When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters — one represents danger and one represents opportunity.” — John F. Kennedy
While the accuracy of the above quote is in question, the spirit of it has never been more true. The coronavirus pandemic represents the most pervasively dangerous and disruptive crisis in modern times. And, as many of us are now working from home, often with kids home schooling alongside us, it is easy to focus on the disruption and not the opportunity.
Thankfully, many of the vendors and educational institutions who support and train creatives are stepping up to provide more opportunity, at no cost, as a way of mitigating the disruption. Below, we’ve compiled a list of these educational opportunities. As more opportunities become available, we’ll update this list.
NOTE: Many of these classes are focused on traditional production skills and techniques; not specifically production using mobile devices. They are still valuable to the mobile creator as most of the principles and skills directly transfer to mobile photography and cinematography.
And, stay tuned. We are working on tutorials and workshops which are designed specifically for the mobile first photographer and filmmaker.
Photography, Still & Motion
The Illumination Cinematography Workshop — Shane Hurlburt ASC
I am a long-time fan of Shane Hurlburt. A working cinematographer, Hulburt is committed to developing the next generation of talent behind the lens. I’ve taken this class in person. Shane is a great teacher who opens his entire playbook to his students. This comprehensive workshop covers lighting, lensing and composing scenes. While focused on motion photography, every lesson applies equally to still shooters.
Other Courses
- Professional Photographers of America
- Nikon School Online
- #StayHomeWithLeica
- Photographic Exposure Best Practice — Kasia Zmokla
- Cameras, Exposure, and Photography — Glendinning & Sullivan
- Pixels After Dark: Shooting the Night — Jeff Cable, Olympic Photographer
- Professional Family Portraits — Kirk Tuck
- Make Great Images With The Gear You’ve Got — Corey Rich
- Can We Be Objective Observers? — Deanne Fitzmaurice
- The Makings of a Storyteller — Brandon Stanton
- Documentary Photography and Photojournalism: Still Images of a World in Motion — MIT
- Creative Live (On Air) — Topics rotate daily and are widely varied.
- Seeing Through Photographs — Sarah Meister, MoMA
- Film, Images & Historical Interpretation in the 20th Century: The Camera Never Lies
Filmmaking
Sundance Collab
Sundance Film Festival is the nexus of the independent film community. They are deeply committed to helping filmmakers master their craft. Collab is their online education hub and during for the next 6-8 weeks, all of the classes are free.
Other Courses
- Coffee Break Film School — Moviola
- Basics of Video Editing
- Green Screen Photography — Dave Cross
- Make A Movie On Your Phone — BRICxHome
- Make A Digital Story — BRICxHome
- Make A Stop-Motion Animation — BRICxHome
- How to Shoot Stop Motion at Home — Jason Hellerman
- Sennheiser Sound Academy
- Transmedia Storytelling: Narrative worlds, emerging technologies, and global audiences
- Script Writing: Write a Pilot Episode for a TV or Web — David Wheeler
- Copyright for Multimedia — Smith, Macklin & Gililand, Duke University
The Future of Photography
The following is a collection of courses which address the bleeding edge of still and motion photography. Whether you are already familiar with these concepts or they are entirely new to you, these courses can help you understand what the future holds for mobile creators.
- Computational Photography — Irfan Essa, Georgia Institute of Technology
- Fundamentals of Digital Image and Video Processing — Aggelos K. Katsaggelos
- VR and 360 Video Production — Google Daydream
Self Care
Finally, please take care of yourself. We’ll all have rough days. Best to accept it and find ways to manage it. Here are some resources to help you with that process.
- Health & Wellness — Creative Live
- The Science of Well-Being — Laurie Santos
- Positive Psychiatry and Mental Health — Sonia Kumar
- 10 ways to take care of yourself during coronavirus
- Practicing Self-Care in the Face of Coronavirus
Image Credits: Anete Lūsiņa.
