Koncocoo

Best Cinematography

Saul Bass: A Life in Film and Design
Designed by Jennifer Bass, Saul Bass's daughter and written by distinguished design historian Pat Kirkham who knew Saul Bass personally, this book is full of images from the Bass archive, providing an in depth account of one of the leading graphic artists of the 20th century. As design historian Pat Kirkham shows in his forthcoming book on Bass. (co-authored with Bass' daughter Jennifer), the legendary "visual communicator" also applied his graphic wizardry to album and book covers, typefaces, packaging, retail displays, a hi-fi system, toys and a postage stamp. Possibly the most famous graphic designer of all time....yet no definitive monograph of his prolific, monumental work has existed--until now."
Reviews
"Amazing book and very interesting about Saul's work and life."
"Great tribute to Saul."
"For me, it falls just short of a 5 star rating because in the movie. section devoted to Bass, it omits some of the rarest trade ads he designed for such movies as ONE TWO THREE, THE. LOUDEST WHISPER aka THE CHILDREN'S HOUR, and NINE HOURS TO RAMA--along with various movie trade ads he. did for SOME LIKE IT HOT, ATTACK, and others."
"Livro que conta toda a história do designer Saul Bass, texto de primeira qualidade, imagens de trabalhos consagrados e inéditos."
"Book came under packaged and had some dings on the edges."
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How to Shoot Video That Doesn't Suck: Advice to Make Any Amateur Look Like a Pro
Newly updated and revised, How to Shoot Video That Doesn’t Suck is a quick and easy guide that will make your video better instantly—whether you read it cover to cover or just skim a few chapters. Written by Steve Stockman, the director of the award-winning feature Two Weeks , plus TV shows, music videos, and hundreds of commercials, How to Shoot Video That Doesn’t Suck explains in 74 short, pithy, insightful chapters how to tell a story and entertain your audience. MORE EXPERIENCED VIDEOGRAPHERS will find chapters on critical principles like storytelling, structure, emotion and composition-- plus exercises you can practice to improve your video skills.
Reviews
"Edit: - Keep videos as short as possible; if doing a how-to, consider breaking into a series. - Edit out everything that does not need to be there. - Limit the use of graphics/text/titles; if used, make text/titles simple (ex: Helvetica) and effect-free. - Consider using a call-back to link the final shot to the initial shot. - Music & Sound: Test music that is on-story, counter-story; and unrelated and see what works; Add natural sound effects. - Rely almost completely on cuts with a rare wipe (to convey movement) and even rarer dissolve (to shift to a somber mood). - Seek feedback and address all common concerns and think about unique ideas/concerns. [UPDATE: I updated this review from 2 stars to 5 stars on Jan 14, 2013."
"The tips and tricks aren't technically difficult to execute which makes this all the more enjoyable to read and put to good use."
"I have since produced two movies of family events using the tools learned from this book and have found them to be much more enjoyable to watch."
"This book is a really unpretentious and simple guide as to how to get started shooting stuff."
"This is more helpful than the video production program that I'm a student of at the local tech school."
"I love this book."
"Much of this book I already knew, for example, how to use external microphones to get good sound. I read the book and recognized several problems with my project, and how to solve them. There's too much stuff happening in a video -- lighting, editing, acting, etc."
"Shooting short clips makes editing so much easier and the end result is entertaining, not boring to watch."
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The Filmmaker's Handbook, 2013 Edition
Widely acknowledged as the “bible” of video and film production, and used in courses around the world, The Filmmaker’s Handbook is now updated with the latest advances in HD and new digital formats. Billed as the authoritative guide to filmmaking from fundraising to distribution, the book achieves this in clear, accessible language using current up-to-date information. A gilt-edged investment for aspiring and beginning filmmakers and it would not be out of place in the libraries of experienced professionals either.”—James MacGregor, Netribution.co.uk. No matter what corner of the subject I poked into, looking for cogent explanations, the Handbook passed with flying colors. So please accept my admiration, appreciation and thanks.”—Pat Jackson, Associate Professor, San Francisco State University; Emmy-winning Supervising Sound Editor.
