15 WEEK ONLINE INTRO TO CINEMATOGRAPHY (part-time)


This 15-Week workshop follows the same curriculum as the 4-week workshops but is spread over fifteen weeks. It’s designed to meet the needs of students who have other commitments.

This workshop is focused on understanding the basic principles of cinematography with a combination of online lectures, analysis of the history of cinematography, camera and basic lighting technology and techniques, including an introduction to editing and color correction using Davinci Resolve.

The students will test what they learn during the online lectures with 3 exercises that are designed to be realized even in isolation, if required by local health conditions, using a digital camera of their own possession, including a cell phone if nothing else is available.

Class Breakdown

  • Cinematographer’s Craft - 9 Classes

  • History Of Cinematography - 3 Classes

  • Camera - 2 Classes

  • Lighting & Grip - 3 Classes

  • Editing

    • Editing On Davinci Resolve - 3 Classes

    • Basic Elements Of Color Correction - 3 Classes

  • Production Lab - 6 Classes

  • Screen And Review - 3 Classes

15-Week Online Cinematography Class Descriptions

Cinematographer’s Craft
This class will provide the basic elements of Cinematography, including but not limited to the basic principles of Cinematography, an introduction to visual storytelling, an analysis of how shots are used to build a narrative or documentary sequence, the basic elements of Montage and a deeper analysis into painting with lights.

History of Cinematography
This class analyzes the evolution of cinematography along the history of cinema, pointing out trends and historically relevant turning points in style (film noir, the introduction of color, etc.). A list of films, easy to find online and representing a wide range of cinematographer’s styles, gender and ethnicity, will be distributed to the student for watching on their own time. Each student will choose 6 movies from this list to watch and analyze.

Camera
This class will introduce the basic characteristics in a digital camera and the main settings, common to most digital cameras, using a Sony FS5 as example. Advanced digital cinema cameras will be introduced using a Red Dragon as an example. The course will also provide an excursus on the evolution of Digital Cinema.

Lighting and Grip
Lighting and Grip class will present lighting principles and examples via live demonstrations of how to create basic lighting setups. During Guerrilla Lighting students will be introduced to examples of lights that are of easy build using common materials.

Editing
This class will introduce digital editing capacities of Davinci Resolve, allowing the students to receive a basic editing training, and also will guide the students to understand the basic principles of color correction and postproduction.

Production Lab
This class will guide the students on producing and developing their 3 personal projects within the respect of social distancing and isolation rules. During the online course they will create a Composition, a Continuity and a Montage project, each one of them following a different set of rules and instructions.

Screen and Review
This class provides feedback to the students on their personal projects and analyzes their choices and approaches.

STUDENT PROJECTS:

Composition: As directed during the Production Lab prep class the students will create a series of shots to practice and test the knowledge of composition and the technical elements of cinematography (focus, exposure, color, basic camera movements).

Continuity: The student will create a small scene, within the space safely accessible to them, in which they will use different framing, angles of view and available or artificial light to build the narrative. Could be fictional (ex: a mystery presence in the room) or documentary (ex: a family member/partner baking a cake

Montage: For their final film, the students will pick an abstract concept (ex: fear, excitement, love, solitude, etc.) and, within their safe space, film images that will describe it visually either on their own or combined with others. The project focuses less on the narrative aspect of filmmaking and more on the capacity of cinematography to deliver a subtext of significance to otherwise unrelated images.