New books on cinematography are available now

The new book In Conversation With Cinematographers, by David A. Ellis, a regular contributor to British Cinematographer Magazine, is now available. The hardback tome, published by Rowman and Littlefield, was released in the US in August and is available on Amazon USA. It was released in the UK on the 1st September. There are twenty-three interviews in the book. BSC members include Haris Zambarloukos, Seamus McGarvey, Harvey Harrison and Stephen Goldblatt, with a foreword by Sir Sydney Samuelson CBE.

Also recently published is Understanding Cinematography by Brian Hall. This practical book explains the basic principles behind cinematography, as well as the skills of the cinematographer. Having described the equipment, it looks at how to interpret the script and advises on how to find a visual style, and lighting techniques.

Hall is an experienced practitioner and tutor in cinematography. His career in the BBC’s Film Department spanned almost twenty-five years, mostly as a lighting cameraman but later as film operations manager. Since then, as a senior lecturer, he has tutored students in film production and cinematography at the Lincoln School of Film and Media at the University of Lincoln.

Understanding Cinematography also explains the roles of the camera crew and the importance of working as a team, and includes a guide to digital and film cameras, as well as camera supports, ideas for framing and capturing the moving image, rules for using camera movement successfully, and an introduction to camera angles.