How-to book not just for rising filmmakers
Guide offers practical tips on photography, videography
These days, it seems any kid with a camera can become internet famous. But, of course, it takes a little more work — and imagination — to create a feature film.
Local production guru Deborah S. Patz has penned a book to help young videographers do just that with the new release, Write! Shoot! Edit! A Complete Guide for Teen Filmmakers.
Much like the title suggests, the how-to book includes tips and tricks to create a “fiction movie,” with individual elements targeting various crew member roles, such as the Writer, Director and Editor, as well as pre-production and post-production facts.
Patz, who has been a professional in the film industry since the mid-1980s and has worked on projects with the likes of Disney and Lucasfilm, covers a vast array of elements in the paperback book, from commonly used industry vocabulary so young creators sound like serious pros to tips on how to create fake blood.
But, this easy-to-read book isn’t just for movie makers (or young people, for that matter). Patz’s tips for writing elements such as outlines and scripts could easily translate to other areas for young writers and creatives.
But, perhaps the most universal element of this book comes in during Chapter Six: Preproduction — Designing the Shoot, where Patz provides practical tips (including photos and diagrams) covering areas of photography and videography that are easy to get wrong, such as shot composition and axis of action (the “imaginary line that travels between characters in a scene,” Patz writes).
These tips, along with additional tips covering topics such as proper lighting and the rule of thirds (essentially, imaging the screen divided into a ticktack-toe grid), are sure to prove beneficial for even those who prefer to contain their camera creations to the realm of Snapchat selfies and Instagram shots.
If you have an up-and-coming filmmaker in your family, Write! Shoot! Edit! A Complete Guide for Teen Filmmakers may just be the essential book to add to their late-summer reading list.