Cinematography

by Kris Malkiewicz, Robert E. Rogers

The Essential Guide to the Cameraman's Craft

Since its initial publication in 1973, Cinematography has become the guidebook for filmmakers. Based on their combined fifty years in the film and television industry, authors Kris Malkiewicz and M. David Mullen lay clear and concise groundwork for basic film techniques, focusing squarely on the cameraman's craft. Readers will then learn step-by-step how to master more advanced techniques in postproduction, digital editing, and overall film production.

This completely revised third edition, with more than 200 new illustrations, will provide a detailed look at:

How expert camera operation can produce consistent, high-quality results How to choose film stocks for the appearance and style of the finished film How to measure light in studio and location shooting for the desired appearance How to coordinate visual and audio elements to produce high-quality sound tracks

Whether the final product is a major motion picture, an independent film, or simply a home video, Cinematography can help any filmmaker translate his or her vision into a quality film.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Reference

213 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does a really good job of covering the basics of cinematography. It is focused on the application of the craft, meaning there is little in the way of film theory or subjective opinion-- which makes it direct and to-the-point, with almost zero filler.

This should be a must-read for beginners, but I think many intermediate cinematographers will still pick up quite a bit of information.

This manual explains the equipment, procedures and reasons behind the basics of lighting, sound, camera operation (film, not digital) and post production (both film and digital).

While this book is largely written with the use of 16mm or 35mm film in mind, that doesn't take away from its relevance. I was very interested to learn some of the "older" film techniques because they have direct relationships to digital cinematography (such as shutter speed, ISO ratings, origins of color white balance, and light metering). It's really good to know where these concepts came from instead of understanding them in a vacuum.

[jm · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a couple of great chapters in the middle where Malkiewicz talks about specific shooting scenarios and how to light them. That part, while being almost entirely unstructured, holds a lot of useful information. Most of the rest of the book, unfortunately, is firmly stuck in the film area - despite an update that supposedly happened in 2005 - and at best of historic interest to the digital filmmaker.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Highly informative but a tad outdated

This is a great basic book for cinematography, but there have been many advances technologically to date that make the book feel outdated, but great if you need to know the basics.

[Meghal Sivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay

[Morgan McGuire · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is comprehensive and well written. The table of contents is exactly what you'd like to see for your first cinematography book. It is also one of the last books written before digital capture and video swept the industry, so a good portion of the practical advice is laughingly obsolete. I hope we see a rewrite for new technology soon!

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best basic cinematography text I've come across, very clear and straightforward.

[Creative Wool Media · Rating 4 out of 5]

HDSLR films are not covered, at least not in the version I'd read, but this book is a great for those interested in Cinematography.

[Harsh Trivedi]

work improovment

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is geared to the professional filmmaker, but I gleaned a few ideas from it.