If film has a language, The Filmmaker's Handbook is your translation guide, dictionary, and phrase book. In over 600 pages, 18 chapters, and nine appendices, the authors detail virtually everything you need to know about filmmaking.

There is probably more information here than anyone needs to know, from which lens to choose all the way through final editing and sound mixing. But too much information is not a bad thing. This is the kind of book that a blossoming filmmaker will surely grow into.

Much of the book focuses on gear and hardware, and rightly so since making a film or video is both dependent on and influenced by the gear that is used. This handbook describes the differences between the tools--film stock, lenses, lighting setups--and the impact of each on the look of the finished product.

This new edition has been updated to include information on digital cameras, the digital video format, nonlinear editing systems, and other contemporary tools. It's odd to see a picture of the Canon XL-1--a very popular and state-of-the-art digital video camera--in a book whose first edition came out in 1983.

The Filmmaker's Handbook is an indispensable guide for any filmmaker, or for anyone who wants a better understanding of the language of film. --Mike Caputo