Picture Composition for Film and Television, Second Edition

Book Description

Behind each shot there lies an idea or purpose. When setting up a shot, the camera operator can employ a range of visual techniques that will clearly communicate the idea to an audience. Composition is the bedrock of the operator's craft, yet is seldom taught in training courses in the belief that it is an intuitive, personal skill. Peter Ward shows how composition can be learned, to enhance the quality of your work.

Based on the author's own practical experience, the book deals with the methods available for resolving practical production questions such as:

Does the shot composition accurately reflect the idea that initiated the shot?
Will the content and method of presenting the subject accurately convey the idea?

Major innovations in television and film production since the previous edition have affected the styles of composition, such as wide-screen and the use of mini DV cameras. These new technologies and their implications for picture composition are addressed in this new edition. A new colour plate section is also being included to update the section on colour.

If you are a practising camera operator, trainee camera operator, student or lecturer on a television or film production course, or simply a video enthusiast wishing to progress to a more professional standard you will find this book essential in enhancing the quality of your work.

* Learn the secrets of successful composition from an experienced camera operator

* Completely rewritten including compositional implications of widescreen, DV cameras

* Teaches through varied examples of practical scenarios and problem-solving

Customer Reviews:

More history than composition........2005-07-12

While this book does cover composition, most of it is about the history of film and television, and about different styles and genres.

Picture Composition For Film And Television, Second Edition

Average customer rating:

Picture Composition For Film And Television, Second Edition
PETER WARD
Manufacturer: Focal Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OQ88RC

Book Description

Drawing upon evolutionary economics and resource-based approaches, the author utilizes US patent data from 1930-1990 to examine the persistence of corporate technological competencies and their gradual erosion through diversifying incremental change. The book explores the changing nature of this diversification with respect to firm size, technological relatedness and technological complexity in 32 firms distributed across four broadly defined industrial sectors.

The findings suggest that industry and corporate technological profiles remain strong but are becoming blurred by the pervasiveness of general-purpose technologies. Although historically diversification is associated with an increase in firm size, the author argues that in recent times it results from technological relatedness and complexity.

This book will appeal to industrial and business economists, historians of business and technology, and students and scholars of technology management.

Average customer rating:
Corporate technological competence and the evolution of technological diversification [A book review from: Technovation]
L. Dibiaggio
Manufacturer: Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Elsevier | By Publisher | e-Docs | Formats | Books
ASIN: B000RQYH4W

Book Description

This digital document is a journal article from Technovation, published by Elsevier in 2004. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:

Book Description

This book is designed for those of you who fall easily into the ignoramus category when it comes to music. It is meant for those with no pitch, no rhythm, no sense of hearing, no talent. It is meant for those who have tried every other method of playing the banjo and have failed.

But before you flush your banjo down the toilet, wait! There is still hope! You have already taken a positive step by buying this book (unless you stole it, that is.)

Most people think that only a genius can play the banjo. This erroneous rumor was undoubtedly circulated by a few banjo pickers who wanted to frighten away their competition. And they succeeded! This book is intended to show that even the ignoramus can become a fine banjo picker.

Customer Reviews:

A great book for beginning Clawhammer players.......2007-03-30

I learned from this book when I began playing 20 years ago, and I have not found a better one. The tablature is simple, the arrangements are good but not too fancy, and the folksy approach, while laid on a little thick at times, can help a student not to feel intimidated. It would be nice if it had "Clawhammer" or "Old Time" in the title. The revision does, but it also has more complex tablature. I much prefer this one to start students with.

Good Book.......2006-11-10

Since the author specialized all his life in teaching beginners, the book has what might be called "perfect pitch" for recognizing what the beginner is coping with -- even to the point of saying that he or she probably got grandfather's banjo out of the attic and how to get it back in shape -- which was, in fact, my case! It goes on like that, anticipating what the issue will be.

