Famed British Cinematographer/Educator Philip Bloom issuing the charge.
Since I spend a lot of my potential educational time planning and organizing an international educational event for filmmakers, it's rare that I get to sit back and enjoy being educated myself.
Recently, I was able to attend CanonFilmmakersLive at the Alamo Drafthouse Theater in Austin, Texas. CanonFilmmakersLive is a full day excursion into how to best use DSLR technology to do filmmaking work for whatever purpose you might need it.
I've been using DSLR's for about 18 months now, but this was the first time I was able to get schooled on some things that would've taken much longer to discover through trial and error. For example, I picked up tips on the best ISO's to use, the proper white balance settings for overnight timelapses, an insurance company to employ for equipment coverage, a software program to rescue data from faulty CF cards, and much much more.
There are hundreds if not thousands of decisions to make in operating cameras/running a business to produce work for clients, and being unaware and unprepared in one area can create a life or death (for the project) situation. It's much more than knowing how to shoot well, and you'll pick up enough small tips to more than make up for the cost of admission.
I was also impressed with the networking that I was able to do. Attendees come from all walks to life seeking the same thing, to improve their craft. Some were on the media team from their churches, some work in schools, others shoot music videos - the man to my right was looking how to best make promotional videos for his company which sells and installs acquariums. With such a diverse audience, I was able to connect with new colleagues who have strengths that complement mine. You can expect us to be collaborating on future projects together (and I didn't even have to do a craigslist search!)
If you have a chance to attend in one of the remaining cities, I encourage to spend the day investing in your business with the CanonFilmmakers.
My hats off to my colleagues Cristina Valdivieso and Jon Connor for their hard work in putting together this magnificent tour, and to Philip Bloom for sharing his knowledge in order to help others to get further faster (and for being a good sport as well, even when, to his chagrin, I won the Zacuto Z(ed)Grip iPhone Jr.).
jones
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