Green Screen Made Easy: Keying and Compositing Techniques for Indie Filmmakers, 2nd Edition (Book Review)

Posted by on Dec 5, 2016 in Books, Featured, Reviews, Reviews (Books) | 0 comments

I used to make a lot of micro- and no-budget movies packed full of VFX, but I usually avoided green-screen because I could never make it look good. Although those kind of projects are behind me, I agreed to the review because I figured that this book might help others succeed where I’d failed – and also I was interested to find out why I had failed!

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Guerrilla Film Scoring (Book Review)

Posted by on Jun 27, 2015 in Books, Featured, Reviews, Reviews (Books) | 0 comments

GuerillaFilmScoring_Cover_500x750

Author: Jeremy Borum
Topic: Film Composition
Publisher:
Rowman & Littlefield
Available Formats:
Paperback, Hardback, eBook
Page Count: 270 Pp.
MSRP:
$30
Expected Release: Available Now
Official Website: Click Here
Sample Chapter:
N/A
Special Discount:
Click Here
Critique Issue: Issue #111 (06/15)

Critiqued By:
Gabe Gibitz
Final Score:
8.8

Scoring music for film is quite an overwhelming task, and Jeremy Borum sets out in his new book, Guerrilla Film Scoring, to demystify the process and help budding film composers navigate the tumultuous waters of the ever-changing film scoring business. (Some may see the waters as tumultuous, but I think Borum would see this as an open door for massive change in the industry…and, to that, I would agree.) His introduction sets up the framework of the entire book in saying, “Although a study of the Hollywood machine is interesting, it’s ultimately not very useful” (xi). The rules that applied 20 years ago are a frail, dying structure upon which to build a film career. Though Hollywood budgets still exist, the average film composer will find much more work in micro-budget films. read more

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The Art of Asking (Book Review)

Posted by on Feb 13, 2015 in Books, Featured, Reviews, Reviews (Books) | 1 comment

Following the success of her TED talk (shown below), which in turn was inspired by her successful $1.2 million kickstarter campaign for her then-upcoming album, Palmer was asked to write a book. Palmer’s book, The Art of Asking, is a story about how a street performer and musician is able to create meaningful connections directly with her audience by being open to that connection, and by not being afraid to ask for that connection. As the name implies, the book is about the art of asking and how we all can use a lesson in being able to ask for help if we’re going to be successful at our art. It meditates on both the difficulty and the necessity of asking for help and shows us how Palmer uses twenty-first century tools to make a living as an artist which doesn't involve marketing ploys but focuses on building your own community, gathering your own tribe and letting them help you. This is one artist’s life laid bare as an example of the risks and rewards that come with the vulnerable act of asking.

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The TV Showrunner’s Roadmap (Book Review)

Posted by on Jul 22, 2014 in Books, Featured, Reviews, Reviews (Books) | 0 comments

In The TV Showrunner’s Roadmap, Mr. Landau brings his television and teaching experience together to walk us through 21 tips and tools an effective showrunner would need. But these tips are useful not just for showrunners, but also anyone working in television or multimedia, such as we’ve seen with the proliferation of new Indie YouTube networks like the Nerdist and Geek & Sundry. Writers...

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