TOP 3 CINEMATOGRAPHERS OFFERING ONLINE COURSES IN FILM MAKING

In news that should please both budding filmmakers and hobbyists looking for ways to spruce up their family’s Thanksgiving videos, cinematographers Janusz Kaminski, Phedon Papamichael, and Wally Pfister have teamed up to teach the masses through Advanced Filmmaking, a website offering a collection of video lectures and interviews. The trio of cinematographers first met while making low-budget quickies for cult director Roger Corman, and each went on to amass an impressive bunch of credits. Kaminski became Speilberg’s go-to cinematographer, shooting movies like Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan. Papamichael worked with Alexander Payne on Sideways and Nebraska. And Pfister teamed up with Christopher Nolan as the director of photography for Inception and The Dark Knight.

Advance Filmmaking currently has over 12 hours of video, including interviews from high-level directors like Payne and Wim Wenders all the way down to longtime key grips and gaffers. (Gaffers need role models, too.) Some of the courses cover the expected topics, like “Equipment” and “Post-Production,” while others go a little off the beaten path and try to “answer the questions that aren’t addressed in film school.” The course on “Collaboration,” for example, teaches viewers how best to interact with those wacky showbiz types, while the “Personal Life” lecture touches on how to maintain a healthy marriage while in the film industry.
Course modules can currently be rented for $3.95 apiece on Vimeo. Advanced Filmmaking will get a formal rollout at the upcoming Camerimage International Festival of the Art of Cinematography—so until then, just keep this revolution in cinematic education to yourselves.