Making Media: Foundations of Sound and Image Production [With CDROM]

This book has been a real life saver for me on my first semester at graduate school. The other media books I had to read were overwhelming with never ending details and jargon language. Roberts- Breslin's book explains everything plainly from start to finish. She has an uncanny ability to simplify extremely complex matters. Even with no prior knowledge of the technical aspects of media making I now have a solid foundation. The main terms are bolded, and also listed in the end so you can read the book beginning to end or just look up specific topics. The attached CD is a great addition as it visually illustrates concepts that are difficult to explain verbally, such as the different camera movement (What is the difference between the pan and truck movement?) or the phi phenomenon. Another great thing about the book is the practical tips it gives to a beginner. Logging all my footage, for example, would have never accrued to me, but it made editing so much more manageable and must have saved me hours upon hours.