In shot --- I loved this book. Very easy language and explanation of every shots with picture and comparison with original picture.

This book describes a hundred filming situations. They follow a standardized format of a page of description of what the film maker is trying to do, then a page showing a couple of shots taken from (usually) big budget films, and a computer generated 3D drawing.

There is relatively little detail on each of the situations. Instead it shows/discusses the scene briefly and suggests that you not copy it directly but to use it as a place from which to start experimenting. In short it's an idea book.

It is unlikely that anyone would want to use all of these techniques in any one production. You'll read the book when you have a problem with a scene and perhaps get an idea that makes your project fly.

A very good book that deserves a read and even a study. It was great for my film making skills and even photography.

Having built a library of just about any book that has to do with film, I was really glad to see this one when I recieved it as a gift. Ended up reading in one sitting, then again about 3 days later.
Most of the shots are common in film. You are given examples of use in the craft, shown a 3-D image with various angles, you are told in detail how to set it them up, and why you need to do it a certain way.
I have over 50 film and cinematography books on my shelf, this one is now one of my favorites along with about 5 others out of the bunch. Very useful, nice to read and great to use for a refference later on.

- Michael G.

More than anything else this book teaches you to use your imagination like a director. Some reviewers have said the book needs a DVD, but I think a DVD would make it too easy, so you'd learn nothing. It takes a while to get your head around the diagrams, but that's a good thing. If you put in the effort you learn how to think like a director and you can use that. If you just want to flip through and steal some good shots, you can, but the real value comes from learning how directors see and how they squeeze emotion and meaning from a scene by knowing how to set up shots. Without a doubt, the best book on the subject.

Great info for beginners such as myself. Good basic book but in need of a DVD-ROM, seriously.

The great thing about the digital film making age is that anyone with a camera and a couple dollars can make a movie. The awful thing about the digital film making age is that anyone with a camera and a couple dollars can make a movie. You can shoot with the most expensive, high-end gear and still get terrible, amateurish results (horror fans with Netflix memberships know this all too well). I've produced nearly 30 low-budget films, and "Master Shots" is one of the best instructional books I've ever read in terms of illustrating the easiest and most effective ways of getting the kind of shots that will make your film look a hundred times better than the birthday party camcorder footage we see all over YouTube these days. Not only are things explained simply and clearly, but the still frames from movies are accompanied by drawings that show exactly where the camera should be placed (very similar to a photography manual in this regard). Before you spend thousands on a camera, buy this book and learn how cinematography is done. Even using a tripod can make a huge difference, trust me.

Excellent book. A few words but a lot of pics and graphics to show the different types of camera angles and creative shots. I love it!

As a working director who has shot hundreds of hours of movies and tv, I would term this another of the mass of books written by people who don't actually have the authority to teach.

Simple minded and yet confusing, best used as a door stop.

I've taught screenwriting, production, directing, and my own series of workshops on my book The Moral Premise: Harnessing Virtue & Vice for Box Office Success. But, I wish I had mastered the contents of MASTER SHOTS long before. I picked up this book in prep for a short film we plan to shoot in a couple months thinking it might help me come up with some new ideas. Instead it has revamped my thinking totally about how I should be storyboarding and planning my shots. I've taught that every very shot should reveal something to the audience, giving them a fresh, unique perspective on the action and story; and that lens height and length are critical in telling your story. Yet, how to do that, and how to move the camera, without revisiting tire-worn techniques is difficult. But with MASTER SHOTS you'll be fighting to suppress the adrenaline rush to try everything out on the next setup, whether it's called for or not. After studying the spreads in this book, I feel like the high-school TV nerd who just discovered the wipe selection buttons on a TV switcher. This book will be well worn, very soon. Thank you very much, Christopher Kenworthy... you've added a very worthy book to Michael Wiese's landscape of movie books.

