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Best books of all time?

Clayton Taylor

Clayton Taylor

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Hey everyone! I'm always looking to expand what little I know and continue to learn. What are some of the greatest Cinematography books/resources that all of you swear by? What do you feel has taught you the most?
 
I own thousands of American cinematographer magazines, dozens of manuals, and probably hundreds of other books on cinematography. My number one is Reflections.
 
Catch 22.

Oh, you meant cinematography books. '-)
 
Cinematography is tech and art as well as dependent on social skills, so you might not find a single one [book].

For tech, that is maybe a simple answer: Digital Cinematography, David Strump, ASC, FOCAL PRESS. (Talking about Digital)

For the art form, well, that is difficult. I have read any book in the past 30 years about Cinematography I could get my hands on, I would say, not a single one is complete.
Filmmaking is the most complex art form, as it can contain all other art forms. Most cinematography books are not really touching the ground, and trying to explain it without integrating the thinking over time (edit, montage) nor how to transfer the story into pictures.
I do not critiques here the books, not at all, I mention it only, as this craft is something that needs time to be developed and is certainly not done by putting "Cinematographer" on ones business card.

For the On-Set skills, being the closest partner to the director and best (hopefully) friend to the cast and producer, I would suggest reading books about those areas (directing, acting, and producing) to understand these and communicate in a good way with them.

After all, I gained the most by reading interview based Cinematography books, and watch parallel the movies in question.

Cinematography is, after all a multi skill based endeavor, which needs constant creative and ingenious skills, as it is not a static art form. It is a life long commitment.
 
My favorite book on Cinematography is "Cinematography Theory and Practice" by Blain Brown. I'm really into ASC magazine too.
 
David Mullen ASC said:
"Film Lighting" by Kris Malkiewicz.
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Awesome, just ordered and reading, thanks ! Right off the bat I love this book, like the comment talking about shooting a scene "... you should never stop having that fear of the unkown."


On a resource front, FXPHD just changed how they do things, for $99 you can look at a large amount of material (video & downloads, with access to almost all the new software). If your at all interested in the VR cinema side, the nuke classes are awesome and are intermixed with filming classes. It's definatly worth a month to go through the material, especially if your doing a lot of lighting and vfx in post.
 
Hugh Scully said:
My favorite book on Cinematography is "Cinematography Theory and Practice" by Blain Brown. I'm really into ASC magazine too.
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Second this.

Also, The Lean Forward Moment by Norman Hollyn, and Cinematic Storytelling by Jennifer Van Sijll are great resources.
 
"Lighting for Film and Digital Cinematography" by Dave Viera. By far the best book to explain exposure. And you can't truly understand lighting without understanding exposure. After reading it, you will look at the GIO scope and marvel at its usefulness.
 
For lighting and set power, I recommend the 4th edition of Harry Box's "Set Lighting Technicians Handbook." Online you can find very in depth information about how different types of lights affect set power quality.

Paul Dean
 
Marc Wielage said:
Chris Malkiewicz' and David Mullen's book Cinematography has some good tips:

http://www.amazon.com/Cinematograph...=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1458981608&sr=1-2


The ASC Handbook is very useful:

http://store.ascmag.com/product-p/10110p.htm


And for old school stuff, I enjoyed Joe Mascelli's 5 C's of Cinematography:

http://www.amazon.com/Five-Cs-Cinem...=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1458981608&sr=1-6
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Hi Marc!

What Marc...no push to Mr. Rose's and others' Sound related tomes? That, given what all know and you frequently espouse, as the critically required sound metric, for proper cinematographic wholeness. :001_smile:

Thank you very much

Fury
 
Nick Fury said:
What Marc...no push to Mr. Rose's and others' Sound related tomes? That, given what all know and you frequently espouse, as the critically required sound metric, for proper cinematographic wholeness.
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I figured people were looking more for lighting- and camera-related references here. Sound is a whole 'nother subject, and there are a number of good ones on that subject that people could find on Jeff Wexler's sound mixer forum. Veteran sound mixer Mark Ulano has said he's working on some kind of all-encompassing book on location sound mixing, and I'd be very curious to see what he finally releases.
 
I asked a very talented filmmaker friend (NYU film paid him to go to school) the same question a while back and he strongly suggested The Visual Story by Bruce Block: http://www.amazon.com/The-Visual-St...isual story&qid=1459687755&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1
If a person digests the concepts and then actually watches the all films it suggests (with the sound turned off), it provides a very thorough education in visual storytelling, grammar, and construction. Highly recommended.
 
I'm prompted by Kolh's post: I know that the topic is Cinematography but, to expand out to great filmmaking books, I'd like to recommend my all time favorite. I have read it many times and go back to it often. It was recommended to me by a student in the graduate program at Columbia U.

On Film-making: An introduction to the craft of the director, by Alexander MacKendrick.
 
Hugh Scully said:
I'm prompted by Kolh's post: I know that the topic is Cinematography but, to expand out to great filmmaking books, I'd like to recommend my all time favorite. I have read it many times and go back to it often. It was recommended to me by a student in the graduate program at Columbia U.

On Film-making: An introduction to the craft of the director, by Alexander MacKendrick.
Click to expand...
Apologies if I shifted the thread starters topic...Nonetheless, 'On Filmmaking'...Man, that book is gold. Very skillful pedagogy for learning the craft (learn to edit first). Re-reading it right now in fact. Literally. Like, earlier today. OK...back to the thread...
 
When I read the title of this thread I read "Best bokeh of all time" hahaha :laugh:
 
WOW

Viera's book is absolutely one of the best!

I've read several and this is the most efficient and well thought out book on exposure and visualizing with light.

It took information I already knew, applied it in a different way, added more, and made me rethink a lot!

I seriously recommend the 2nd edition of "Lighting for film and Digital Cinematography" by Dave & Maria Viera

Its a tad pricey, try checking for used copies on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Lighting-Cinematography-Wadsworth-Broadcast-Production/dp/0534264980


Jeff Garton said:
"Lighting for Film and Digital Cinematography" by Dave Viera. By far the best book to explain exposure. And you can't truly understand lighting without understanding exposure. After reading it, you will look at the GIO scope and marvel at its usefulness.
Click to expand...
 
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