I've always wonder why the term "practice" is used with regard to musical instruments as in "you've got the practice" while, as the author points out, it would be better to say "you got the play". He shows you how to enjoy doing so.

tool of lucy himself eh?.......2005-10-21

dare to dance with the devil young ones?, then this is the instrument for you ! you can play all sorts of wonderous demonic tunes and this sacred book will show you how ... i once was an ignoramce but now ah a ding a ling ling with a twiddle and a twaddle and play the songs of my forefarthers and remember the times in the old country, backwoods vaginia

Great book for dummies like me. .......2005-10-21

This book is fun to read, even if you aren't trying to learn to play the banjo! Seriously, very worthwhile.

Fast way to have fun learning a banjo.......2002-08-13

I'm pretty much musically inept. I'm borrowing a banjo. I started out with Tony Trischka's How to Play Bluegrass Banjo but quickly got frustrated and gave up. Then, someone recommended this Manual for the Ignormaus. Now, I'm having a great time just frailing' away. I'm even starting to learn the slides that seemed so frustrating in Tony's book. This books just seems to go at a very good pace -- each new, fun little song that you learn has one or two new techniques, so it's actually fun to practice. Yee ha!

A Manual on How to Play the 5-String Bango for the Complete Ignoramus (Instruction and Music Book, Revised and Expanded)

Average customer rating:

A Manual on How to Play the 5-String Bango for the Complete Ignoramus (Instruction and Music Book, Revised and Expanded)
Wayne Erbsen
Manufacturer: n/a
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000WHJE4E

Product Description

This is an 8.5"x10.75" soft cover book - the second edition - Revised and Expanded - of 1974. Mustard-color wraps have black lettering and drawn illustration of an overall-clad, banjo playing, barefoot man at the lower left. Two-staple spine and 62 pages hold a well-organized and light-hearted instruction book on playing the banjo, as well as many music pieces, such as: Sugar Hill, Wild Bill Jones, Little Sadie, Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight, Old Molly Hare, and more. Many have lyrics.

Amazon.com

Sports works its wonders in mysterious ways. "The appeal of sports, especially of high-performance athletics ... is that they permit us to judge people exactly and precisely by what they do." writes Gerald Early, whose powerful Culture of Bruising won the 1994 National Book Critics Circle Award. There are also shades of gray in the equation, and Early riffs on them with gusto in his introductory essay to this smart collection of thoughtful and provocative writers seriously reflecting on various aspects of sports. Ranging from the deeply personal to the keenly reported, they are all finely wrought, often funny, and unfailingly perceptive. The most memorable pieces include Philip Lopate on the mania of being a fan; Jonis Agee on watching rodeo and sumo all night on ESPN; and James A. McPherson's meditation on Athens, Sparta, the jock dorm, and Iowa City.

Book Description

Body Language: Writers on Sport, the second book in the Graywolf Forum Series, gathers thirteen contemporary creative writers who offer personal reflections on our public obsession: from the pool hustler to the closet baseball fan; from late-night rodeo on cable TV to tennis games on the weathered fields of Illinois; from the aging basketball player to the anxious young girl determining whether to strike out the boy who is her friend. Through these individual narratives we begin to recognize the universal themes that galvanize both sport and literature: conflict and sacrifice, ritual and passion, humiliation and heroism.

Contributors:

Gerald Early
Jonis Agee
Teri Bostian
Cecil Brown
Wayne Fields
Lorraine Kee
Phillip Lopate
James A. McPherson
Vijay Seshadri
Kris Vervaecke
Loïc Wacquant
Anthony Walton
David Foster Wallace

Book Description

The first ever publication of scripts from Stargate SG-1, the hit TV series spin-off from the blockbuster action-adventure movie Stargate! Colonel Jack O'Neill, leader of an elite military team, tries to learn the secrets of the Stargate, a mysterious ancient portal that allows instantaneous travel to remote planets throughout the universe.

After three best-selling episode guides (with nearly 40,000 copies sold!), here's a bumper selection of six of the very best scripts from the smash hit show Stargate SG-1. Far more than just a script book, it's packed with bonus material including an in-depth introduction about writing for the show, cut scenes, commentary and background, rare pictures and exclusive interviews with the writers!

Customer Reviews:

Stargate SG - 1: The Essential Scripts.......2006-02-18

It was a gift for one of my players, she loves it as well as watching SG-1.

