Last fall I ran my first ever Digital Cinema Bootcamp here in Los Angeles, and am now gearing up for round two. Over the last year I have had countless e-mails from readers who have been eager to attend the bootcamp, and this time around I wanted to run a quick poll before locking in our dates.

I was surprised and amazed at how many people travelled from across the country and the world to attend last year’s course. In fact, one of our attendees came all the way from Japan! That said, as I am planning for this year’s bootcamp I really want to make sure that I am accommodating everyone’s schedules to the best of my ability. So for those of you that have been asking, please click one of the four options below to let me know which time this fall might work best for you:

And for those of you that aren’t familiar with the bootcamp, here is my rundown from last years class:

THE DIGITAL CINEMA BOOT CAMP

The course will run for two full days over a weekend this fall, here in Los Angeles. Much like my DSLR Cinema Guide, the course will cover everything from beginner level basics (setting your exposure triangle, camera profiles, and white balancing) all the way through to more intermediate and advanced lessons (camera movement, framing, lighting setups, and more!). I will even touch on color grading and post-workflows as well, although the primary focus of the course will be production/camera related since we will be working in an interactive environment.

Rather than simply giving a lecture on the ins and outs of capturing a cinematic image, this course is designed to give you hands on experience by emulating the look and feel of a real film set. Together, we will shoot a variety of scenes and setups using various lighting arrangements, framing choices, camera movements, and other critical techniques in order to illustrate the variety of ways in which you can approach any given scene. While I will be continually instructing the class throughout the weekend, there will also be plenty of time for experimentation and one-on-on training with me. I will personally be demonstrating on a variety of cameras (ranging from DSLRs to REDs), but you are also encouraged to bring your own camera out as well so that I can give you some specific advice and pointers that will pertain to your unique gear. In addition to the wide array of cameras that we will be working with, there will also be demonstrations made on many other important pieces of gear such as sliders, jib arms, various types of lights, and even a Movi! At the end of the weekend you will walk away with a wealth of knowledge and loads of footage that you are free to use for any purpose.

My goal with this intensive course is to help you jump start your career as a cinematographer by giving you real world experience in a format that allows for some trial and error. Speaking for myself, I learned by actually getting out there on set and shooting in the field. While this was a great way to learn, if I could go back and do it again I would jump at the opportunity to take a class that would allow me to quickly and efficiently learn some of the tricks of the trade so that I could save many months (or even years) of time and mistakes made by learning on my own terms.

PRICING

Many courses of this nature cost well over $500 for just a single day, and they rarely (if ever) offer the type of hands on experience that you will get with this bootcamp. To make this course more accessible, the price has been set at only $397, which includes two full days of hands on training, breakfast and lunch during the course, and a free copy of my Guide For Capturing Cinematic Images With Your DSLR so that you can get a head start! For any of you that have already purchased my DSLR Cinema Guide and are looking to attend this course, you will pay a discounted rate of only $332 ($65 off) – Simply e-mail me at info@noamkroll.com before you make a payment, and I will get you a discount code.

There are only 25 seats available in this class and I anticipate they will go fairly quickly, so if you’re interested in signing up be sure to do so as soon you can!

Looking forward to meeting some of you this fall!

Please note that you will not be able to make a payment or reserve your seat until the official announcement is up on the site in the next week or two. For now though, keep an eye out for the next update!

And finally, for anyone that might not be able to attend this year’s bootcamp –  I will also soon be offering one on one training via Skype in the very near future. More details to come on that front soon!