Somehow I got tied to the work of Michael Rubin. I never intended for this to be the case. I am pretty sure he doesn’t know about it.
In graduate school a few years ago I was tasked with writing a book review about Rubin’s 500 page chronology of filmmaker George Lucas’ idea farm and the pixel pushing ranch hands who work at Skywalker Ranch. “Droidmaker“ is the inside story of George Lucas, his intensely private company, and their work to revolutionize filmmaking.
Fast-forward to my current efforts to stay abreast of content written specifically for demystifying personal filmmaking. I have plenty of academic textbooks that my students use in the classes I teach at University of Washington. Most of the books are really quite dreadful. They resonate with all the readability of a phonebook or military field manual. There are precious few authors that keep it simple.
Over the years I have passed countless copies of Tom Schroeppel’s “The Bare Bones Camera Course for Film and Video” on to budding filmmakers. It was first published a quarter century ago, but the practical sensibilities found between the brown paper covers are timeless. You can still find it on line for about $15, and if you want a quick jump start into understanding how to shoot I can’t think of a better place to start.
Which brings me to Michael Rubin. Lo and behold he has published a little book about home video called, appropriately enough, “The Little Digital Video Book.” On the whole, Rubin has done a very good job here. I disagree with his take on incorporating sound bites into personal videos (he says no and I think they are critical to keeping your work timeless), but his explanations about framing, sequencing and editing are much better than most any other starter book I have found. If you are looking for a little manual you can tuck into a camera bag or use to fiddle away a few minutes I recommend his book. Rubin has done a good job and I guarantee that after starting this book your shooting will immediately improve. I can’t say that with most of the books I have seen.
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