If you’re serious about learning practical filmmaking and cinematography then you’re come to the right place. This is the best online film school. Just keep scrolling down. It gets better and better!
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Learn Filmmaking | Learn Cinematography | Wolfcrow Lifetime Access
Learn Filmmaking
If you’re a beginner, start with the basics and work your way down (some videos and articles are only available to Wolfcrow Lifetime Access members):
How to be a Filmmaker. The Definitive Guide
How to make a Short Film for Beginners
How to Make a Low Budget Movie
13 Books for Directors, by Directors
Seven Film Directors who Changed Cinema Forever
The 15 Film Directors Who Have Influenced Me the Most
Three Great Books for Directors, on Directing
Why Film is the Greatest Art Form
My Film Festival Results might Anger you Just the Right Amount
Script. Actors. Direction. Editing. What’s the most important?
The Low Budget Filmmaker’s Production Kit
Nine real world templates and checklists refined over 18 years of filmmaking. Multiple formats available!
This kit is available stand-alone or as part of Wolfcrow Lifetime Access.
The First 10 Things you Need to Buy for Filmmaking
The 10 Most Important Camera Accessories for Filmmaking
Which is better: To Rent a Camera, or Buy one?
The Ideal Viewfinder for Directors
How to Film with Cheap Equipment: 10 Tips
10 Cameras that Changed Filmmaking
For customers of WLA:
How to make a film look cinematic on a low budget
Special Effects Software Guide
Understanding a Studio and Location Dolly, and what they Offer that Sliders and DIY Dollies Don’t
The Complete Guide to Lens Filters
The Complete Guide to In-Camera Filters
The Complete Guide to Follow Focus Systems
The Complete Guide to Camera Batteries
A Guide to Choosing Video Production Monitors
Understanding Wireless Video Production
A Comprehensive Guide to Weather Protection for your Camera Gear
How to Make a Movie you can be proud of
Nine powerful videos to help beginners make their movie on a low budget. 3+ hours of videos and more.
This guide is available stand-alone or as part of Wolfcrow Lifetime Access.
How to use Microsoft Word to write Screenplays or Film Scripts
The 3 Best Books on Screenplay Writing
Do Groups of Four Characters have the Same Archetypes?
How to Create a Great Twist Ending like M. Night Shyamalan
For customers of WLA:
What is the Format of a Screenplay?
What is Film Continuity and Does It Even Matter?
Why do good directors make bad films?
The Filmmaking Department that Guarantees a Good Movie
Film Directors: Why Your 8th Movie will be Your Greatest!
Ikiru by Akira Kurosawa, a masterclass in Film Editing
For customers of WLA:
How to Learn Filmmaking by Watching Movies
The REAL Guide to Filmmaking for Beginners
The 9 Blunders I Made on my First Feature Film
How to Shoot a Scene
Learn to film a scene with a single camera. For beginners. 2.5+ hours of downloadable videos.
This guide is available stand-alone or as part of Wolfcrow Lifetime Access.
What is a personal film and why Aftersun is a great example of one
Why Christopher Nolan hasn’t made a Personal Film yet
Why is Seven Samurai a Great Film?
Should filmmakers care what film critics think?
How to appreciate film. A 10-step system
Squid Game. Storytelling Done Right
Why The Godfather: Part II is Better than Part I
Why every film director owes John Ford
Why is Citizen Kane a Great Film?
Why are Films Shot in Two Colors?
Inspiration for Film Directors
Why is 2001: A Space Odyssey a Great Film?
Pure Cinema: 2001: A Space Odyssey “Dawn of Man” Sequence
Alfred Hitchcock’s Four-step System to a Great Scene
Why Good Looking Movies use the Three Color Rule
Welles vs Soderbergh: Masters of Modern Low Budget Filmmaking
Deadpool: How the Camera can Tell a Joke
10 Great Edits in Film that Inspire Me
7 Animated Films that Should be Taught in Film School
How the Camera shows you who the Killer is
The three great hypnotic film scenes
Why it takes half as long to make a movie today than 50 years ago
How to make a movie about nothing
The Marvel Cinematic Language Explained
Filmmaking and Cinematography techniques of Kagemusha, by Akira Kurosawa
Rashomon | How to Make an Art Film + Solution to the Mystery
The Secrets of the Slasher Film
Why is Mulholland Drive a Great Film?
