vegas 5 editing workshop. Must have on my list for learing vegas from beggining to intermediate.

Spot sort of covered it. :) But for a very different slant - Cult Movies by Danny Peary is a great book. The first one, not the follow ups. it may be out of print I am not sure. Just find the book - read it, rent as many of the films he talks about in it. You can learn a lot about film making from these movies. Some are truly art and some are truly bad. I am a HUGE fan of viewing films and than asking myself "Why was the good" or "Why did that suck?"

Somewhat "required" reading, even if you don't care to use it, is the ASC Handbook. Mostly film but there is somewhat of the same thing for Video - ASV Handbook. Overall very techie stuff but if you ever find the need, or want, to shoot something - a must.

Another one I failed to mention:
Behind the Seen: How Walter Murch Edited Cold Mountain Using Apple’s Final Cut Pro and What This Means for Cinema
Even though it's about FCP, it's really not. It's about the process and workflow, and how NLE's are changing the face of the industry, why they should be doing so, and how this affects any number of aspects of the "big" film industry.
Murch is awesome in the interviews, IMO.

I'll second DSE's Vegas 5 Editing Workshop! Also I wan't to throw in Rebel Without A Crew by Robert Rodriguez - very inspiring, really makes you wan't to get off your butt and make a movie.

Good books on lighting include
Painting with Light by John Alton
Masters of Light by Schaefer and Salvato

Anyone even remoted interested in movies should see the documentary Visions of Light.

Kris Malkiwicz's book Film Lighting and Cinematography are standards in film schools.

If you like David Cronenberg's movies, he is quite articulate and insightful in discussing his own work in Cronenberg on Cronenberg.

Color Correction for Digital Video always comes in handy.

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls is a vastly entertaining look at Hollywood in the 70's. So for that matter is Final Cut which is about the making of Heaven's Gate. Lots of great anecdotes in those two. (Cimino was contractually obligated to deliver the movie around 2 and a half hours. At the first screening he told the executives, I already know that I'm going to cut ten minutes, and then he proceeded to screen his five hour and twenty five minute cut. The battle scene was longer than most movies. He wanted the studio to pay for an irrigation system so the fields for the battle scenese would look green. The studio investigated and found he owned the property the irrigation system was going into.)

I haven't read it a long time, but I remember liking Truffaut's book length interview with Hitchcock.
The Use of Microphones is a technical book, but handy.
Robert McKee's Story is recommended for screenwriters.

I have to add our own "Instant Surround" which is basically Surround for Dummies" kind of book. There are so few good books on surround, Jeffrey nailed it.
We'll have a new book on Sound out soon. It's in the writing stages, so if there is anything specific you'd like to see in there that ISN'T Vegas, Sound Forge, or ACID related, drop me a note, I'll see if we can get it in there.

And don't forget "How to make friends and influence Vegas people" by BillyBoy ;)




edit - this is not a real book, just a frivolous message.

How about 'Producing Great Sound for Digital Video' by Jay Rose?

>>>f there is anything specific you'd like to see in there that ISN'T Vegas, Sound Forge, or ACID related, drop me a note, I'll see if we can get it in there<<<

Hmmm- how about somehting on the Amiga and the great "Studio 16"? Just for kicks? I think it was ahead of it's time. I guess I was sort of the "Spot" of Sunrize for a bit so I might be a bit partial. :)

Must have books?...hmmm


George Orwell's '1984'

'The Godfather'

'The Curious Incident with the Dog in the Nighttime'

'Gone with the Wind'

'War and Peace'

And my wife says 'A Very Long Engagement' is excellant


:)

With regard to Vegas. The MANUAL is by far the best "book" to read to learn how to use the application. Not just the little introduction booklet that comes with it, download the full PDF file that runs several hundred pages and has many illustrations. Equally good is the help built into Vegas. I think its top notch and obviously Sonic Foundy/Sony spend a lot of time putting it together. Third best source is this forum.

Without really getting specific, sadly, computer how-to books in general are often little more than a rehash of the manual. They end up being dust catchers on some shelf. My experience with the dozens upon dozens of computer books I've purchased over the past near 30 years is sadly most are incomplete, and/or waste lots of time on the basics, if they get more into the meat of the application they often don't define terms used or bother giving useful step by step. There are exceptions. Some of the Flash authors have done an excellent job, probably because the Flash manual is so poorly written. Adobe press has put out some good books about their flagship product Photoshop, so too some third party authors. A quick thumb through at the book store is revealing what how-to books contain... and don't.

