Book List for Adobe Premiere class.
Editing with Adobe Premiere 6.0, 6.5, and Premiere Pro 1.5:
1. Prmiere Pro Editing Workshop.
CMP Books publishes as part of their 'DV Expert Series' a very
good treatment of Premiere Pro 1.5, written by Marcus Geduld.
Because this series is directed toward professional usage of
non linear editing software, the content is solidly based in
good editing practice with a detailed chapter on color correction
for TV broadcast. The user level is novice to intermediate and
the book is very readable with useful suggestions on such topics
as viewing output on a TV monitor for accurate color correction.
Well worth the $40 price and published in 2004 this book is a
valuable addition to a video editing library.
2. Video Editing with Adobe Premiere 6.5. Dave Peck runs a graphic
business in Nashville, Tennessee. He has written this book about
Premiere 6.5, shortly after its release in August, 2002. His
approach is aimed at people in production environments. He does
not assume any previous experience with video. This is one of
the best books I have seen for quickly learning the complex
activity of video production. Published by Delmar Learning, 2003.
Priced at $40 and includes a CD-ROM with materials for the
tutorials.
3. Adobe Premiere 6 Bible. Authors Adele Droblas and Seth Greenberg
(also the authors of the Photoshop 6 Complete Reference, by a
different publisher and listed below) have written probably the
best all around references for Premiere 6, covering all of the
tools and menus of Premiere. They also present chapters on using
Premiere with Photoshop, Illustrator, and, After Effects. This
is not currently available for 6.5, but two versions are very
similar. Published by Hungry Minds, Inc in 2001. Priced at $50.
4. Premiere 6 for Macintosh and Windows. Anthony Bolante is the
author and it is published by Peachpit Press. $20. This is an
inexpensive and very good intorduction to Premiere. Any advanced
use of Premiere will use the Timeline approach to editing and
this book gives a good start in that direction, with chapters
on video effects, superimposed video tracks and animated motion.
Creating content with video, Super 8mm and 16mm film:
1. The Filmmaker's Handbook. Steven Ascher and Edward Pincus are
the authors. Published by Plume (Penguin Putnam, Inc.). $19.
If you plan to pursue the use of Premiere or any other software
for Non Linear Editing of movies, this book should be in your
library. It is the standard text used in many university film
and video departments for movie production. This book covers it
all from cameras (8mm, 16mm, and 35mm film as well as DV and
Hi-8 video camcorders), lenses, shooting, sound recording,
lighting, film and video editing, and film-video transfers.
2. American Cinematographer Video Manual, 3rd ed. This is the most
comprehensive collection of technical information about all
aspects of digital videotape formats, video cameras and lenses,
CCDs, filters, and, care and storage of videotape. ASC Press,
$50. You can order this and other books on the art of cinematography
from American Cinematographer magazine.
3. Shot by Shot, 3rd ed. Authors John Cantine, Susan Howard, and Brady
Lewis are teachers at The Pittsburgh Filmmakers' School of Film,
Video, and Photography. They wrote this book as an introduction to
the craft of filmmaking. This book has been adopted by many schools
and universities. This is an easy way into using film, either Super
8mm or 16mm. Film is more expensive than video, but the look is
great. Published by Pittsburgh Filmmakers. Price is $15.
Additional topics of interest:
1. The Animation Book. Kit Laybourne is the author and it is published
by Three Rivers Press (New York). This book originally came out in
1978 when all animation was film animation. This is the third edition
with computer animation added to the existing material on traditinal
film animation. A thorough treatment of both the digital and the
traditional techniques side by side. This is probably the only book
to take this approach since it was an established authority after
its publication in 1978.
2. Photoshop 6 The Complete Reference. Authors Adele Droblas Greenberg
and Seth Greenberg create one of the best reference books for the
graphic twilight zone of Photoshop. If you are interested in learning
skills for animation, the Photoshop/Premiere combo is the best intro
to this world. Published by Osborne Press and priced at $50. I always
recommend this to Photoshop students.
3. Film Lighting. Kris Malkiewicz is the author; the publisher is
Simon and Schuster. $21. The final of the four books at the top
of my list is about lighting. This topic is also covered in both
The Filmmaker's Handbook and in Rick Schmidt's book, so it is more
of an optional nature. In general, the more you can learn about
good photographic techniques the better. This applies to using both
video and film cameras. Ansel Adams' book 'The Negative' also covers
artificial and natural light photography.
4. The Elements of Screenwriting. A classic by the late Irwin R. Blacker.
This writer and teacher puts it to you straight away: nobody has
improved upon the basic concepts that Aristotle came up with when
he analized the playwrights of his day - Euripedes and Sophocles
knew how to tell a good story. Published by Longman Press and priced
at a modest $10. Published in paperback 1996.
5. Feature Filmmaking at Used-Car Prices. Rick Schmidt is the author
and this book is also published by Penguin Books. $17. Here is one
of the review quotes that summarizes the approach: "An intriguing
book that takes on Hollywood with a healthy, 'do-it-yourself'
attitude." - from 'Cinaste' magazine. The author draws from his
own experience of creating independent film features to write a
a detailed cookbook from the story concept and script outline
through the production in film/video to having a distribution copy
printed for under $15,000.
6. The Ultimate Filmmaker's Guide to Short Fiilms by Kim Adelman.
This book, published in 2004 by Michael Wiese Productions, aims
specifically at those interested in producing film festival quality
short films. The logic and pacing for short films is very different
from feature length filmmaking. It is also more demanding and requires
a much greater level of skill mastery than does the purely personal
documentary style of family movies. This is an important category
because it is the only realistic entry point into a professiona
level of filmmaking.
7. Grammar of the Film Language. Daniel Arijon wrote this book
in 1991 and it has become a classic, published by the Silman-James
Press. This book details the camera techniques we have become
accustomed to seeing every time we view professionally made films
and the editing style that has become invisible to our conscious
minds as we are absorbed into narrative and documentary filmmaking.
Now that you have had a look over the book list, I've saved one of the
best for last:
In the Blink of an Eye, 2nd ed. The author is Walter Murch, best
known as the film editor of The English Patient, Apocalypse Now,
The Godfather part III, The Conversation, and The Unbearable
Lightness of Being. This book is a good read for anyone interested
in the filmmaking process; it is very insightful and gives a glimpse
into the mind of someone who has had a major impact on some great
films. Published by Silman-James Press, 1995, 2001. The price is
$14. The English Patient was the first digitally edited film to win
an Academy award - that was 1996.
These books reach beyond the use of Adobe Premiere software, but if
you are editing your own video/film, the process will make you more
aware and more critical of the source material coming from the camera.
Editing makes you a better photographer. Editing is what makes a movie
a coherent piece of art. A well edited movie made from poor source
material can be more compelling and more interesting than a poorly edited
movie that has great photography. A well edited movie can turn defects
into positive attributes.
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