Mulholland Drive Solved. What Really Happened in David Lynch’s Head
10 Horror Movies that Should be Taught in Film School
Guillermo del Toro: How to Master World Building
John Carpenter: How to Master Single Location Filmmaking
Film Appreciation Course
Learn how to appreciation film using our ten-step system. For beginners. 2 hours of downloadable videos.
This guide is available stand-alone or as part of Wolfcrow Lifetime Access.
For customers of WLA:
The Ultimate Guide to Shooting Dialogue Scenes
Learn how to master dialogue scenes – shot divisions, casting, lighting to post production. 5+ hours of downloadable videos.
This guide is available stand-alone or as part of Wolfcrow Lifetime Access.
How to find the best camera angles and compositions
10 steps to finding the best camera angles
100 Camera Angles, Shots and Movements in Filmmaking
10 Camera Shots I Rely On When My Mind Goes BLANK
15 Essential Camera Shots, Angles and Movements
7 professional low budget tips for cinematic shots
The 180-degree Rule and how to use it well
Why are there more close ups today than ever before?
How filmmakers manipulate our emotions using camera angles and movement
The Focal Lengths and Lenses used by Great Directors
Orson Welles | The 7 Secrets of Cinematic Composition
The 5 Essential Types of Camera Movement
10 Most Epic High Angle Shots Ever
How Tarantino films a scene in a car
How to break the 180-degree rule
How a cinematography shot list is made quickly
For customers of WLA:
Me vs Spielberg: Shot vs Shot Comparison of Bridge of Spies
Master camera angles and movement
What is an Axial Cut and how is it used in Film?
The Secret Camera Techniques of Midnight Mass
Orson Welles, Sanchez’s Apartment Scene, Touch of Evil
The Filmmaking and Cinematography Techniques of Dunkirk
The Filmmaking and Cinematography Techniques of Blade Runner 2049
Andrei Tarkovsky: The Cinematic Glide
“This is America” by Childish Gambino
Blade Runner 2049 Scene Analysis
Rules of the Game, by Jean Renoir
The Steven Spielberg “L System”
Alien: How Ridley Scott Covers a Dialogue Scene
A Study of the Focal Lengths Used by Akira Kurosawa
Tavern Scene from Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West
Pedro Almodóvar’s All About My Mother
No Country for Old Men “Coin Toss” Scenes
Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino “Finger Gun” Scene
Christopher Nolan, “Pencil Trick” Scene, The Dark Knight
The Filmmaking and Cinematography Techniques of El Topo
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
How Anamorphic Lenses made Halloween Scary
Learn Cinematography
If you’re a beginner, start with the basics and work your way down (some videos and articles are only available to Wolfcrow Lifetime Access members):
How Can You Learn Cinematography
Can you Learn Cinematography on your Own?
Cinematography Tutorial for Beginners
5 Excellent Books on Cinematography and Lighting
The 5 Most Powerful Elements of Cinematography
The 10 Cinematographers who have Influenced Me the Most
Mega Tips from 7 Great Cinematographers
Why Films use these 5 Cinematographic Styles
6 Cinematography Secrets to Making a Scary Horror Film
For customers of WLA:
The Beginner’s Guide to Lighting for Film
Learn how to light films with cheap and DIY equipment. For beginners. 7+ hours of downloadable videos.
This guide is available stand-alone or as part of Wolfcrow Lifetime Access.
What is the Best Aperture for Filmmaking?
What is Shutter Speed, Shutter Angle and How to get the Film Look
How Does Shutter Speed And Frame Rate Affect Motion in Film?
For customers of WLA:
Video Camera Settings Explained
The Beginner’s Guide to RAW Video
RAW vs LOG vs Compression Codecs vs Uncompressed HDMI and SDI: A Primer
Understanding White Balance and its Limitations
How to correctly White Balance in Any Lighting Situation
Is Scope 2.4, 2.39 or 2.35 to 1?
