Review (PDF) Single-Camera Video Production
Single Camera Video Production, fifth edition is intended for the beginning media student and as a reference for experienced media professionals to review the rapidly changing technology and production techniques in the digital media production field.Single Camera Video Production provides an overview of the entire video production process and is especially geared to present production techniques used in single-camera video production. Presented in a concise, easy-to-understand format, readers gain the insight they need to create their own (digital) video productions. Clear illustrations demonstrate the techniques presented in the book. This new edition expands the concentration on digital equipment and production techniques applicable to single camera video production. Field production is accentuated without ignoring studio single camera production. There is also detailed coverage of digital non-linear editing, digital audio, and lighting for digital productions. A new section is included on production workflow designed to carry out the importance of advanced and consistent planning of a production from audience analysis to format choices and eventual distribution methods that must start during the preproduction stage. Presented in an easy to follow, two-page spread layout, the topics are concise and clear. More than 100 new illustrations show the latest equipment and techniques. An expanded production bibliography and glossary complete the additions to this book. Don't miss the other Media Manuals from Focal Press! Check out Grammar of the Shot 2e and Grammar of the Edit 2e. Praise for the last edition:"Single-Camera Video Production is easy reading for the newcomer yet it has enough depth for the video professional. Chapters on digital video, nonlinear editing and a full description of pre-production treatments and contracts make it an excellent resource." - Videomaker "The Focal Press Media Manual series sets out to deliver practical advice, technical know-how and practical skills in a direct, no-nonsense way, without information overload, making sure the essentials are all well-covered. Musburger's Single Camera Video Production, now in its fourth edition, faithfully sticks to this format, with surprising clarity for a complex technology...What is really good about this manual is that it explains every aspect of production and every role on set, but also how they dovetail to support each other...This is a manual that as the name suggests, you should keep close at hand. It is invaluable as a quick-access reference...a pocket book that will pay for itself time and time again throughout many productions." - www.shootingpeople.org
Paperback: 316 pages
Publisher: Focal Press; 5 edition (February 2, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0240812646
ISBN-13: 978-0240812649
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.7 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #911,204 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #223 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Television > Direction & Production #1071 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Movies > Video > Direction & Production #1318 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Movies > Direction & Production
The great thing about digital video is that it's democratized video production, expanding access to the tools of production to virtually anyone. The downside of this is that most people are ill-trained in how to use these tools properly. They need to learn some of the basics of visual communication. "Single-Camera Video Production" aims to convey these basic techniques, but largely misses the mark.This 5th edition is this book's first update since 1993, and it shows. A fair amount of the info seems outdated and it's obvious the author is unfamiliar with newer digital technology. From constantly calling a computer a CPU, to not knowing what AVI stands for, to actually stating that an editing application will "respond to the instruction you give the CPU through the menus and keyboard," Robert B. Musburger doesn't seem to be the most up-to-speed teacher of digital video technology.A major gripe with this book is the editing. A big portion of this slim 250-page book is unused blank space. It's common to see a two page spread with 3/4 of it blank. Given all that emptiness they could have easily fit in more pictures to illustrate some of the book's more visual points, such as the concept of look space. Otherwise the publishers could've saved a lot of paper.An even bigger problem is the sheer amount of typos that litter this book, especially in technical data. There's one table of video format info that has 5 typos in it. It gets to the point where I can't trust the numbers the author is using because they often seem slightly off from the common formats I've seen in my years of working with video.The writing is often needlessly technical without being informative.
You would never know that this is the brand-new, 2010 5th edition of a book on video production. Some of the photos and content are clearly left over from a first edition written in the long-forgotten past. I built my first commercial video studio 26 years ago in 1984, and some of the content here was out of date then. Here are specific examples:Chapter Three, "The Equipment," bounces between equipment photos, descriptions and techniques. Unfortunately, the photos are dated and often unclear. For example, those illustrating wide and narrow depth of field are indistinguishable from each other, and the light meter shown gathering incident and reflected light readings looks like it is from the 1960s or 70s.On page 77, a photo labelled "6 pin Firewire connector" is actually an HDMI connector, while the connector labelled "Firewire" is actually the 6-pin variety. The 4-pin connector is labelled correctly.Chapters Four and Five, "PreProduction" and "Production" are a bit dated, but still viable. These techniques have not changed much for non-CGI productions. No big complaints here.Chapter Six, "Postproduction," is where the book fails utterly. The author tries to cover both linear and non-linear editing but succeeds at neither. Clearly, no professional editor was involved with publishing this book, because if there was one, he/she would have recognized that paragraphs like these were content-free filler written by a non-computer user:"A CPU loaded with an editing application will respond to the instruction you give the CPU through the menus and keyboard. Most editing applications come with a special keyboard, key stickers or an overlay that covers the keyboard keys and shows you the special editing commands.
I didn't dislike this book as much as some other reviewers, but I don't disagree with any of their comments. It -does- seem dated and the reason for me is that it is not tightly focused on single camera digital video production from start to finish. Instead, it is kind of a mix of older video camera technologies, even old film camera ideas, and seems like it is more of a general overview of relevant broad topics for videographers, rather than clearly focused 100% relevant-to-digital video topics.If you have an interest in an overview--sound, budget, 3-point lighting etc, I think it gets a bit more specific than the average amateur filmmaker will know. (I never remember what codec means or why it's important for example, though more discussion of the various possibilities would be helpful). I like things like charts with pictures of the different types of cables and how to identify them--simply because it's the kind of thing I rarely pay attention to but which is one of those details everyone -should- know.But, with that in mind, this part of another review is alarming: "On page 77, a photo labelled "6 pin Firewire connector" is actually an HDMI connector, while the connector labelled "Firewire" is actually the 6-pin variety. The 4-pin connector is labelled correctly." I didn't catch that at all, but as someone who once needed a 6 pin firewire and ordered a 4-pin by mistake (useless!), the last thing you need is a reference book with incorrect information.The book tries to give an overview, which is fine, but you never really feel your overview is in the hands of a man who is an expert in current digital video technologies.
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