Reviewer: Emmanuel A.

This video was a big waste of time and money. The video quality was disappointing considering it was put together by broadcast professionals. No value gained from renting this video.

Reviewer: Gints K.

Another reviewer complained about the video quality. True, it looks like a VHS on DVD.

If you can get past that, you will have a chance to watch a great tutorial on camera work.

Reviewer: Paul S.

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.

Reviewer: Paul S.

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.