What is Exposure Triangle and how does it relate to Aperture, Shutter and ISO?
The Five Pillars of Cinematic Exposure
Why Shadows are Important in Cinematography
How to Properly Expose a Video. Like a Real Cinematographer
Why are modern films underexposed?
For customers of WLA:
What is Exposure in Cinematography?
The Top 6 Exposure Tools for Cinematography
T-Stops vs F-Stops. Why is one used for photography while the other for cinema?
What is ISO in Cinematography?
How to Cheat Shutter Speeds for Video
The Difference between Rolling Shutter and Global Shutter
What is the best ISO for video?
Why you should NEVER use a Histogram for Video
What is a Light Meter and do you need one for Video?
What is a Waveform Monitor and How to read a Waveform Monitor
How to Match Shots from Two or More Cameras for Color and Exposure
Use These Four Tips to Avoid the “Video Look”
What is the Difference between Exposure Latitude and Dynamic Range?
How to avoid Grain in Low Light Shooting
How to avoid blue clipping in low light shooting
The Guide to Lighting Night Scenes
Learn how to light films at night on a low budget. For advanced beginners and intermediate level filmmakers and cinematographers. 4.5+ hours of downloadable videos.
This guide is available stand-alone or as part of Wolfcrow Lifetime Access.
RAW vs Log vs LUTs vs Compression | A Primer
What is HDR and is HDR worth it?
For customers of WLA:
What are Progressive Frames, Interlaced Frames and the Field Rate?
What is the difference between CIE LAB, CIE RGB, CIE xyY and CIE XYZ?
What is Display Gamma and Gamma Correction?
Understanding Luminance and Chrominance
Don’t be Confused between RGB 444 and Y’CbCr 444
Say Hello to Rec. 2020, the Color Space of the Future
The Difference between Lossy and Lossless Compression
Intra-frame vs Inter-frame Compression
What is a Video Container or Wrapper?
What you need to know before making a 3D (Stereoscopy) Movie
For customers of WLA:
Driving Miss Digital is a primer that explains, from first concepts, the basics and basis of modern audio and video technology.
It is so huge it requires a menu of its own. This is the very first content I wrote for this site – a whole novel written as a fictional love story!
What is Composition and Framing in Cinematography?
Why do we have so many Camera Angles in Cinematography?
What is Focal Length in Cinematography?
What is the 35mm Equivalent and Why is it Confusing?
The 180-degree Rule and How to use it Well
What size screen does your product or service fit in?
Do most films pick the wrong aspect ratio?
For customers of WLA:
How does Camera Sensor Size Impact Cinematography?
5 Camera Techniques for Better Filmmaking
9 Cool Cinematic Shots Anyone Can Do
Why are there Four Crop Factors, and Do we need all of them?
How to Shoot a Scene in One Long Take
What makes the 65mm format Special?
What is Aspect Ratio and Which Aspect Ratio is Right for You?
The Importance of Lenses in Cinematography
How to create cinematic poetry with a zoom lens
Why Film Directors avoid Deep Focus Cinematography
For customers of WLA:
What is a Cine Lens and Why must it be different from a Photo Lens?
What Lens to Get? Guide to Finding the Right Lenses for Cinematography
Anamorphic Workflow Guide for Mirrorless Cameras
The 15 Things to Look Out For in a Camera Lens
How to Use the Focal Length of a Lens
What is a Parfocal Lens and is it Useful?
What is Shallow Depth of Field and Deep Depth of Field?
What is the Flange Focal Distance and How to Find More Lenses for Your Camera
How to Choose a Camera Lens or Lenses for Long and Complex Projects
How to Read Modulation Transfer Function or MTF Charts Easily
What is a Focal Reducer (Speedbooster, LensRegain) and Do You Really Need One?
Interview Lighting Guide for Interiors
Learn how to master interview lighting for interior locations using cheap and DIY lights. 15+ lessons and 5+ hours of downloadable videos.
This guide is available stand-alone or as part of Wolfcrow Lifetime Access.
