library

This book, and almost everything else from Peachpit, O'Reilly and a slew of other good publishers, is available on line at Safari. The cost of access to everything there is as little as $22.95/month. Really convenient when you have a lot to learn. http://safari.peachpit.com/

Master Lessons

In the Blink of an Eye Walter Murch

His Cold Mountain was one of the first <major motion picture> edited with Final Cut Pro. He's extraordinarily reflective about his work, which includes The Godfather Trilogy, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, The Unbearable Lightness of Being and a dozen more extraordinary film. His spirit is generous and his book thoughtful. Hitchcock by Francois Truffaut and Helen ScottThis is a book length interview with two masters explaining their craft.

What is Cinema? André Bazin

Essays by the mentor of Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Éric Rohmer, Claude Chabrol, and Jacques Rivette. These French New Wave filmmakers in turn were the acknowledged inspiration of Coppola, Spielberg, and Lucas. Powerful ideas well expressed.

Movies about Movies

Vision of Light: The Art of Cinematography

The Cutting Edge: Magic of Movie Editing

Two remarkable films where the best Hollywood pros explain their craft. Short comments and illustrative clips from more than a dozen Academy Award winner. Both films are remarkable and show “how it's done.”

Lynda's Training

Lynda Weinman has built a mini-empire of books and videos about computer graphics, web site creation, the most popular computer programs, databases, and programming. There are 70 titles on video software and related topics, most of which have five to twelve hours of video instruction. For $25/month, you can access all of them online. It's a great way to learn software. http://www.lynda.com/

Meet and Learn

We hope this book has helped you, but nothing is better than learning directly from the pros. So find your local groups and get connected. That's also the best way to find a job in the business or people to work with you.

Final Cut Pro Users Groups

Organized in cities across North America, they come together for a big party at NAB in the spring.

Video 2.0 and other Meetups

Hundreds of New York video people come to the Video 2.0 meetup once a month, where novices rub shoulders with MTV vice presidents. Good group, very welcoming, always free once they need a few dollars for the room rental. Meetup.com is definitely worth checking for events in your area.

Videobloggers NY

A smaller group, but choice and very dedicated to help each other get better. Andrew Baron of Rocketboom is a leader. If you're visiting New York, try to make the monthly meeting.

NAB, IBC, and SIGGRAPH

NAB is in Las Vegas in the Spring, while IBC is in Amsterdam in early fall. These are huge shows where every manufacturer shows their latest gear, and loaded with free presentations by interesting presenters. The exhibits are often free if you register in advance. A great chance to meet people who can help you and to learn the latest. We met our editor, Karen Johnson, in the Peachpit booth at the FCPUG meeting at NAB. SIGGRAPH, the “Special Interest Group on Graphics” is where the best animators and graphics people gather. TinToy, from Pixar, played SIGGRAPH years before the team made Toy Story and the other feature films. Usually in August, the location changes every year.

Streaming Media East and West

If you want to know about encoding, content delivery, software for networks on the web, and the like, Dan Rayburn's event is the place to be. Dan has been in the center of this for more than a decade, seems to know everything and everyone, and puts together a strong program.

The Expensive Trade Shows

Digital Hollywood, iHollywood's Digital Media event, DMV's Future of TV, and similar emphasize the business side. The main action is executives meeting each other; if that's your game, these are all strong events. The three mentioned are well programmed, with both prestigious speakers and many real experts. A good place to hang out is you aspire to moguldom or the many jobs on the business side of web video.