How to Shoot Video That Doesn t Suck: Advice to Make Any Amateur Look Like a Pro

Description

How to Shoot Video That Doesn t Suck is a quick and easy guide that will make your video better instantly-- whether you read it cover to cover or just skim a few chapters.  It s about the language of video. How to think like a director, regardless of equipment (amateurs think about the camera, pros think about communication).  It s about the rules developed over a century of movie-making--which work just as well when shooting a two-year-old s birthday party. Written by Steve Stockman, the director of Two Weeks (2007), plus TV shows, music videos, and hundreds of commercials, How to Shoot Video That Doesn t Suck explains in 74 short, pithy, insightful chapters how to tell a story and entertain your audience. How to shoot video people will want to watch.

Here s how to think in shots--how to move-point-shoot-stop-repeat, instead of planting yourself in one spot and pressing "Record" for five minutes. Why never to shoot until you see the whites of your subject s eyes. Why to "zoom" with your feet and not the lens. How to create intrigue on camera. The book covers the basics of video production: framing, lighting, sound (use an external mic), editing, special effects (turn them off!), and gives advice on shooting a variety of specific situations: sporting events, parties and family gatherings, graduations and performances. Plus, how to make instructional and promotional videos, how to make a music video, how to capture stunts, and much more. At the end of every chapter is a suggestion of how to immediately put what you learned into practice, so the next time you re shooting you ll have begun to master the skill. Accompanying the book is a website with video clips to illustrate different video production rules, techniques, and situations."Like two years of film school in 248 pages" - Steven Pressfield, author of "The War of Art" and "The Legend of Bagger Vance"