You never stop learning, and education is essential to improving your filmmaking abilities. This is a unique chance to work with experienced professionals in the industry, to meet & work with like-minded, similarly experienced people as yourself in 3 days of practical filmmaking instruction in a fantastic country house location just outside of London.

I used to do a lot more workshops, but in the past couple of years I only do two or three a year and longer practical ones even less. Last year in October, Nino Leitner and myself relaunched the Filmmaking Masterclass format that we had previously done numerous times in Majorca and once in Las Vegas and Florida. It was held at Wooton House in Dorking, just outside of London. A fantastic old country house and hotel. A terrific venue to hold a practical filmmaking masterclass!

On the 26th-29th October we are back there for another 3 fantastic days of education and practical filmmaking. 

This 3-day intensive hands-on workshop is ideal for Photographers who are looking to hone their skills in film making. With expert tutors in both the film making and photography field, this is an event not to be missed.  Submerge yourself in this filmmaking experience and learn how to take your skills and business to a new level. Whilst this is ideal for Photographers, if you are not, this workshop is still of immense value to you.

Click here to go to the website for booking info 

The workshop agenda will be as follows.

Day 1: THE BRIEF & PREPARING FOR THE SHOOT

We start the workshop with an opening morning session by the lead tutors Philip Bloom and Nino Leitner about various aspects dealing with the challenges of corporate filmmaking. We will also be joined by a leading photographer who has made the transition to video making. In this session we will cover the following topics to make you stand out and get that job!

• Pitching and budgeting jobs
• Hands-on experience on how to pitch and then budget for a shoot. What are good tips of differentiating your offer from your competitors? We will discuss accountability and transparency, as well as how to ensure that you get the job!
• Dealing with clients: So you got that job that you pitched for – now some hands-on tips on dealing with clients during pre-production, during shoots and post-production. How to keep your clients happy while not giving up your ideals and your creative vision. How to manage expectations and keeping them off your back, particularly during shoots. We will also cover how to deal proactively with client expectations.
• A different kind of corporate film: Finally, we will cover how to retain creativity in a field crowded with mediocrity. Some real world examples of corporate films that are less than usual, but more effective than others in gaining the audience’s attention.

Day 1 Afternoon Session:

In this session we will host rotating on-location mini workshops to the following topics, dealing with practical aspects of corporate filmmaking:

•  The importance of telling a story through a sequence. Whilst much photography tells a lot of the  story through one image, in video you need many shots to fill time, but each shot must count. In this session, you will see a sequence being filmed lived with explanations as to the decisions being made. Using clean natural sound will also be highlighted in this.
• Setting up interviews –  How do you technically set up an interview to get the best results? Camera angles, viewing directions, location, sound, and optionally added movement, and finally lighting for interviews.
• Interview techniques – A practical guide how to actually deal with your subject to make them feel most comfortable, i.e. getting the best out of them on camera. How to ask questions in order to get the right answers? How to guide an interview … and a lot more “soft skills”.
• Camera movement: A technical session on how to use  sliders, gimbals and other camera movement equipment for greatest effect, particularly in constrained corporate environments. How to make a dull location and shot look interesting.

End of classes and break for dinner.

After dinner, we will break into groups according to tutor’s assessments on who fits together. Then each group will get a “client brief” and the groups will start working on their scripts and concepts for the shoots. There will be some set stations for different aspects of the films, and every group will get to work with every tutor.

DAY 2: THE SHOOT

Actors, helping hands, and extras will be on set who are playing the Employees,  CEO, and any other characters that may need to be in your film.  These actors have been instructed by the tutors before to play some “typical client roles”, so they will be similarly hard and easy to work with just like some clients. Each group rotates through each of these environments and gets to work with all the actors

These are some ideas of the different stations (actual “stations” dependent on some other factors such as location and available actors):

1. Interview with manager of hotel.
2. B-roll of staff working in hotel
3. Shoot b-roll exteriors of hotel and grounds. Each team member will be given one aspect to film, one doing timelapse, one doing architecture, one the garden etc. This is where every one can show their shooting skill in a limited amount of time without having to deal with others – yet still thinking of a general style in which the shots have to fit for the entire production. These can be real-life b-roll shots or timelapses, depending on what is needed by the film.

In the evening, groups will start ingesting the footage of their shoots and organizing the edit, which will formally start on day 3.

Day 3: EDITING

The day will be spent editing with their main tutors on 1-2 edit stations. The main tutor will again act as the client and assess how close they stuck to the brief. There will be two different edits of the corporate film, a short and a long version. The exact length of these films will be determined by the “client tutors” at the beginning of the production.

There will be some mini breakout workshops during the edit day to cover aspects of post production. Details for these will be provided a little later in time, but they will cover basic colour grading, some editing techniques and audio.

After the deadline, there will be communal screening and feedback of the films, by all the tutors as well as the participants. We will talk about the challenges and learning experience of the workshop. After that, students and tutors will have an informal farewell evening together.

You can book by clicking the banner below or here