Rating: 
Summary: Classic Text in Cinematography
Review: ... that filmmakers today should read!!! See, the audience isn't supposed to be AWARE of the camera, just like magicians aren't supposed to make you aware of how the trick is performed. This - of course, goes against the grain of the MTV school of filmmaking were the the camera appears to be mounted on a pneumatic drill, and the goal of the cinematographer is to make you dizzy by zooming in and out as rapidly as possible. The goal is to suspend disbelief, support the action - and, where possible, enhance with subtle visual metaphore on a level that truly works at the subconscious level. The best cinematography is when you're not aware of it consciously... a thankless job. This book is a roadmap of how to do that. Many cinematographers today are hotdogs; and the equivalent of hambone actors. Didn't read this book, obviously.
In a sense, cinematography (like editing and direction) works best when you're not aware of it. How do you tell a bad actor? When you're aware of their acting. How do you tell bad cinematography? ...
This book has become timeless and it deserved to. This along with the American Cinematographer Manual are the only two texts you need. I would read each 3 times apiece before I bought four other books on the subject.
Rating:
Summary: The Book
Review: After buying a few books that were not what I was looking for. I decided to order The Five c's of cinematography. What a book! It taught me everything that I need to know...The rules don't change, and that this book tells you those rules. Like Mascelli says, "To Break the rules, you must first learn them". After reading only the first section, I shot a matrix movie called "The Men" useing the things I learned from the book, everybody noticed a difference, and that was just from reading one chapter! This book is a safe buy, and will make your movies great.
Rating:
Summary: The Book
Review: After buying a few books that were not what I was looking for. I decided to order The Five c's of cinematography. What a book! It taught me everything that I need to know...The rules don't change, and that this book tells you those rules. Like Mascelli says, "To Break the rules, you must first learn them". After reading only the first section, I shot a matrix movie called "The Men" useing the things I learned from the book, everybody noticed a difference, and that was just from reading one chapter! This book is a safe buy, and will make your movies great.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent...
Review: an excellent reference for the novice filmmaker. Lots of great ideas and tips. I won't recap the rest of the reviews but this is one of my favorites
Rating:
Summary: Great Introduction to Film Making
Review: As an amateur just starting to get serious about turning my "home movies" into something people actually WANT to watch, I searched for a long time to find an introductory book that not only told you HOW to do things, but WHY you should do them.After many disappointments, I found this book. While some of the references (script girl is particularly amusing) are very dated, the text mainly covers technique and avoids technology. The illustrations and printing style point quite obviously to the book's mid-60s origin. An introduction by someone who remembers what it was like to shoot film in 1908 and knew D.W. Griffith personally should tip you off immediately that this book is something special. Still, the illustrations are clear and help illustrate the text's points very well. In spite of what many recent amateur (and professional) film makers think, technology does not make your film good, it just makes it easy. TECHNIQUE makes it good. And that's what this book teaches in a very clear, readable, and understandable way. Very highly recommended if you've had your fill of general introductory texts and are looking for real instruction and explanation for how to actually MAKE a film.
Rating: 
Summary: With all the respect, but...
Review: I am for about one year in the process of gathering /Hunting
every knowledge i can, about filmmaking (actually video)
Sorry but this is the most non-readable book i've baught.
Whith all the respect to the author, who must have been
a very important person in Hollywood 40 years ago, and to Mr. A.Miller who wrote the introduction, but
despite all my five effords i made in order to try to read some of it,
i didn't manage to. Seeing all those b/w picts from unknown
actors some 40 or 50 years ago mixed with endless texts, and then more irrelevant b/w picts from usa in the early 60's .. sorry
not for me. I'll try another book.
Rating:
Summary: The Rule Book of Classical Cinematic Style
Review: I first read this book in 1965 when it came out and I was a film student. It was the single most helpful book on filmmaking I came across (John Alton's "Painting with Light" is great also, on cinematography). This is the grammar book of the language of classical cinematic style. It sets out the rules used by generations of directors, cinematographers and editors for expressing drama, feelings and ideas. Here is the standard Hollywood style -- which audiences have become so used to that it virtually disappears. What's interesting to me is to break those rules, and this book gives you lots of places to begin. Essential.
Rating:
Summary: The Rule Book of Classical Cinematic Style
Review: I first read this book in 1965 when it came out and I was a film student. It was the single most helpful book on filmmaking I came across (John Alton's "Painting with Light" is great also, on cinematography). This is the grammar book of the language of classical cinematic style. It sets out the rules used by generations of directors, cinematographers and editors for expressing drama, feelings and ideas. Here is the standard Hollywood style -- which audiences have become so used to that it virtually disappears. What's interesting to me is to break those rules, and this book gives you lots of places to begin. Essential.
Rating:
Summary: It changes the way you watch films.
Review: I have recently read this masterpiece and I must say that it is difficult to watch a film the same way I did a month ago. I watch films on more visual terms, and I find the techniques diffrent camaramen use very interesting. The techniques that are disscussed in this book are very much in use in today's films, and it is impossible to not notice it
Rating:
Summary: A Bible ? In more ways than one !
Review: I've read several reviews on this book and none of them mention the first thing that struck me about it - the dense, convoluted, heavy and generally biblical writing style ! Get to the point, Mascelli ! However, this broad-based and totally off-hand criticism of the entire book hasn't stopped me giving it five stars ! Why ? Because, overall the book is very well structured, and FULL of information. The style is part of his view of the world of film-making and his frequent trips round the houses take us to the many places that we need to visit in getting to know that world. I just wish that all the off-topic information had been broken down into separate chapters and presented as individual reading topics. But then it would be "The 50 Cs" and a very different book from Mascelli's ! No, I rate this book very highly as it is. I picked it up at a time when I couldn't even see a cut-on-action, never mind see why it was used, what the alternatives might have been, etc. I had previously read somewhere that "the camera should depict the action, not become part of it", yet never found a book which taught this as a method. I hoped that an "old-school" book might do that, and the "5 Cs" doesn't disappoint. Through it, I've finally started to "get" what film-making is about and, as I'm sure another reviewer has said, I'll probably never look at films the same way again. Besides, if someone thinks they're interested in film-making, this book is a good test. If they can't make their way through Mascelli's Mountain of Words, they're never going to succeed in getting a film made ! On the other hand, I only read it because I was stuck on a train for long periods of time, so maybe something easier to read would be of value. To a prospective reader, I'd say that this book is invaluable. You may never make a film they way this book describes, but you WILL need to know why not ! Do what I did - read it, then read it again and make notes, lots of them !
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