Reviews
"I feel like film school won't be worth the money by the time I'm done reading this cover to cover."
"This is a great book."
"If film school is not an option or your just not sure if film-making is possible for you, buy this book and Robert Rodriquez's Rebel without a Crew: Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker With $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player and you will be ready to give true independent film making a shot!"
"Great book, best one yet have gotten on amazon, great price too."
"I have been making videos for friends, families, and clients for years without any type of formal training."
"The only criticism I have is with the quality of the paper and text formatting of the book."
"The Filmmaker's Handbook is a very valuable tool for the neophyte, or for one who might just want to update information."
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Best Cinematography

How to Shoot Video That Doesn't Suck: Advice to Make Any Amateur Look Like a Pro
How to Shoot Video That Doesn't Suck is a quick and easy guide that will make your video better instantly-- whether you read it cover to cover or just skim a few chapters. Written by Steve Stockman, the director of Two Weeks (2007), plus TV shows, music videos, and hundreds of commercials, How to Shoot Video That Doesn't Suck explains in 74 short, pithy, insightful chapters how to tell a story and entertain your audience. Accompanying the book is a website with video clips to illustrate different video production rules, techniques, and situations. "Like two years of film school in 248 pages" - Steven Pressfield, author of "The War of Art" and "The Legend of Bagger Vance" "Stockman has packed a veritable film school between the pages of this highly informative, yet entertaining book. The only thing missing is a time machine so I could reshoot fifteen years of sucky birthday party and school play videos.”. --David A. Goodman, Executive Producer/Head Writer of “Family Guy” "Like two years of film school in 248 pages" -Steven Pressfield, author of "The War of Art" and "The Legend of Bagger Vance" "Stockman has packed a veritable film school between the pages of this highly informative, yet entertaining book.
Reviews
"Edit: - Keep videos as short as possible; if doing a how-to, consider breaking into a series. - Edit out everything that does not need to be there. - Limit the use of graphics/text/titles; if used, make text/titles simple (ex: Helvetica) and effect-free. - Consider using a call-back to link the final shot to the initial shot. - Music & Sound: Test music that is on-story, counter-story; and unrelated and see what works; Add natural sound effects. - Rely almost completely on cuts with a rare wipe (to convey movement) and even rarer dissolve (to shift to a somber mood). - Seek feedback and address all common concerns and think about unique ideas/concerns. [UPDATE: I updated this review from 2 stars to 5 stars on Jan 14, 2013."
"The tips and tricks aren't technically difficult to execute which makes this all the more enjoyable to read and put to good use."
"I have since produced two movies of family events using the tools learned from this book and have found them to be much more enjoyable to watch."
"This book is a really unpretentious and simple guide as to how to get started shooting stuff."
"Unlike other books on filmmaking, this one does not speak about the technical side of video at all; instead, it talks at length about things that make a short video work and keep people interested and entertained. By reading Steve Stockman's book, you should be able to identify and fix all the errors you've been making (if you've been shooting video) or avoid such mistakes (if you are a beginner)."
"This is more helpful than the video production program that I'm a student of at the local tech school."
"This book contained many great tips that indeed prevent the amateur video maker from making some easy mistakes."
