Directing the Camera: How Professional Directors Use a Moving Camera to Energize Their Films

The first half of this book is devoted to teaching a systemized approach that can be used to design the very best moving shot for any dialogue scene, no matter how complex or long. Bettman’s “Five Task” approach enables the aspiring director to quickly grasp this difficult element of directorial craft. In the second half the reader is taught how to shoot action sequences using moving and static cameras and the gamut of lenses to achieve the magic trick essential to shooting action — making stunts that are highly controlled and neither violent nor dangerous look completely mind-blowing.

Gil Bettman is a director and a professor. He teaches at Chapman University in the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. His book, First Time Director, made the Los Angeles Times bestseller list. He recently completed his fifth feature film, Go There Once, Be There Twice, a documentary recap of the life and times of rock star Sammy Hagar. Bettman has also directed numerous rock videos and multiple episodes of primetime television.