The cinematography workshops by Shane Hurlbut ASC are extraordinary educational gems you should not miss! Moreover, both of them are FREE (for now). Let’s overview them.

Filmmaking education during the lockdown

The social distancing restriction that driven from COVID-19 situation, forces us, filmmakers, to stay at home. However, this is the best time for on-line high-quality educational content to sharpen your filmmaking capabilities and staying in top shape regarding professionalism, so when those times are over, you can get back to business in full capacity faster and better.

Top-notch educators understand that and thus offer their rare knowledge within online pathways. Y.M.Cinema Magazine believes in on-line educational fertilization, and thus, decent resources regarding filmmaking education will be published and reviewed. Explore our educational reviews regarding on-line filmmaking courses and masterclasses.

Shane Hurlbut ASC’s cinematography workshops

Shane Hurlbut is recognized as the first DP that utilized DSLR on Hollywood productions. One of his notable and most unique projects is “Act of Valor” that was shot on the Canon 5D Mark II. Shane helped to initiate the DSLR revolution which made the recognition of DSLR cameras as real cinematography tools.

From then, he focuses on inspiring and educating filmmakers by founding the Hurlbut Academy which is an online hub that offers courses and workshops for filmmakers. For now, you can find Shane’s free courses in two places: Hurlbut Academy (Illumination Experience Workshop) and MZed (Illumination Cinematography Workshop). Both of them are similar which include overlapping topics, and both of them are free. These courses are considered as a pure gem for everyone that eager to accumulate marvelous filmmaking and directing knowledge. Don’t worry, we’ll write an in-depth review of each one of them. Meanwhile, let’s overview those workshops.

MZed Illumination Cinematography Workshop

Course description: This comprehensive workshop covers both theory and practical application of lighting, lensing and composing scenes, giving you unlimited on-set and behind-the-scenes access with Shane. Click here for the course.

This comprehensive workshop covers both theory and practical application of lighting, lensing and composing scenes

Modules and topics

Cinematography Arsenal: This module focuses on equipment (lights, cameras, and lenses). Introduction to Key Lighting: Introduction to key lighting using examples of Shane’s hit films. Lighting Study: Explaining a lighting study that Shane uses on every film to discover the best approach to lighting the cast, lighting from different angles for mood and creativity, and diffusion methods. Case Study: “Crazy/Beautiful”: From How to Why. The creative process for deconstructing a script and creating a visual tone for lighting and cinematography. Shane’s film “Crazy/Beautiful” is used as a reference. Live Demo: Indoor Daylight – Master Shot: Lighting an indoor daylight scene. Plus actor blocking and camera movement with the primary dolly setup, to draw different emotions. Lighting Study II: Demonstration of backlighting using Shane’s work on “The Rat Pack” as an example. Case Study: “Need for Speed”: Analyzing Shane’s high-action night car chase scene from his work on “Need for Speed”.

Watch the course trailer below:

Hurlbut Academy Illumination Experience: Workshop

Course description: Basic and necessary concepts, theory, terminology, techniques, short cuts, camera, and lighting knowledge. Form How to Why. Pre-production planning, tools, exposure, lighting quality, and quantity. Click here for the course.

Basic and necessary concepts, theory, terminology, techniques, short cuts, camera, and lighting knowledge. Form How to Why

Modules and topics

Key Light: Where, What, When, Why & How: The key light and the human face. Unique angles, types of light positions and delivering specific feelings. How to Prep Narrative Storytelling: Prepping for a shoot, enhancing the emotion and tone of a scene with camera & lighting, and establishing a look. Rehearse, Block, Light & Shoot: The creative process on how to block, light, lens and compose when motivated by the thought process behind character emotion. Back Light: Where, What, When, Why & How: Using backlight to increase dimension and mood. Lighting a scene with 20K worth of Hollywood lights or 250 dollars worth of DIY clamp lights. Fill Light: Where, What, When, Why, & How: What is Fill Light? How much, what color temp, where to you place it, what quality should it be? Night Street Lighting: Lighting a night chase scene. DIY lights to create depth and dimension as well as cost-effective ways to expand the scope.

Wrapping up

As explained, these courses are considered a valuable piece of education that will definitely grant you the essentials regarding cinematography and filmmaking. Although both courses are more-or-less the same, the second (Hurlbut Academy) is focused more on lighting and the first (MZed) is dedicated to the entire process as a whole. Please take into consideration that the Illumination Experience: Workshop course is fully accessible for a limited time so hurry up and get it for free as long as you can. We’ll continue to update you regarding more high-quality educational content devoted to the art of filmmaking. Stay tuned.