This book gives you tons of great camera conventions that only hollywood directors use. But now you can get to know the tricks of the trade with excellent visuals of fight scenes, chase scenes, camera movement for dramatic effect and much more. I would definitely recommend this book to any independent filmmaker because it expands your creativity and visualization skills

It is interesting. Its an easy guide to practice all kinds of different shots that are not going to add expenses to your production. Interesting ideas. I would recommend it if you were a beginner filmmaker. It will guide you into how to for many aspects of film, for example how to create a fear sensation, romance...etc.
Fun tips, easy to use and good if you're a beginner.

For the beginner or occasional filmmaker, this is a great book. Essentially it is an encyclopedia of master shots, a hundred of them. Most are illustrated with stills from various films and with 3D models created in Poser 7.

The author provides details about how the shot is set up, the feeling the shot is intended to convey and pertinent information. Kenworthy deliberately stays away from things like lenses, equipment, lighting and so on.

His point is that the shots can be accomplished with any kind of camera. It is the point of view that matters and the action that establishes the meaning of the shot and advances the story.

Master Shots is definitely an aid to the beginning filmmaker or those who shoot only occasionally and could you a bit of assistance in visualizing how to tell their story.

For a very reasonable cost, you have a hundred classic master shots diagrammed and explained for you. Good deal.

Jerry

I have no intention of shooting a movie, but I was interested in this book as a way of extending my visual literacy. Quite simply, this is a great book for exposing the visual grammar that underlies the business of telling a story in film. It's as concerned with the mechanics of storytelling as it is with the business of filming.
A great and surprising present for movie-loving friends.

I'm currently sitting on page 96 of this book and its driving me crazy. This book utilizes frames from existing films with computer storyboards. What drives me crazy is that the descriptions aren't detailed enough to get a visual understanding of what is occuring in the storyboards and screengrabs. A demo dvd would have been nice to accompany the volume or at least a time code where you can go to the screenshots yourself to see exactly how the shot is played out. Or leave out the screen shots and put in more detailed storyboards.

I'm a film student and I was REALLY excited to receive a copy of this book. I realize this book is not about certain shots being limited to a particular example, but also giving you ideas to expand on. However, I was slightly disappointed. Don't get me wrong, this book is still helpful, but I'm having a hard time understanding who this book is MAINLY targeted towards to.

First of all, even if you follow the "techniques", your low budget film will still look low budget if you don't have the proper equipments (and believable actors, lighting, script, and the list goes on....) That's reality. This book alone is not going to give you that "expensive look on your low-budget movie". That's just a marketing tool. Just be aware of that. (This is not the reason I'm giving it a 3 stars!) If you do have a dolly track, Steadicam, or crane, THAT will give you an "EXPENSIVE" *LOOK* -- however, if you're trying to convey a STORY using those tools, then there has to be a meaning to it or feel natural; or else the audience will feel disconnected. That's what this book is here to help you with. It's all about the e-MOTION. (Get it? The motion has to convey the emotion.)

The author mentions about using long/short lens, focus pull, dolly. etc, so you better really have that ability down first or know the basics. If you try to go hand held on a consumer camera, unless you're going for the Blair Witch/Cloverfield style, it's still going to look BAD.

As far as camera techniques go, it just uses the same, common, existing shots several times (it could just be a simple motionless long shot, or tracking/panning and coming to a halt; but just used in different examples). If you're looking for mindblowing innovation, this is not it. I guess when I heard the term "camera techniques", I had the wrong expectation of thinking it would be several camera tricks; for example, like "The Vertigo effect" (dolly zoom). However, the techniques in this book rely heavily on directing the actor's movements (and sometimes post editing and using props/location/lighting shadows; I thought this book was supposed to teach CAMERA techniques? I mean sure, all those things are crucial to a cinematographer, but it doesn't necessarily pertain all to the camera itself). It will keep using things like dolly, long/short lens, low/high angle, close up, etc, but what this book goes over briefly is basically the motivation of when to use them. There's a lot of recycled shots, but the only difference is the situation.

