Filmmaking Essentials for Photographers. Mini Courses.

Why Filmmaking Essentials?

One of the main chal­lenges pho­tog­ra­phers face when starting to shoot video is to focus too much on hardware and software, and for­get about the most important part: the story. While this informative course includes some tech­ni­cal infor­ma­tion, the main goal is to provide an overview of the many aspects of filmmaking, and identify potential business opportunities with motion. Click HERE.

The “Filmmaking Essentials for Photographers” course is based on a popular event we have been presenting for several years, but it has been greatly enhanced with additional visuals and examples. Some of the clients and sponsors for the live event include Adobe, Adorama Pro, B&H Photo, Cinevate, Future Media Concepts, Gulf Photo Plus (Dubai), HOW Design Conference, International Center of Photography, Lynda.com, McCann Erickson, NAB Show, Panasonic, Photo District News, PhotoPlus Expo, Photokina (Germany), Savannah College of Art and Design, School of Visual Arts, Sony, and X-Rite, among others.

Filmmaking Essentials for Photographers. Online Intro Course.

In 2011 I was invited along with National Geographic photographer David McLain to present a series of two-day workshops nationwide. The events were produced by Photo Quest Adventures and sponsored by PDN, Sony, Adobe, and other leading brands. The main goal was to help photographers transition into video by simplifying key concepts and providing shortcuts, resources, and advice on what gear to buy.

I have been honored to teach “Filmmaking Essentials” at all major industry events, from PhotoPlus to Imaging USA to NAB, from South America all the way to Dubai, Hong Kong, and Thailand, and at home in New York.

Few people know that I never use the same presentation twice. Each and every time I add things I’ve learned, plug in valuable feedback from attendees, students, and this website’s readers, and I strive to improve the educational experience with better examples and shorter explanations.

When looking at the advancements in digital technology since those first workshops it seems like decades have gone by. Today, we have access to a variety of brands and models of very compact cameras that can see in the dark, shoot 4K or higher resolutions, offer incredible frame rates, and even offer GPS and WiFi features so they can be easily controlled by smartphones and tablets. The future is definitively here.

But something quite odd has been happening to my personal and professional focus. The more gadgets we have at our disposal, the more I’ve shifted towards the craft of storytelling. Instead of getting more stuff, I’ve been increasingly interested in constructing and enhancing my stories to better engage the viewer. Naturally, this approach has been reflected in the educational content I produce.

Now, and for the first time, I’m proud to offer an awesome version of my one-hour presentation online. Click HERE. 

The “Filmmaking Essentials for Photographers” course is based on a popular event we have been presenting for several years, but it has been greatly enhanced with additional visuals and examples. Some of the clients and sponsors for the live event include Adobe, Adorama Pro, B&H Photo, Cinevate, Future Media Concepts, Gulf Photo Plus (Dubai), HOW Design Conference, International Center of Photography, Lynda.com, McCann Erickson, NAB Show, Panasonic, Photo District News, PhotoPlus Expo, Photokina (Germany), Savannah College of Art and Design, School of Visual Arts, Sony, and X-Rite, among others.

Who is this course for?

Well, as the name implies, this version of “Filmmaking Essentials” covers concepts already mastered by advanced filmmakers or by experienced photographers who are very technically savvy. But I’m confident everyone else could learn a thing or two.

As often as possible we’ll be adding new courses, covering topics like pre-production and post, tips for one-man crews (like journalists) working stills and video assignments, advice on getting started with Color Grading, and many other fascinating subjects. As mentioned above, most of these courses are not and probably won’t be hardware or software driven, but would focus predominantly on answering the why’s, not the how’s, of the fascinating craft of filmmaking.

Also as a first, we are offering several mini-courses (averaging three minutes each and many of them for free) for those who need concrete answers to very specific questions.

So, if this is the kind of content and format you desire, vote with you wallet and let your voice be heard.

Thank you for your continued support. Click HERE to start learning. 

Film Anatomy. Location Scouting Apps.

Since we wrote about scouting locations a few weeks ago, many of you have asked about the apps we used. Here are our favorite ones.

Flying cross-country to scout locations is obviously impossible with our micro budget. The great news is that nowadays we don’t need to do that, or even bring a lot of gear to scout a location.

Google Earth Pro is now completely free includes a considerable amount of features including computing distances and areas using measurement tools and adding map addresses with a Spreadsheet Importer. With Google Earth we can access any location and determine accurate sunrise and sunset times, interesting vantage points, and even find nearby restaurants and hotels for our production. I can’t think of any other tool that has saved me so much money over the years.

A recent acquisition to or arsenal is Sun Seeker (for iOS) or Sun Surveyor (for iOS and Android OS) helps determine the sun’s movement and allows one to pick the best spots and plan out shots.

Smartphone apps like Artemis (for iOS and Android OS) or Pocket AC,  mimic a “director’s viewfinder” and offer additional features such as interactive Depth of Field calculators, media management, shot logging, and even virtual slates. I also use them to determine which lenses we might need to rent.

A recent addition to our arsenal is Adobe Capture (for iOS and Android OS), available for iOS and Android OS. With this app it is extremely easy to create color themes, custom brushes, vector graphics and unique Looks, simply by taking a snapshot with your cellphone.

Once we have a good idea of the location and gear needs, another great tool is Shot Designer  (for iOS and Android OS)which does a fantastic job blocking a scene as well helping determine where the camera will be placed. It saves time communicating the director’s vision with the DP’s technical interpretation of that vision to the supporting crew.

And once all those pieces are in place on last app that I can recommend is Martini QuickShot. Martini is essentially a storyboarding plug-in for the most popular NLEs. It comes with many pre-designed and pre-laid out shots that you can tweak and add to your timeline.

We’ll be pre-shooting our short film this coming weekend and we’ll use some mobile apps to quickly shoot and edit the project. Let me know if you are interested in knowing more, and we’ll share them here with you as well.

 

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