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I watched all four videos in the series this past week.
Here’s what I liked.
The DVDs presented a lot of different scenarios and then explained them (for the most part) step by step. Well-drawn diagrams of each setup are also included, which helps the learning process. The author clearly knows his craft and selected a great variety of scenarios from which to learn. And I did learn a fair amount. Not just about where to put lights or silks for different situations but also things like putting lamps in shots on dimmers so they don’t dominate the shot or how to get a good saturated color image in the background.
Here’s what I didn’t like.
The series appears to have been shot in the 1980’s, which is distracting. At least one scene includes a guy with hair parted down the middle and a mullet.
Because the video is dated, the viewer may be left not knowing if lighting techniques are any different with the current digital video technology.
The voice-over guy “announces” instead of “communicates”. That’s what voice-over people did back then, and while it sounds good, it’s hard to follow what he’s saying. Even though I’m very interested in the subject, my mind kept wandering off, and I had to keep rewinding sections to see what I’d missed. This was by far the worst thing about the series, and by the fourth DVD, it was almost insufferable.
The author of the DVDs appeared in sound bites on a regular basis, and he communicated well. It’s a shame he didn’t narrate the whole thing.
The series makes use of a ton of lighting equipment – some of which is very expensive and the viewer will never have access too. In a way, it’s good to know what different kinds of lights can do. But on the other hand, most of the examples will never be replicated by the viewer. Unfortunately, the DVD did not give other lower-budget options. It just said things such as, “Holshevnikoff chooses (whatever kind of) light,” without ever saying what other light may have worked in that situation.
All of the setups deal with when you have time to light properly. There’s not much there for those who work in TV news under crazy time constraints and who just want to know how to light a scene decently as quickly as possible.
Finally, I don’t think Holshevnikoff ever once mentioned an umbrella – something present in so many lighting kits. I think he should have at least mentioned its pros and cons or even lit one or two scenes while using one. Could this be because his sponsors wanted to push far more expensive lighting setups instead? It makes you wonder.
Here’s a quick rundown on all four videos.
#1 – Very basic information mostly about 3-point lighting. Good stuff for beginners, but others won’t learn much, if anything.
#2 – Goes way beyond 3-point lighting. Some good stuff here both in indoor and outdoor lighting setups. He uses all sorts and sizes of silks, soft boxes, you name it. Virtually every scene uses different equipment (this is true of all the videos except #1).
#3 – Explains gels, how to use them, and when not to use them (such as keeping a lamp on in a room for a warmer feel). He also goes a little into filters, matte boxes, etc. May be worth watching if you don’t know this stuff already.
#4 – Talks about lighting backgrounds both when focusing on the room and when focusing on a person, such as during an interview (in fact, every DVD in this series deals with interviews at least some of the time). Also just barely touches on lighting fixed objects.
For me, the DVDs were worth renting despite their shortcomings. They average 50 minutes in length, so they cover a lot of material. If you can tolerate all the distractions and don’t mind hitting rewind often, you’ll probably come away with a better understanding of the lighting process. In fact, I’d like to watch parts of the last three DVDs again. Unfortunately, I don’t think I will. The narration is just too bad to sit through a second time.
Wow! This is by far the best educational video I’ve ever seen. Just three minutes into the program, I had to hit pause because I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. And this video kept me laughing again and again.
But this program isn’t just extraordinarily funny - it’s highly educational too. “Harnessing the Potential of Your Video Camera” covers everything from how your camera’s iris works to marking focus during blocking. Along the way, viewers see what a CCD actually looks like, learn to compensate for low light, and compare images created by different lenses.
Like a supersized game of “Show and Tell,” this video takes concepts that are hard to visualize and lets you see and experience them first hand. If taught by others, many of the presented concepts would be dryer than Death Valley. But not here. Not even close. No one – not even those with zero interest in video – could be bored while watching this video.
So who should watch it? Well, beginners will get a hilarious and thorough introduction. Pros will get ideas for their next production. But the people who most need to see “Harnessing the Potential of Your Video Camera” are those who work in education. If all of America’s teachers had half the ability of the people who made this video, every kid in America would happily attend school on weekends and over the summer. Fortunately, for those of us who shoot video, school is now in session!
