In sadness make.
I finished On Camera yesterday afternoon at the doctor’s office. It was pretty good.
As I said before, it’s a guide, produced by the BBC in the mid-80′s, for directors and producers of television programs. It covers the basics of show creation, from basic preparation like research and concept, to more technical aspects like camera placement and shot planning, and then on to more general subjects like how to write for mass appeal and how to interest an audience. It’s not very technical — in fact, the point is very strongly presented that, as a director or producer, you must seek advice from the technical members of your crew as often as possible.
Some of the book is amusingly outdated, like the discussion of video editing using a microscope and micro-guillotine, but it’s interesting to know that people saw the coming of digital video even as early at 1985. A second section of the book goes more in-depth on specific topics, like how to best do overlay graphics and chromakey, how to write and record voice-over commentary, and how to use different camera angles for different effect. It wasn’t really a lot I hadn’t known before, but it was an interesting read, and I really enjoy reading well-written discussion of topics I already know, both for entertainment and also to give me new insights on things.
I’m now read The Difference Engine, by Doron Swade. It’s a popular history book about Babbage and his (almost) invention of the eponymous device. It’s good.