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Best Photography

The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)
Since Lightroom 1.0 first launched, Scott’s Kelby’s The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers has been the world’s #1 bestselling Lightroom book (it has been translated into a dozen different languages), and in this latest version for Lightroom 6, Scott uses his same award-winning, step-by-step, plain-English style and layout to make learning Lightroom easy and fun. This is where Scott dramatically answers his #1 most-asked Lightroom question, which is: “Exactly what order am I supposed to do things in, and where does Photoshop fit in?” You’ll see Scott’s entire start-to-finish Lightroom 6 workflow and learn how to incorporate it into your own workflow. Scott is a photographer, designer, and award-winning author of more than 60 books, including Photoshop for Lightroom Users, Professional Portrait Retouching Techniques for Photographers Using Photoshop, Light It, Shoot It, Retouch It: Learn Step by Step How to Go from Empty Studio to Finished Image, The Adobe Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers, and The Digital Photography Book, parts 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5. His books have been translated into dozens of different languages, including Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Korean, Polish, Taiwanese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Arabic, Swedish, Turkish, Hebrew, and Portuguese, among others, and he is a recipient of the prestigious ASP International Award, presented annually by the American Society of Photographers for “…contributions in a special or significant way to the ideals of Professional Photography as an art and a science.”.
Reviews
"For example, tonality is one of the key steps in post processing images and the author provides enough detail so that you will not only be able to follow his instructions for dealing with the sample images, but also to understand how the process works. For long-time users of Lightroom, there are a few new functions, and Lightroom is so user friendly that the operation of some of the new functions, like panoramas and HDR, will be intuitive and not require explanation, so that those long-time users might think they don't need this kind of introduction. Experienced users may also find something they didn't know in this book."
"Here's the summary if you're in a hurry: Pros: -Easy to read but very good and detailed information. -Well laid out and organized. -Word searching in the digital version makes finding things a breeze. -A full photo shoot (for the cover of the book) is laid out and described, including the Photoshop editing. It is laid out in the order of things you would encounter if you were a first time user new to the program and to organizing your images. It works for me and I would especially recommend his books to beginners as they have a lot of information in small chunks. The beginning is dedicated to good organizational practices which I partially followed from the last edition. I used to be very casual about my hard drives and use them for a lot of stuff and lost pictures several times. There are a LOT of small tips, which makes reading through the book worthwhile even for those who have used Lightroom before. I found this book full of good ideas and techniques easily explained."
"Lightroom is primarily for professionals who make a lot of photos per day like the author Scott Kelby."
"Very good book for someone who switched from another program to Lightroom 6."
"I cannot find any reference for Window diagrams and this is disappointing as the little blue pull down boxes shown throughout Chapter One do not exist on Windows LR and this would be too confusing to my students."
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Best Photography Handbooks & Manuals

The Backyard Astronomer's Guide
The newest edition of The Backyard Astronomer's Guide includes the latest data and answers the questions most often asked by home astronomers, from beginners to experienced stargazers. Telescopes for Recreational Astronomy features assessments of a wide range of new telescopes, from models for beginners to those for veteran astronomy enthusiasts, with special emphasis on computerized telescopes and how they work. [Review of earlier edition:] Excellent introductory text ... completely revised... it is lushly illustrated in color throughout. [Review of earlier edition:] If an amateur astronomer could afford one book, this would be the one to get ... one of the most attractive practical astronomy works ever produced. [Review of earlier edition:] Lively, accessible style; is comprehensive; and is lavishly illustrated with hundreds of photographs, diagrams, and charts... highly recommended for any library. [Review of earlier edition:] Few books capture the spirit of the hobby so well -- the pleasures and the pitfalls of the equipment you might need, and the simple joy of watching the universe go by. I recommend this book for anyone who is contemplating buying a telescope, has one but does not quite know how to use it, or wants to learn more about accessories and fun activities to supplement his or her stargazing. If you teach observational astronomy, run a public observatory, or conduct community stargazing classes, put this magazine down and order it right now ... [Review of earlier edition:] This book is an indispensable tool for any serious naturalist who wants to understand and experience the full expanse of the world and universe around us. I fondly remember haunting my favorite bookstore as a college student in the early 1990s, ogling the big, full-color astronomy texts, when I happened upon The Backyard Astronomer's Guide. Now in its third edition, Terence Dickinson and Alan Dyer have completely rewritten large sections to keep in lockstep with the evolving trends. Immediately from the first chapter the authors' fluid writing style draws you in, casually introducing you to the pursuit of the night sky. As in previous editions, the flow comfortably builds with each page, easing you into progressively challenging subjects without missing a step. The text builds though each successive chapter, describing today's plethora of binoculars, telescopes, mounts, eyepieces, and other accessories. Complementing the informative text are hundreds of colour photographs and illustrations as well as a 20-page, full-colour atlas of the Milky Way that includes 10 charts.