A fun read.......2006-02-02

The book is great for those who want to take a glimpse at the "behind the scenes" stuff. It offers commentary, photos and notes. I found it interesting in how original scripts were editted to fit the show's timeline.

Though, "Wormhole Extreme" was a milestone eposide, it was not my favorite on screen. However the script presented nuiances I missed - leading me to appreciate this eposide a little more.

Terrific...But Wow that Print is Tiny!!.......2006-01-04

The content of this book is rich and satsifying: Six wonderful scripts, two of which are my all time faves.

Also included are many informative revision notes and episode photos.

The major downside is the unbelievably small print. With the exception of the all-capped sluglines the print is actually tinier than the type size used when writing the draft of this critique. You'd have to go inside a Barbie's Dream House Library to find print this microscopic.

I assume it was done this small to enable the inclusion of six complete scripts, but I guarantee you - you'll have a headache from squinting after you've read the first few pages.

Yikes!

A Must Have For Fans.......2005-11-23

If you are a fan of the hit sci-fi show Stargate SG-1 then this is a must have book. It contains six scripts from the show's first six seasons: THE TORMENT OF TANTALES, THE FIFTH RACE, WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY, 2010, WORMHOLE X-TREME!, and ABYSS.

Each scipt is the original uncut version of the episodes, and thus, contains deleted scenes, alternate diaouge, the original order of scences and the like. It also features commentary on the making of the episode from the show's writers.

This book is a must have for both fans of the show and for anyone out there who wants to learn how to write for TV shows.

Book Description

Developers and system administrators alike are uncovering the true power of XML, the Extensible Markup Language that enables data to be sent over the Internet from one computer platform to another or one application to another and retain its original format. Flexible enough to be customized for applications as diverse as web sites, electronic data interchange, voice mail systems, wireless devices, web services, and more, XML is quickly becoming ubiquitous. XML Hacks is a roll-up-your-sleeves guide that distills years of ingenious XML hacking into a complete set of practical tips, tricks, and tools for web developers, system administrators, and programmers who want to go far beyond basic tutorials to leverage the untapped power of XML. With plenty of useful real-world projects that illustrate how to define, read, create, and manipulate XML documents, XML Hacks shows readers how to put XML's power to work on the Internet and within productivity applications. Each Hack in this book can be read easily in a few minutes, saving programmers and administrators countless hours of searching for the right answer. And this is an O'Reilly Hacks book, so it's not just practical, imminently useful, and time-saving. It's also fun. From Anatomy of an XML Document to Exploring SOAP Messages XML Hacks shows you how to save time and accomplish more with fewer resources. If you want much more than the average XML user--to explore and experiment, do things you didn't know you could do with XML, discover clever shortcuts, and show off just a little--this invaluable book is a must-have.

Customer Reviews:

Great Overview of XML.......2005-12-10

As a Perl programmer, my first instinct when given some XML to process is to grab the appropriate Perl module (probably XML::XPath or XML::LibXML) and use that to do whatever I need to. Although that usually gets the job done, reading this book opened my eyes to a number of other XML processing tools that will sometimes be more useful than a Perl program. Actually Perl doesn't get mentioned at all in the index, whereas Java gets half a column of entries.

A lot of the book isn't aimed at the kind of person who is comfortable firing up an editor writing a program. Many of the hacks introduce ready-made applications that handle a number of different XML tasks. For example there are applications that, given an XML document, will take a first pass at creating an XML Schema or DTD for the document. This is something that would be an interesting project to write for yourself, but if you just need the schema it's nice to know that someone else has already written the application for you.

One of the most interesting chapters for me was the one about editing XML. My usual tool for that is xml-mode in Xemacs but the book introduced me to a number of other possibilities. The one that particularly caught my eye was nXML for Emacs. Unfortunately it's not currently compatible with Xemacs, so I need to try out some of the other editors that are discussed.

