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Here is the follow-up review I promised in my review of the "Complete DVD Book."
My friend Matt tapped me to write a review on the book "THE COMPLETE DVD BOOK - Designing, Producing, and Marketing Your Independent Film on DVD" - his reasons were that:
A. I have more experience with DVD authoring and
B. They used two authors to write the book, both expanding on their specialties, why not have two people review it?
Honestly, I think Matt's review was fine. I don't think I have enough extra to warrant a second review. But...since Matt asked and, well, begged, here are my encapsulated thoughts:
1. Given that the book is SO dependent on DVD Studio Pro, it should have noted that on the cover. Without that software, large sections of the book are useless to the reader.
2. There were a few suggestions that seemed a bit "guerrilla" for a mainstream audience: Changing every seventh note of music you've swiped, sticking fake copies of your movie on the shelves at your local Blockbuster, etc. While those things might work, the cover/title of the book makes it look a bit more, uh, "professional." A minor quibble.
3. I very much appreciated the personal advice and commentary from industry pros like Lloyd Kaufman. It was pithy and pragmatic. More of that would have been nice.
4. As someone who has worked with some DVD authoring software, with a marginal knowledge of the subject, I thought the technical sections were quite well-done - clear, to-the-point, explaining just as much as was necessary.
5. At the end of the book, they showed a couple examples of Film Threat releases, cover art, etc. I would have liked to see many more visual examples of what works and what doesn't, in the section on cover art design.
6. I thought it was an excellent idea to have two people co-write the book, each focusing on their own area of expertise. That paid off.
That's all I've got. Hope this helps add a layer to Matt's previous review which, pretty much, covered most of what I was going to say.
Jason Toews (www.paulsbasement.org) |