The shots are broken down for these categories:
Ch. 01: Fight Scenes (8 shots total)
Ch. 02: Chase Scenes (10 shots)
Ch. 03: Entrances & Exits (8 shots)
Ch. 04: Suspense, Searching & Creeping (9 shots)
Ch. 05: Dramatic Shift (9 shots)
Ch. 06: Revelations & Discoveries (9 shots)
Ch. 07: Shock Horror (9 shots)
Ch. 08: Directing Attention (7 shots)
Ch. 09: Car Scenes (7 shots)
Ch. 10: Dialogue Scenes (8 shots)
Ch. 11: Arguments & Conflict (8 shots)
Ch. 12: Love & Sex Scenes (8 shots)

If you don't know how to shoot a person in a car scene (have the camera in front of the car, backseat, or passenger side...) and need "advanced" help from this book, then you really shouldn't be a DP. I mean, there's some really useful examples and subtle tips in this book, don't get me wrong, but I just find some shots to be a little redundant or so basic that it's not even worth mentioning (or cause it to receive an applause from the viewer to say, "Wow, that looked advanced.")

The 3D model (made with Poser 7) picture, with only arrows pointing, and only two or three screen STILLS at most, from the actual movie, wasn't really helping me to fully understand, especially when I'm not familiar with the movie. I thought it was kind of strange, and somewhat humorous, for the sex scene shots, they would actually make female 3D model fully nude and detailed (hide this away from your kids! Will somebody please think of the children?!? Sorry.), while the male 3D rendering has his pants on (not that I'm complaining or anything about the latter). I almost think the 3D renderings were just something the makers enjoyed doing for themselves. Even some movies I were familiar with, the author explains it differently or there were discrepancies with the 3D diagram (Romeo + Juliet, the camera was panning around, so shouldn't it be showing arrows instead of three different camera set-ups and cutting between them?). The book contains brief short paragraphs of the explanation than being in-depth. For some shots, the author doesn't even mention what the movie is from. It would have been better if he had the movie title (and possibly the timecode for the scene) next to the screen stills, just for better organization, instead of sometimes being mentioned in the paragraphs.

Sure, if this was a drawing art book then stills are fine, but for movies... not quite. Some were quite obvious and a 3D model was totally unnecessary. I mean, camera placement is pretty evident just by looking at the still picture; however, if you haven't seen the movie before, it's a little difficult to understand what the movement exactly is. It would have been nice if this book came with a DVD-Rom with sample clips of the movie or clips of the 3D models! I'm sure costs would be a problem, but I wouldn't mind paying extra for it.

The author obviously knows his stuff. I don't hate this book. However, I think it could be a lot clearer in some examples, especially the 3D models and stills, and be more consistent on the order of explaining and which movie it is from. Moreover, focus on a certain target audience (maybe add a "level of difficulty" rating of what the author thinks on each example) than try to be too broad with obvious basic/repetitive examples or too complex to pull off without having the right setup. Overall, I think this book is targeted more towards people who already understand the basics of filmmaking and willing to invest on the essential tools to truly fulfill these shots (do not rely on hand held shots), but just can't come up with anything besides keeping the camera still on a tripod and cutting between them. For professional cinematographers, this will just be a nice reference, a "reminder".

After further review, I guess I wouldn't mind giving this book a 4 stars. The author at least doesn't ramble, doesn't use too much jargon, and gets to the point. The book doesn't feel outdated and uses mostly contemporary movies such as Children of Men, Minority Report, Fight Club, Terminator 3 (Not sure why he used the worst one out of the series), Amelie, Crouching Tiger, etc.

I'm a film student and I was REALLY excited to receive a copy of this book. I realize this book is not about certain shots being limited to a particular example, but also giving you ideas to expand on. However, I was slightly disappointed. Don't get me wrong, this book is still helpful, but I'm having a hard time understanding who this book is MAINLY targeted towards to.

First of all, even if you follow the "techniques", your low budget film will still look low budget if you don't have the proper equipments (and believable actors, lighting, script, and the list goes on....) That's reality. This book alone is not going to give you that "expensive look on your low-budget movie". That's just a marketing tool. Just be aware of that. (This is not the reason I'm giving it a 3 stars!) If you do have a dolly track, Steadicam, or crane, THAT will give you an "EXPENSIVE" *LOOK* -- however, if you're trying to convey a STORY using those tools, then there has to be a meaning to it or feel natural; or else the audience will feel disconnected. That's what this book is here to help you with. It's all about the e-MOTION. (Get it? The motion has to convey the emotion.)

