Penguin Bookshelf

Recently Focal Press sent us a lot of books. They are all pretty cool and deserve a mention. And then there's a book that irritated me.
Let's begin, shall we?

First up is EDITING by Justin Chang.

Sure, it has that Godawful Dark Knight flick on the cover, but this gives some delicious images and true attention the the craft of the editor. For people considering the business or just curious how it works, this is a good starting place.

Next we have CINEMATOGRAPHY BY Mike Goodridge and Tim Grierson

Filled with many breathtaking pictures and interviews with legendary and contemporary cinematographers, this is a great little book. Slim, yet packed with information.

The last good book of the group is DIRECTORS TELL THE STORY: MASTER THE CRAFT OF TELEVISION AND FILM DIRECTING by Bethany Rooney  and Mary Lou Belli. 

These two ladies have been down in the trenches. They have seen it and done it and bring some valuable insight to anyone considering this kind of wild and crazy career. A really great book on the subject of directing.

Finally we have SHUT UP AND SHOOT by Anthony Q. Artis.

First up, name sounds fake. Second, and this is my biggest problem, the cover says, 'Any budget, any camera, any time' Horseshit! The cheapest camera he lists is in the thousand dollar range. I'm one of those guys who likes to shoot quick and cheap. I have my own cable access show and we do some short films from time to time. My camera costs less than 200 bucks. And this whole HD or hi-def thing? Yeah, when they came out with the commercial for hi-def paint, I said goodbye to HD. Over rated. Truffaut says you should only shoot in natural light so why am I buying a light package? This was just the worst book I have read in a while. Save your pennies on a camera instead.

So, look these books up and give them a whirl. Well, maybe not that last one, but the rest of them.