Reviews
"Great addition to my library."
"If you have, or are interested in getting, a quality telescope this book is great."
"I Love looking at the Star's and This book help me to know which Star's I'm looking at, Name them."
"We are new to star gazing using a telescope and I wanted a book that would help us learn more about space and what we were seeing. If I were going to buy a telescope, I might start by purchasing this book prior to purchasing a telescope."
"I just love this book."
"Not quite as captivating as the original Nightwatch, but a good publication nonetheless."
"I am a beginner in astronomy as a hobby so I have looked at all the resources I thought I needed like internet sites and forums, reviews and the like. The Backyard Astronomer's Guide is the best investment a beginner in the hobby could make it should be your very first purchase even before any equipment."
"This book will serve as a reference guide for I am constantly returning to the pages to learn more exciting information about this fascinating subject of astronomy."
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Best Visual Arts

Highbrow, Lowbrow, Brilliant, Despicable: Fifty Years of New York Magazine
A battered town left for dead, one that almost a million people abandoned and where those who remained had to live behind triple deadbolt locks, was reinvigorated by the twinned energies of starving artists and financial white knights. Covering culture high and low, the drama and scandal of politics and finance, through jubilant moments and immense tragedies, the magazine has hit readers where they live, with a sensibility as fast and funny and urbane as New York itself. From its early days publishing writers like Tom Wolfe, Jimmy Breslin, and Gloria Steinem to its modern incarnation as a laboratory of inventive magazine-making, New York has had an extraordinary knack for catching the Zeitgeist and getting it on the page. It was among the originators of the New Journalism, publishing legendary stories whose authors infiltrated a Black Panther party in Leonard Bernstein’s apartment, introduced us to the mother-daughter hermits living in the dilapidated estate known as Grey Gardens, launched Ms. Magazine, branded a group of up-and-coming teen stars “the Brat Pack,” and effectively ended the career of Roger Ailes. “When New York magazine began in 1968, it was unique: a brash conglomeration of ingenious writers, editors, and graphic designers who generated narrative journalism that was so classic it became new again. Highbrow, Lowbrow, Brilliant, Despicable: 50 Years of New York encapsulates those five convulsive decades in lavish illustrations, vivid oral histories, and evocative recreations by, among others, Tom Wolfe, Jimmy Breslin, Nora Ephron, Nicholas Pileggi, Julie Baumgold and Gael Greene from the magazine’s more than 2,300 issues.” —Sam Roberts, The New York Times. “A delicious compendium of the magazine’s coverage from the half-century of its existence, this is the kind of book that incites nostalgia even for the moments you didn’t live though (there’s the original Tom Wolfe “Radical Chic” cover!). The editors reproduce material that speaks not just to passing moments and fashions, but also to constant editorial emphases, such as high-quality artwork and portraiture.
Reviews
"excellent in any ways - great design, great texts, it is a heavyweight champion."
"I found the FINsix Dart 65W in an airport store. It cost about half as much on line as in the airport. Then one day at work, I needed it for our system programmer to install a big program, and his mouth dropped when he saw how small the FINsix is."
"The unhelpful index indicated that my favorite cover, Gerald Ford ( as Bozo) to city, Drop Dead is in here, but I have yet to spot it."
"A fascinating look back at the past 50 years through the eyes of New York magazine."
"If you love the NYM, you'll love this book!"
"This book showcases a huge and terrific selection from the nearly half-century of New York Magazine's publication."
