Photographer looking to gain Directing/Cinematography skills

[Corey Jenkins]

Hello all!

I am a 19 year old commercial photography student in North Carolina. I've been into photography for almost 5 years and really have enjoyed it. I've always been interested in video as well and now that all DSLR's pretty much have video I've been able to shoot a bit of motion. I'm thinking it would be a good idea to try and learn/shoot as much video as I can right now as well as stills. Seems like if you could offer an ad agency still photos as well as be responsible for the video part as well this would be a huge advantage. Even now I'm finding I can do both for clients and they are pleased but I'm wanting to prepare for my future which will hopefully be working with much bigger clients. Is the idea of being able to do both far off in the real work world? I'm not looking to shoot feature films or anything just looking to be able to direct TV spots and web spots as well as shoot stills. Interested to hear your opinions on how the two can work together.

The second part of the question is how would you recommend I learn more about video/story telling. With photography I was pretty much self taught with experimenting and training dvds until this year where I went to a community college for it. Would the same work for video or should I look into going to school for it? A one year certificate program might be ideal I was thinking. I'm looking at the various REDeducation programs and think these would be a great way to learn how to use higher level equipment but I'm also looking for somewhat of a tradition background.


Please take a look at my work here www.coreyjenkinsphoto.com Just updated my site to have stills as well as video on it.

Thanks in advanced!

[Mark Kern]

bump

[Karim D. Ghantous]

I'm a photographer (part-time) and do not work in the movie or TV business. So as far as opinions are concerned, I limit those to photography. The most important one: don't bother with formal training in photography. I mean, you wrote that you were self-taught and then decided to enrol in some college. How come? Better to spend your time improving your photography. Or if you want an education, study a second language (ancient Greek or contemporary Cantonese or whatever, it doesn't matter), science, history, theology or something with meaning.

In general, I can suggest that volunteering for non-profits might help you gain experience. It won't let you learn everything about your craft, but it's better than nothing. I do some pro-bono work for a local theatre company. I shoot their rehearsals. It's great fun and they appreciate unrestricted use of the images. If I could afford a RED camera I might be tempted to use that, but I'd learn not much about cinematography as I have no control over actors or lighting.

As I said, I can't speak for cinematographers (though I'd love to be a DP, too, but who doesn't?). I can point you to this article that I just read this evening. As it happened, I was looking for information about underwater photography and someone suggested I check out the work of Howard and Michele Hall. Here is a useful and entertaining article from the website:

http://www.howardhall.com/stories/breakingin.html

Howard makes a point which I agree with as far as still photography goes, but of course I can't say whether or not it applies to motion photography as well:

I did not learn about shooting and directing motion pictures by going to film school. I learned by watching films and by studying the works of superstars like Jack McKenney. If you want a course in making a good film, study a good film. It’s as easy as that, at least it was for me. It’s not necessary to go to film school. Just turn on your television, select the kind of film you want to make, and study the film for technique.

But if I were you, the least I would do is ditch that photography course and try to find some kind of way to either study cinematography or find some way to gain experience via pro-bono work or otherwise.

Howard also wrote,

It has been said that it is better to be lucky than smart. Indeed, I was very lucky.

I'm sorry that no DP has provided you with a reply, but at least my comments will bump the thread up the queue for a bit.

[Shane Betts]

I made the move from stills to motion about 25 years ago. First thing I did was to DP on a couple of projects but I soon decided I could really benefit from guidance, so I started assisting on film and video crews and did so for about seven or eight years. I think that's a great way to learn but I would recommend you also work as a DP in parallel on smaller, unpaid gigs (which I wish I had done). Your stills experience should help accelerate your progress but there are many skills you will need to perfect that are specific to motion work.

Good luck!

[Catura Jenson]

beautiful photography! I would highly suggest learning the video side of things, especially now as people are using short mini infomercials on their websites to promote their products etc... I am 20 years old and have gone to the art institute for film production, but to tell you the truth i learned the most about film making by doing free internships and getting real hands on experience. I would suggest saving the money that you would spend on going to school for film making and instead make a short film! really get your foot in the door by meeting the right people and doing internships. As far as learning more about story telling.. either you can tell a story or you cant. :/ If you enjoy writing, start writing a script! spend at least a half an hour a day typing, and dont get concerned about whether your story is good enough or not. You will be re writing and re writing over and over until it is great! good is not good enough in this industry. I would also suggest looking into Dov Simons film school on dvd. I think you can get the entire package for around 500.00, but it is well worth it and really goes into how to finance your film or project and distribute it. Good luck! :)