Shot by Shot: A Practical Guide to Filmmaking

by John Cantine, Susan Howard, Brady Lewis

Cantine, John, Howard, Susan, Lewis, Brady

Genres: Film, Nonfiction

156 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Tori BookWorm22]

This was my least favorite of my film books. This book was just jam-packed with too much information given to the readers ar far too quick a pace. Definitely not a book for beginners.

[Kyra Richardson]

Read for film class.

[Peter]

Good “intro to filmmaking” book. Read for a class. Couldn’t help but think it could be punchier - seems to ramble on random topics (eg the chemical science behind old film stock?), and wish there were more visuals. Ideally we’d cut like 40% of the words and just get the core ideas here so readers could translate to shooting faster.

“Depth of field depends upon three variables:
1. Focal length: Shorter (wide-angle) lenses provide greater depth of field than long (telephoto) lenses.
2. F-stop: Stopping down the iris increases depth of field; opening up decreases depth of field. Therefore, you will usually have less depth of field in low lighting, when the lens iris must be opened up.
3. Focusing distance: The farther the plane of critical focus, the greater the depth of field; the closer the camera is focused, the less the depth of field.”

[Arjun]

Good

[Matt]

Very useful. Glad to have read this.

[Matthew Law]

Useful information though some of it is outdated in this digital age. In many ways it's a history of filmmaking and why certain things were done because of limitations.

[Andrew W]

Solid book

[Rani]

Pretty good, practical, and compact little primer and reference book for new filmmakers.

[Seth Kenlon]

This was the text book for my beginning filmmaking course in college, and I literally still have the book. Between being a really good reference book and being JUST the right size, it's a handy thing to keep around. Fun fact: I use its fourth edition as the textbook for the beginning filmmaking course that I now teach at a filmmaker's institute.

[Caitlin]

Shot by Shot; A Practical Guide to Filmmaking (3rd Ed.) by John Cantine (2000)

[Seth Kenlon]

Third edition. Great book. I reviewed another edition as well. Weird that they are listed all separately..

Anyway, great book if you're trying to learn the technique behind filmmaking.

[K.m.]

Serviceable, useful for intro to camera workings, editing, and other processes of filmmaking. Of necessity, very simple and dry.