Like all of O'Reilly's Hacks books, this book is aimed at a very wide audience. Some of the tools are Open Source and some of them are commercial. Some of them run on only one platform and some of them will run anywhere. That has the potential to be a little frustrating when you find a tool that looks really useful, only to find out that it only runs on Windows. Fortunately the authors are aware of this problem and make a real effort to present tools that run on as wide a range of platforms as possible. If one hack presents a tool that only runs on Windows then you can be sure that the next hack has a similar tool that runs somewhere else.

The audience is diverse along other dimensions too. There are hacks aimed at people who will just want to save a Word document in DocBook format (hint: use OpenOffice) and at the other end of the spectrum there are hacks aimed at people who want to create SOAP services. There are hacks aimed at all levels of producing and using XML.

It's an inevitable consequence of this type of book that not everyone is going to find all of it useful. But the authors are obviously experts in their field and they explain themselves very clearly. I thought I knew a lot about processing XML but I discovered a lot of new and interesting things from this book. If you want a good overview of the various ways that XML can be useful to you, then this book would be a very good start.

Useful tips for every XML task you're likely to want to do.......2005-10-06

This is my favorite O'Reilly book. The scope covers everything you can imagine for working with XML. I really like the depth of information in every hack ('hack' in the sense of ways to get something done). Whenever a tool is mentioned, there is often additional info about related tools that do similar functionality and why you would choose one or the other. Each hack is like a well-crafted short story.

At first I glanced through the book. It's amazing how people have solved so many common tasks to make working with XML automated and flexible. It's fun to look at the titles of each hack and see the illustrations. I found myself saying "That's a technique that'll come in handy someday."

Then I found myself marking up the tools and applications mentioned that did nifty things that will be good quivers in my XML toolkit.

Finally this book provided some invaluable techniques when I needed to do a few one-time XML tasks. I needed to extract information from a humongous XML file. I was able to extract the text of all elements into a nice tidy HTML page.

Another time I created a tree diagram with custom bullet list symbols for the two types of items in the tree using CSS to format the XML (I'd heard it was possible, but didn't know how to do it).

And if you're looking for a quick explanation and examples for some XML technology, like XQuery, XSLT, SVG, XPointer, XLINK, RSS, some recommendations on commercial and free XML tools, XForms, XHTML, working with Microsoft Office documents as XML or for importing into Word or Excel and many more, then I recommend getting this useful, information-packed and handy reference book.

You'll grab it off the shelf whenever you want to do something efficiently in XML without reinventing the wheel.

helpful supplement.......2004-11-26

I'm familiar with XML and have found this book to be helpful. Not a book to learn XML, it is a place to pick up new information that can help to complete a toolbox already in the making. There were some hints to bridge gaps between what I want to do and what I know how to do. I plan to have it nearby to make my work easier and faster.

Do [Task] with [Other Object].......2004-10-02

Nothing irritates me as much as the industries gratuitous use of the word "hack". I won't say more on this topic other than to advise you that any time you see the word "hack" in this book, substitute it for "tip", "task", or "how to". Once that is understood, this title takes on a whole new feel and its usefulness is made clearer.

Anyone not already familiar with XML, its creation and use, should probably not pick up this book. However, if you are using XML documents a lot, the chances are that this book will yield a resolution method for most of the XML file transformation, modification or parsing need you may have. This method, however, typically requires the use of a third party utility, application, or script (a great many of the tips are titled "Do [something] using [something else]"). A quick flip through the table of contents reveals at least 35 different utilities required to the complete the associated tasks - which is OK if you don't mind incorporating "black box" solutions into your environment. There are also many "see this book" notations within this title as well, so if you find a solution to a need, but require more than what the tip tells you, you may need to make additional purchases.

Overall, a good read for anyone that already knows and makes heavy use of XML; you're sure to walk away with something new.

100 Cool Hints and Tips.......2004-09-25

If you've ever tried to go to a web page automatically and then parse the information by examining the string you got back, you can appreciate XML. While not perfect XML is probably the most practical option for packaging data that can be read by both humans and computers.

As with the other O'Reilly Hacks books, this one contains 100 hints, tips and suggestions on on how to get more out of XML.

I find that whenever I read one of their Hacks books I pick up something useful that just happens to fit the problem I'm working on at the moment. This one was no exception. Great idea! Great Books.

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