4 WK ONLINE INTRO TO CINEMATOGRAPHY

This workshop is focused on understanding the basic principals 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 course is divided in two 1h30’ classes per day over a month.

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

Class Breakdown

Cinematographer’s Craft (18 hours) 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 analyzes the evolution of cinematography along the history of cinema, pointing out trends and historically relevant turning point in style (film noir, the introduction of color, etc.). A list of film, easy to find online, will be distributed to the student for watching on their own time. 

Camera will introduce the basic characteristics in a digital camera and the main settings, common to most digital camera, using a Sony FS5 as example. It will also introduce advanced digital camera, using a Red Dragon as example, to present the differences in quality and structure of modern Digital Cinema Cameras.

Lighting and Grip will present basic lighting principles and examples via live demonstrations of how to create basic lighting set ups and to control the light using flags and other grip elements. The teacher will use virtual sets to help students analyze different lighting choices and approaches, being able to see in real time how the look changes based on the different approaches by the cinematographer.

Editing 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 post production. 

Production Lab will guide the students on producing and developing their 3 personal projects: COMPOSITION, CONTINUITY and MONTAGE.

Screen and Review provides the feedback to the students on their personal projects and analyze 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 in which they will use different framing, angles of view and available or artificial light to build the narrative. The scene may be fictional (ex: a mystery presence in the room) or documentary (ex: a family member/partner baking a cake)

Montage
For their third film, the students will pick an abstract concept (ex: fear, excitement, love, solitude, etc.) and film images that describe the concept visually. 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.