"It was like a history lesson, that I had lived through, unfortunately not in New York."
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Best Amateur Movie Production

I Liked It, Didn't Love It: Screenplay Development From the Inside Out
A required textbook at universities worldwide for writing, producing, and development courses, the book sheds light on the inner workings of the feature film and TV development process, who all the players are, and how they fit together as content creators at film studios, TV networks, agencies, and production companies. What does "in development" really mean? Monika Skerbelis and Rona Edwards have lived the life of a studio and development executive, having developed and sold screenplays for the past 15 years.
Reviews
"The bookshelves and internet are overflowing with "How-To's" instructing the aspiring writer on how to conceive, write, and perfect their screenplay, but not many tell you what will happen to it once it is submitted and considered."
"I could be wrong, but I think this may be one of the only books that focuses on development."
"As a writer who has yet to sell a script, I've been told snippets of the information in this book by my agent and manager, but I never had the whole picture of what happens when my script leaves my hands."
"Perfect in this issue (I believe the only one about it)."
"For anyone interested in story development and story analysis -- this is a good book with valuable info."
"This book is marvelous in that it clearly shows new writers what will happen to their material once it is ready for Hollywood."
"In Hollywood, tourists buy maps to the homes of the stars."
"kind of fun, behind the scenes view of the biz."
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Best Performing Arts Reference

The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film
Using his unprecedented access to the Lucasfilm Archives and its trove of never-before-published “lost” interviews, photos, production notes, factoids, and anecdotes, Star Wars scholar J. W. Rinzler hurtles readers back in time for a one-of-a-kind behind-the-scenes look at the nearly decade-long quest of George Lucas and his key collaborators to make the “little” movie that became a phenomenon. • the evolution of the now-classic story and characters–including “Annikin Starkiller” and “a huge green-skinned monster with no nose and large gills” named Han Solo. • excerpts from George Lucas’s numerous, ever-morphing script drafts. • the birth of Industrial Light & Magic, the special-effects company that revolutionized Hollywood filmmaking. • the studio-hopping and budget battles that nearly scuttled the entire project. • the director’s early casting saga, which might have led to a film spoken mostly in Japanese–including the intensive auditions that won the cast members their roles and made them legends. • the grueling, nearly catastrophic location shoot in Tunisia and the subsequent breakneck dash at Elstree Studios in London. • the who’s who of young film rebels who pitched in to help–including Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, and Brian DePalma. J. W. Rinzler, former executive editor at Lucasfilm Ltd., is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Making of Star Wars and London Times bestseller The Complete Making of Indiana Jones , as well as the #1 NY Times Bestselling graphic novel, adapted from George Lucas's original rough draft, "The Star Wars."
Reviews
"So with all that in mind, I come across this book which had even more production photos I've never seen before, along with countless stories from all the key production people, plus details down to what order the scenes were shot, etc."
"The images, including artist sketches/paintings, storyboards, and actual production photographs are comprehensive and I was amazed that it was all able to fit into the 100 MB it is taking up in my kindle's memory. I know that this enhanced edition is supposed to include audio and video that I cannot view on my monochrome kindle, but at least they are not occupying my memory space."
"Devices read on: * iPad (retina). * Nexus 7 (2013). * iPhone 5. Con: *The pictures*. Still pretty, and many are illuminating, but by default they're never full page -- always a ton of white space around 1-3 zoomable pictures -- so you lose the ease of flipping through pages and just landing on something pretty. *Audio and Video only playable on some devices*. If you have an iPad or Kindle Fire, you're golden. Nothing plays, which is too bad considering the Nexus 7 was my favorite device for actually reading the book."
"Rinzler's book on the original "Star Wars" film (a.k.a."
"The Enhanced Edition eBook is much more approachable to read. Having owned the original hard cover edition, I questioned whether the enhanced edition content would be worth the additional buy."
"I have loved Star Wars my entire life. I loved reading this book."
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