DV Enlightenment is the sixth DVD I've watched on lighting, and so far, it's clearly the best of the bunch. It's well lit, shot, written, produced, etc. But most importantly, it contains a lot of good instruction about lighting interviews, shooting outdoors, using green screens, and a whole lot more. It's great for beginners, but it also has a number of more advanced tips that make it worth watching for people at the intermediate level too. If you only watch one video about lighting, this is the one to get.
This is a very good video. Doug Jensen is a true pro who knows how to teach. He does a great job of explaining what to do before you set up a single light - where to shoot, how to arrange a room, what kind of chair to put the subject in, etc.
As for his lighting setup, it is simple, affordable, and best of all, looks great! He shows you what to do and even what to buy if you don't yet have a light kit. And unlike most lighting videos, Jensen isn't sponsored by a lighting company, so his recommendations carry some weight.
I only have two small criticisms. He mentions carrying a small makeup kit with two shades of powder and some puffs. But what shades of powder? And how do I know who gets what shade? What brands work well (some of us guys have no clue)? It would also have been nice if he'd shown a few examples of when people might need a little makeup / or a touchup and shown exactly what to do. He gives specific recommendations and instructions regarding equipment but not for makeup.
The author also recommends the warm cards his company sells. I own a set, and even though I think they are a little overpriced, they are a great product that I use on every shoot. However, I wish he'd gone into more detail about when to try white balancing to warm or cool colors. He hardly spent any time on that at all. One of the interns at my station recently asked me what situations are appropriate for the cool cards. I told him I didn't know. That's something I wish Mr. Jensen would have explained in this DVD.
However, I'm still going to give the video 5 stars. "How to Setup, Light, and Shoot Great Looking Interviews" contains great information I haven't seen anywhere else. The recommendations for the light kit could save someone a considerable amount of money. And the presentation is about as good as you'll ever see in a DVD. I highly recommend it!
Yikes! The production quality of these videos is pretty bad. Considering the videos are about shooting, you’d expect the camera work to at least be decent. But for the most part, it’s not. The camera frequently shakes. The lighting is even worse. And the editing is downright terrible.
There are screen-direction problems, audio issues, jump cuts, shots slightly out-of-focus, you name it. I have no idea how any so-called broadcast pro could produce a video this bad. It often looks like an amateurish, home-video production.
That being said, it doesn’t appear the author is a broadcast pro but rather a wedding videographer. There’s nothing wrong with that, but before renting these tapes, you should know that most of the footage is neither broadcast-quality nor geared towards those who shoot for the evening news.
In one scene, the host interviews his mentor. The background is too hot, so the viewer’s eyes are drawn to the background and not the subject. The subject wears glasses, and a huge, distracting reflection shows up in one the lenses. And the subject - like most subjects in most scenes of these videos - is poorly lit.
Yet here’s the paradox. The information presented (in part one, anyway) is often good even though many of the examples are not. The author has an idea how the pros shoot even though this video doesn't demonstrate many of those techniques very well.
There are exceptions. A few scenes are actually shot well. How is that possible? I have no idea. If I hadn’t seen it for myself, I wouldn’t have believed it.
I rate “Advanced Broadcast Camera Techniques, Part 1” two out of a possible five stars only because it does have some decent content. Despite its flaws, it may still be worth renting for some people. But tape two isn’t even that good and gets only one star. It contains very little useful information and isn’t worth renting.
Some of the information in these DVDs is good, but the examples (for the most part) are not. The lighting, editing, and yes - even the shooting – are pretty bad. The footage is often unsteady, there are screen-direction problems, audio issues, jump cuts, shots slightly out-of-focus, you name it.
For example, in one scene, the host interviews his mentor. The background is too hot, so the viewer’s eyes are drawn to the background and not the subject. The subject wears glasses, and a huge, distracting reflection shows up in one the lenses. And the subject - like most subjects in most scenes of these videos - is poorly lit. Any pro knows multiple ways to fix each of those problems, but why they weren’t fixed here is a mystery.
The author is enthusiastic and likable, and he clearly has an idea how the pros shoot. But unfortunately, with a couple of exceptions, this video doesn’t demonstrate pro techniques very well.
That being said, I suspect many shooters could learn a few things from the first video, especially if they struggle with creativity. I’ll give it three stars because of the content. The production quality of the second video is the same, but the content isn’t nearly as good. I’ll give Part 2 one star and rate the set of two DVDs two stars.