Why Great Movies use the 60-30-10 percent Color Rule
How Great Films use the Color Red
The Beauty of Red and Green Light in Cinematography
For customers of WLA:
What is Color Correction or Color Grading?
A Quick Guide to Important Color Correction Tools
The Costs of Working with 4K and 8K RAW and Uncompressed Footage
How to get the Film Look Easily without using LUTs or Plugins
What is ACES (Academy Color Encoding System)?
How to Create LUTs in DaVinci Resolve
How to Choose a 4K Monitor for Color Grading in DaVinci Resolve
What is a Digital Image Channel and the Alpha Channel?
How to Find the Right Cinema or TV Viewing Distance
The Workflows and Advantages of Working with Image Sequences in Post Production
What is three point lighting and why do we use it?
How to put together a Lighting Kit for Low Budget Filmmaking
What is Contrast Ratio, High Key and Low Key Lighting
The 5 Best LED Light Tubes for Video and Cinematography
5 Affordable LED Light Panels for Video and Cinematography
The 5 Best LED Light Panels for Video and Cinematography
Comparison of 4 Powerful LED Spot Lights
Why Cinematographers Pick this Lighting Style the Most
Fight Scene Cinematography Lighting Tips. For Cinematographers.
For customers of WLA:
A Beginner’s Guide to Film Lighting Basics
Why should you learn Film Lighting?
What is the Inverse Square Law of Light?
What is Hard Light, Soft Light and Diffused Light?
An overview of the different types of lighting fixtures and why we need them
Guide to Lighting Products on a Low Budget
Learn to create impressive product videos with cheap lighting equipment. Eight downloadable videos and lighting diagrams.
This guide is available stand-alone or as part of Wolfcrow Lifetime Access.
For customers of WLA:
How I Setup and Light Interviews for Interiors
How to light a film using the Waffle System
How to Light a Scene with Chinese Lanterns
How to Eliminate Ugly Green Color Casts on Skin Tones
How to use your Hand as a Light Meter
Camera and Lighting Tutorial: Pool Table Shot from Fashion Film 004
How to Film Anytime in Daylight Without Lights or Reflectors
15 Amazing Wolfcrow LUTs for Cinematic Videos
Learn how to light films with cheap and DIY equipment. For beginners.
7+ hours of downloadable videos.
Understanding the Cinematography of Great Cinematographers
- Understanding the Cinematography of Ashok Mehta
- Understanding the Cinematography of Benoit Debie
- Understanding the Cinematography of Bradford Young
- Understanding the Cinematography of Bruno Delbonnel
- Understanding the Cinematography of Christopher Doyle
- Understanding the Cinematography of Claudio Miranda
- Understanding the Cinematography of Conrad Hall
- Understanding the Cinematography of Darius Khondji
- Understanding the Cinematography of Dean Cundey
- Understanding the Cinematography of Emmanuel Lubezki
- Understanding the Cinematography of Gordon Willis
- Understanding the Cinematography of Gregg Toland
- Understanding the Cinematography of Harris Savides
- Understanding the Cinematography of Hoyte Van Hoytema
- Understanding the Cinematography of Janusz Kaminski
- Understanding the Cinematography of Jeff Cronenweth
- Understanding the Cinematography of John Alcott
- Understanding the Cinematography of John Toll
- Understanding the Cinematography of Larry Fong
- Understanding the Cinematography of Matthew Libatique
- Understanding the Cinematography of Néstor Almendros
- Understanding the Cinematography of P. C. Sreeram
- Understanding the Cinematography of Raoul Coutard
- Understanding the Cinematography of Robby Müller
- Understanding the Cinematography of Robert Elswit
- Understanding the Cinematography of Robert Richardson
- Understanding the Cinematography of Robert Yeoman
- Understanding the Cinematography of Rodrigo Prieto
- Understanding the Cinematography of Roger Deakins
- Understanding the Cinematography of Santosh Sivan
- Understanding the Cinematography of Sean Bobbitt
- Understanding the Cinematography of Sven Nykvist
- Understanding the Cinematography of Vilmos Zsigmond
- Understanding the Cinematography of Vittorio Storaro
- Understanding the Cinematography of Wally Pfister
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