reframing composition 101
Accelerated 3x week course!
Reframing Composition is the 101 of our core classes, but it's designed for aspiring filmmakers and industry professionals alike.
You begin with the foundational principles of composition, and evolve toward a comprehensive approach to visual storytelling.
Using examples from your favorite films, you'll learn actionable techniques through our unique drawover diagrams, a comprehensive visual storytelling process you can apply to your own style and voice, and how to finally conquer your shotlist.
In this accelerated course, you'll have 2x 75 min classes back-to-back each week, supplemented by pdf workbooks you’ll be able to reference for life. A recording of each live course will be provided the day after it airs.
Included in this course:
Week 1: Composition Essentials & The 5 Pillars of Cinematic Storytelling
Learn the fundamentals of framing and composition, what makes a shot structurally sound, and the basics of cinematic visual storytelling.
Learn the 5 fundamental pillars that structure every decision you have to make as a director, and how to apply it to your shotlist and compositions. This is a unique, original process developed by Film Reframed.
Week 2: Composition and Lighting & Composing for Character
Learn the fundamentals of how lighting affects your compositions, and how to integrate a method called zoning into your shot planning.
Learn an overview of how composition affects an audience's perception of character, and what you need to consider to avoid mistakes that make your characters confusing or forgettable.
Week 3: Composition in Motion & Storyboarding for Directors
Learn how to design shots and maintain the rules of framing and composition when you start moving the camera.
Learn pre-vis techniques you can use to communicate your vision to your crew effectively and say goodbye to stick figures.
Open for registration! Class begins May 9th.
Core classes are foundational classes. They teach fundamentals of visual storytelling you need to know to direct feature films. This course is an accelerated version of our traditional 101 class, meaning you will take two back-to-back classes each week for 3x weeks. Each class includes exercises and PDFs.
exploring your style 201
Exploring Your Style is the 201 of our core classes, designed to help you develop and expand your unique visual style.
All artists start with the same fundamental principles, but the way they apply them becomes their signature style. Da Vinci & Rothko started with the same 3 colors, and Beethoven and The Beastie Boys used the same 12 notes. With 201: Exploring Your Style, you'll take the foundational principles you learned in 101: Reframing Composition and grow them into the building blocks of your own unique filmmaking style.
We use examples from some of the most distinctive filmmakers of all time to show you how you can apply the 5 Pillars of Cinematic Storytelling to your own unique approach, so you never have to compromise style for substance.
Each class is 75-minutes long and will be supplemented by a pdf workbook you’ll be able to reference for life. A recording of each live course will be provided the day after it airs, so you won’t miss a beat if you get called in for a weekend shoot.
We promise, you never had a class like this in film school.
Included in this course:
Week 1: The Plot Thickens
Learn how to tell distinctive stories, explore different visual approaches to narrative, and how composition functions to guide your audience through the plot.
Week 2: Building Your Environment
Learn when and why to adjust the surroundings of your story, how composition engages the audience’s perception of your world, and explore how big an impact environments can have on your cinematic experience.
Week 3: Setting the Mood
Learn how to leverage your unique aesthetic to be expressive, explore how mood affects our perception of the story, and how composition can take your audience on an emotional journey.
Week 4: Creating Characters
Learn how to showcase your actors, explore what makes for memorable characters that audiences care about, and how composition can help build relationships that are worth watching.
Week 5: Tying Together Your Themes
Learn why your shotlist should make space for thematic imagery, how to weave significance into your story through composition, and explore what makes audiences come away from a film feeling a sense of greater meaning.
Week 6: Exploring Your Style
Discover how you can layer in the essential elements of visual storytelling in a way that is unique to you!
Core classes are foundational classes. They teach fundamentals of visual storytelling you need to know to direct feature films. Each course is a six-part series of 75-minute classes, includes exercises and PDFs.