Personally, one of the greatest books to learn the art of cinematography / videography along with composition is Steven Katz' "Film Directing, Shot by Shot"

I don't think you can have enough books. Sometimes in even just a biography, a director, actor or other will tell how they did a scene and that alone will provide inspiration.

I second "Rebel Without a Crew" - although I don't think Rodriguez is THAT talented, he's definately got a contagious working style. The book is just a hoot to read as well.

I would also suggest watching as many films, commercials and television episodes that you can. What styles do you like / dislike. I'll set the DVR and go through just watching commercials... the wife hates it. :)

Lots of things to help you out. If you've looking for basic tutorials, lots out there including Spot's book, DV Basics up to the more complex like the before mentioned ASC Book.

Mike

Along with the other books recommended here, I'd also suggest Walter Murch's IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE, along with Daniel Arijon's GRAMMER OF THE FILM LANGUAGE and Jay Rose's AUDIO POSTPRODUCTION FOR DIGITAL VIDEO.

Another that comes to mind is a book whose title escapes me (I loaned it to a friend and can't remember the name) but I think it's THE THREE C's OF CINEMATOGRAPHY. Excellent resource.

And to add to what Cheno says, I recently joined Netflix and am going crazy renting DVDs with the express purpose of studying how the films were constructed. If you rent documentaries on artists, you get a bonus in that you can not only study how the documentary was put together, but you can learn from the artist as well.

I can't remember the title but a recent find was a documentary about pioneering avant garde filmmaker Maya Deren. Kind of weird stuff, but she's easy on the eyes so the medicine goes down a bit smoother.

If you run into filmmakers where you live, be sure to ask them about their projects. Most people (in my experience) have ZERO interest in hearing what YOU'RE doing, but they'll talk all day long about THEIR latest masterpiece. This can get a bit overwhelming, admittedly, but if you direct the flow of the conversation by asking questions relevent to you, you can often learn a lot about technique, marketing, etc. "What kind of camera were you using?" etc.

In other words, pick their brains.

Was it the "Maya Deren : Experimental Films" from Mystic Fire Video? That's a collection of her films and includes a short bio as well, but it wasn't a dedicated docco to her.

Man, I got so burned by Sunrize when they folded, I was using Studio 16 at the time too. Amiganet was supposedly gonna do drivers for it all back then, but it just became another piece of hardware stuck to the wall.

DSE, the film is called "In The Mirror of Maya Deren" and it was produced in 2002.

Zeitgeist Films offers this link: http://www.zeitgeistfilms.com/film.php?directoryname=inthemirrorofmayaderen

In the film I also learned of CINEMA 16 founder Amos Vogel. His book, "Film As A Subversive Art" is no longer in print, but the text is available online here: http://www.jahsonic.com/AmosVogel.html

Thanks for the link. Just now printing off the chapters so I can read them later. Very good stuff!

Glad to help, Douglas, and thank you for your countless contributions to all of us through the years.

Yes, it's a compelling book all right and though it's no longer in print, you can find used copies online starting at about $60. Next time I have a spare $60 (or so) I'll have to pick up a copy.

Amazon.com reviewers rave about it.

>>>Man, I got so burned by Sunrize when they folded, I was using Studio 16 at the time too. Amiganet was supposedly gonna do drivers for it all back then, but it just became another piece of hardware stuck to the wall.<<<

In all the times I have mentiond Studio 16 you have never mentioned you used it. What were yout trying to get done with it? I last used it about 6 years ago - at the time I *really* wanted to use Sound Forge to edit the audio and do the rest with Studio 16. Didn't work out - no way to get any file interchange going. So I did all the ambiences and hard effects on Studio 16 and took the music and ADR and Foley off of an DA-88. Triggered it all with a TC work tape - mixed it all down to another DA-88. But I mean Studio 16 worked/works fine. I think they did do some indy drivers at some point after Sunrize went out - I talked to someone who said that Tony was around doing some stuff but everyone else had vanished. I was supposed to get the digi I/O when it came out - but it never did. I remember being on the phone when Amiga stopped in the US and Tony, I think, said it wouldn't matter because in places like Korea and Japan the Amiga base was still huge. had the mono card when it first came out and than got the stereo cards - I still have about 4 of them here. Man I so wish there was a way to port that over to a PC...the TC in was just a must have and the software SMPTE generator they came out with that sent the signal out of the amigas built in audio was just great too.