I’m running 3 days of intensive workshops at Omega Broadcast in Austin Texas between December 7th and 10th. There are workshops for complete beginners through to experienced shooters covering all kinds of topics from getting in to professional video production through to advanced shooting techniques such as raw and log.
December 7th. From Hobbyist to Pro-Shooter, learn what it takes to turn your hobby into a profession.
You love shooting video for fun and now you are thinking of turning that into a business. What do you need to do, how do you start? Learn the techniques that help turn an amateur into a pro, how to shoot and prepare a show reel and how to pitch for work.
10am – 10.15: Introductions and course outline.
10.15 – 10.30: What makes a Pro and Pro? A brief discussion on what it is that makes you a professional and what you should consider before turning your hobby into a business.
10:30 – 10:45: Professional Approach: How to deal with the needs of a customer.
Coffee
11.00 – 11.30: Planning and preparation. Projects run smoother when properly planned. Simple guidelines for production planning.
11.30 – 12.30: Equipment choices: Buy or rent? What to buy. A look at the different types of cameras available today, what’s best for your business.
Lunch
13.30 – 14.30: Post Production: Pro’s and con’s of doing it all yourself, what software or equipment to get.
14.30 – 15.00: Copyright and Licences. What are your rights, what do you own. Buying and licensing music and stock footage for use in commercial productions.
Coffee
15.15 – 16.00: Showreels: How to put together a great showreel.
16.00 – 16.30: Selling yourself: The hard part, how to pitch for work and how to get your business off the ground.
16.30 -17.30: Budgets and Rates: How to calculate what to charge and what profit margins can you expect. Other ways to make money in between projects.
Monday, December 9th
Advanced Shooting Techniques for the Modern Filmmaker.
Discover how to spice up your video productions using clever but surprisingly easy shooting methods including time-lapse, slow motion, green screen and motion control. In the past these techniques were expensive and difficult. Today they are within almost everyone’s grasp. In this workshop you will learn how make the most of these exciting creative tools. We will spend time in the classroom and studio learning the principles behind these methods. In the evening we will put it all into practice with an evening shoot where we combine time-lapse, motion control and green screen to produce a cleverly composite scene.
Who is this workshop for: Anyone! You don’t need to have any previous film making experience to learn a great deal during this workshop. However some experience of basic video shooting or still photography is beneficial. We will provide a basic motion control rig and a selection of cameras, but if you have a DSLR or time-lapse capable camcorder you might want to bring that along.
This is going to be a very, very busy day with lots of exciting and interesting things to take a look at and learn about. I hope it will be a highly enjoyable day and the end shot we will walk away with should amaze your friends while still being something that you can do yourself with only basic tools.
10.00 – 10.30: Introductions and outline of the day ahead.
10.30 – 10.45: Understand how and when to use special effects shooting modes and when it might be better to do it in post.
10.45 – 11.15: How to set up a camera for a special effects shot. Picture profile and camera settings considerations.
11.15 – 11.30: Coffee.
11.30 – 12.45: Green screen – how to shoot and light perfect green screen, including shooting part of out final special effects composition.
12.45 – 13.30: Lunch.
13.30 – 14.45: Time-lapse – how to speed up time, different techniques with video cameras and DSLR’s.
14.45 – 15.00: Coffee.
15.00 – 16.00: Slow motion – how to shoot slow mo with a high speed camera. What lights can you use and how many will you need?
16.00 – 17.00: Motion Control – A basic introduction to motion control and how you can combine it with time-lapse and green-screen.
17.00 – 19.00: Break for you to have diner.
19.00 – 20.30: Putting it all together – combining time-lapse, green-screen and motion control into a very clever special effects shot.
Tuesday, December 10th
Modern Digital Cinematography Techniques.
This workshop is for videographers, digital imaging technicians and cinematographers that are interested in learning more about the latest camera technologies. Learn about shooting using Log gamma, raw and 4K. What are the differences between conventional gammas, log and raw and how does it affect the entire production. Discover how to work with LUT’s (look Up Tables) and “Looks”. Find out how to correctly use the ACES workflow (Academy Color Encoding System) to gain consistency between different cameras and standardize your workflow. Learn how to safely manage the large amounts of data that can be generated by a modern digital cinema camera and then how to grade the footage using DaVinci Resolve.
Who is this workshop for: Intermediate to advanced content creators!
10.00 – 10.30: Introductions and course outline.
10.30 – 11.00: What is gamma, why do we use it and what are it’s limitations. Standard gamma curves and the knee.
11.00 – 11.15: What’s the difference between latitude and dynamic range.
11.15 – 11.30: Coffee.
11.30 – 12.00: Advanced gamma curves, what do they do and why should I choose them?
12.00 – 12.30: Log gamma, what does it add, the pro’s and con’s and when and how do I use it. Correct log exposure.
12.30 – 13.00: Lunch.
13.00 – 13.30: Display referenced and scene referenced, what does this mean and why is it important in modern workflows?
13.30 – 13.45: Raw, what is raw and what are it’s benefits.
13.45 – 14.00: How to expose when shooting raw. Understanding EI gain and latitude control.
14.00 – 14.30: Look Up Tables. 1D and 3D Luts, how to use them, how to create them.
14.30 – 14.45: ACES, an introduction to the principles of the Academy ACES workflow.
14.45 – 15.00: Coffee.
15.00 – 15.45: DaVinci Resolve, an introduction to grading with DaVinci Resolve.
15.45 – 16.30: Hands on session putting it all together. Your chance to try different gammas or raw.
16.30 – 17.00: Q&A. Anything you didn’t quite get or want to know more about? Now’s your chance to ask.
Important note. The above is an outline of how the day should run. However depending on the group, the timing and running order may change to fit the skills and abilities of the group. Nothing will be missed, every effort will be made to tailor the day to fit the attendees needs rather than watching the clock and sticking to a rigid schedule. It is not unusual for the running order to change a little as students explore some of the topics covered in more depth and others perhaps a little less.
Please contact Omega to book a place. I look forward to working with you!