The author mentions about using long/short lens, focus pull, dolly. etc, so you better really have that ability down first or know the basics. If you try to go hand held on a consumer camera, unless you're going for the Blair Witch/Cloverfield style, it's still going to look BAD.

As far as camera techniques go, it just uses the same, common, existing shots several times (it could just be a simple motionless long shot, or tracking/panning and coming to a halt; but just used in different examples). If you're looking for mindblowing innovation, this is not it. I guess when I heard the term "camera techniques", I had the wrong expectation of thinking it would be several camera tricks; for example, like "The Vertigo effect" (dolly zoom). However, the techniques in this book rely heavily on directing the actor's movements (and sometimes post editing and using props/location/lighting shadows; I thought this book was supposed to teach CAMERA techniques? I mean sure, all those things are crucial to a cinematographer, but it doesn't necessarily pertain all to the camera itself). It will keep using things like dolly, long/short lens, low/high angle, close up, etc, but what this book goes over briefly is basically the motivation of when to use them. There's a lot of recycled shots, but the only difference is the situation.

If you don't know how to shoot a person in a car scene (have the camera in front of the car, backseat, or passenger side...) and need "advanced" help from this book, then you really shouldn't be a DP. I mean, there's some really useful examples in this book, don't get me wrong, but I just find some shots to be a little redundant or so basic that it's not even worth mentioning (or cause it to receive an applause from the viewer to say, "Wow, that looked advanced.")

The 3D model (made with Poser 7) picture, with only arrows pointing, and only two or three screen STILLS at most, from the actual movie, wasn't really helping me to fully understand, especially when I'm not familiar with the movie. I thought it was kind of strange, and somewhat humorous, for the sex scene shots, they would actually make female 3D model fully nude and detailed (hide this away from your kids! Will somebody please think of the children?!? Sorry.), while the male 3D rendering has his pants on (not that the I'm complaining or anything about the latter). I almost think the 3D renderings were just something the makers enjoyed doing for themselves. Even some movies I was familiar with, the author explains it differently or there were discrepancies with the 3D diagram (Romeo + Juliet, the camera was panning around, so shouldn't it be showing arrows instead of three different camera set-ups and cutting between them?). The book contains brief short paragraphs of the explanation than being in-depth. For some shots, the author doesn't even mention what the movie is from. It would have been better if he had the movie title (and possibly the timecode for the scene) next to the screen stills, just for better organization, instead of sometimes being mentioned in the paragraphs.

Sure, if this was a drawing art book then stills are fine, but for movies... not quite. Some were quite obvious and a 3D model was totally unnecessary. I mean, camera placement is pretty evident just by looking at the still picture; however, if you haven't seen the movie before, it's a little difficult to understand what the movement exactly is. It would have been nice if this book came with a DVD-Rom with sample clips of the movie or clips of the 3D models! I'm sure costs would be a problem, so maybe they could upload example videos on youtube and just refer a link.

The author obviously knows his stuff. I don't hate this book. However, I think it could be a lot clearer in some examples, especially the 3D models and stills, and be more consistent on the order of explaining and which movie it is from. Moreover, focus on a certain target audience (maybe add a "level of difficulty" rating of what the author thinks on each example) than try to be too broad with obvious basic/repetitive examples or too complex to pull off without having the right setup. Overall, I think this book is targeted more towards people who already understand the basics of filmmaking and willing to invest on the essential tools to truly fulfill these shots (do not rely on hand held shots), but just can't come up with anything besides keeping the camera still on a tripod and cutting between them. For professional cinematographers, this will just be a nice reference, a "reminder".

After further review, I guess I wouldn't mind giving this book a 4 stars. The author at least doesn't ramble, doesn't use too much jargon, and gets to the point. The book doesn't feel outdated and uses mostly contemporary movies such as Children of Men, Minority Report, Fight Club, Terminator 3 (Not sure why he used the worst one out of the series), Amelie, Crouching Tiger, etc.