Master Shots Vol 1, 2nd edition: 100 Advanced Camera Techniques to Get An Expensive Look on your Low Budget Movie (Chinese Edition) 2nd Edition, Kindle Edition

I've been a professional photographer for many years and was interested in translating "still" shots into film/digital live motion. I understand the lighting fundamentals and scene set-ups as well as many DOF applications and post photo retouches. Although this book doesn't go into the technical lighting and DOP / shutter speed details of shooting film/digital, it makes up for that by demonstrating camera set-up and movement and how these kinds of shots set certain moods or lead ins for establishing scenes.Considering this, I must say that those that have an understanding of lighting and focal length, shutter speed, etc.(fundamental photo and video theory), will benefit the most from this book. If you're a novice, I recommend carefully looking at the illustrative photos and thinking more about how the lighting and DOP, etc. contribute to "selling" the shot and also pick-up a book on lighting and scene set-up fundamentals.In general, great book that dissects the many camera technique and movements used in MANY if not all movies that we take for granted. Also has great real world examples to convey that technique so you can view it for yourself if you're ambitious enough.

This was a gift for a friend of mine that had been in the film industry for many years, but was starting to get more experience behind the camera. I also went through the book, and noticed plenty of tips and techniques for anyone relatively new to directing or camera work. But there also seems to be a bit that would still be helpful to experienced directors, as well.Did it help my friend? He went from helping with small, shoestring-budget flicks, to directing movies with a decent budget. So I would say that the book definitely served its purpose.

Book came in a poor condition probably to blame usps or any other carriers, however the book is very enjoyable and informational I just wish the pictures were colored so it would be easier to see; hope you have good luck with the delivery

I haven't sat down and read this book straight through yet, but that isn't necessarily the intent either. This is a reference book and actually a quite ingenious tool. It's like training wheels for a new director or DP - when breaking down a script for a story board or shot list, you can simply skim through the book for the type of scene you are doing and find the various shot setups with full descriptions of how they are used and what they do to convey the different emotions you would be going for in the scene. There are pictures everywhere that clearly illustrate the setups, so it is easy to navigate the book and quickly understand the technique. The author recommends buying several copies for crew members and actually using it on set for reference to the look you are building. I don't know if that would work on a lot of sets, but indie projects and student films with inexperienced crews could greatly benefit from that kind of reference point. I'm definitely going to use it liberally in storyboarding an upcoming short film.The bottom line is, I can't think of any reason not to have this book.

This is one of a series of books that suggest great compositions for video scenes. The information is generally very good, but sometimes the illustrations are poor. Regardless, I found the explanations for how the shot is motivated to be very helpful. My only complaints are (1) the wide format of the book and large size is very cumbersome, and (2) I wish all three books were combined into one. I suppose the 2nd and 3rd volumes were introduced after the publisher saw market interest in the first. However, the size and awkward format of these three books is unwieldy to carry around to video shoots. In spite of my nit picking, I would recommend these books to directors and camera operators, as there are many good examples of shots to consider.

For the beginner or occasional filmmaker, this is a great book. Essentially it is an encyclopedia of master shots, a hundred of them. Most are illustrated with stills from various films and with 3D models created in Poser 7. The author provides details about how the shot is set up, the feeling the shot is intended to convey and pertinent information. Kenworthy deliberately stays away from things like lenses, equipment, lighting and so on. His point is that the shots can be accomplished with any kind of camera. It is the point of view that matters and the action that establishes the meaning of the shot and advances the story. Master Shots is definitely an aid to the beginning filmmaker or those who shoot only occasionally and could you a bit of assistance in visualizing how to tell their story. For a very reasonable cost, you have a hundred classic master shots diagrammed and explained for you. Good deal.Jerry

I was a bit skeptical of the digest format when I bought this, but it's a great little guide to adding some variety to your short productions.It's a well-illustrated book breaking down shots you've seen in film and TV, with practical advice on how to shoot them.It's a very fair price for the advice within, although it doesn't get into much theory, it's straight to the "nuts and bolts" without telling you too much about why you're doing what you're doing. That could be a pro or a con depending on your inclinations.My only reservation is some of the illustrations are from a 3d program such as Poser and I would prefer more actually photography.The "short version:" Very good advice for the price.

For film making and script writing Michael Wiese Productions (MWP) are my Go-to-Guys. On the positive side this book is packed with camera techniques clearly explained which will no doubt make a valuable contribution to any movie you make.HOWEVER, while the blurb on the back says, for this 2nd edition, "every image has been digitally remastered for clarity", I DISAGREE! The movie images lack sharpness, are unclear and are in black and white, a letdown for what I believed was a quality book. The examples of camera position and subject placement were very useful but as with the selected movie frames, they too lack sharpness and are unclear. Unfortunately MWP let themselves down in this respect unlike their usual very good to excellent standard.

Do you have a decent DVD collection and a free weekend? If so you could easily write this book.There is a desperate shortage of decent education material on composition and camera movement for film, so I have read most books out there. This book doesn't attempt any synthesis or theoretical discussion, but instead is just a catalogue of shots from well known movies.I would have preferred if the author had at least tried to form some kind of general theory from the example shots, but it is what it is.The main problem is the incredible laziness with which the material was put together. There is one (1!) example for each shot. How hard would it have been to find a second example of each shot? If there is no second example for the shot how are we to know if this is really a reusable shot, or when it is appropriate? Can you really learn or generalize from a single example?Instead of a second example we get an ugly Poser recreation of the scene that provides no value.The examples frames are generally too few in number to give any understanding of the motion in the shot. The diagrams of the camera movement generally don't include essential information like the direction of rotation of the camera.The text is generally vague, and is in a huge font that takes up valuable space that could have been used for more stills.The printing quality is woeful, and much squinting and peering is required to make sense of any darker stills.With all that said, there are some interesting examples in this book, and most readers will probably get something out of it.But, if you have the discipline, and the time, then you would get much more by watching a few good DVDs with a notebook handy.

I would highly recommend any student film maker to buy this book. It is simplified for anyone to grasp and gain an idea on composition of a shot and how to play out a scene in the most dramatic way. This should be in any film makers library of books.

Would have been better on quality and printed in colour. Otherwise good

Good book. I use it to teach