Hollywood Camera Work The Master Course

A Total Language

The Master Course is a powerful system of single-camera blocking and an unprecedented language of camera work, that may fundamentally change the way you direct.

The course was created by director Per Holmes, who spent over half a decade developing an all-inclusive language of high-end feature camera work for personal use, and then realized how much others would benefit from these techniques.

The Master Course is far beyond any current filmmaking program, and is intended for professionals who want to take their blocking skills to the highest level, and those who are crossing over from another discipline, but can be used by filmmakers at any level who are committed to mastering high-end directing.

What You Will Learn

The primary goal of The Master Course in High-End Blocking and Staging is to do the most effective blocking with the highest production-value, and to build a vast repertoire of techniques to make Directing more expressive — and ultimately more fun.

The course also deals with the problem that blocking often grabs so much of our attention that we’re forced to choose between doing camera work or nurturing great performances. If we choose acting, the camera work suffers. If we choose camera work, the actors are often left to direct themselves. One of the key goals of the course is to have great camera work become so automatic that we can do both at the same time.

When shooting, we also too often abandon many great shots we had planned. When we’re under pressure, we revert to tried and tested techniques like two reverses and a master. Even if we know plenty of techniques, we often only use the ones we know extremely well, so another key goal of the course is to know techniques so well that we actually use them.

The higher purpose of the course is to do as meaningful and expressive camera work as possible. While the course spends a lot of time getting good at technical things like complex line-issues, the deeper goal is to have a profound understanding of the how and why of everything. Ultimately, the goal is to have as clear and precise an emotional impact as possible. All the hot moves we can create (and we do create a lot) are really means to that end.

Blocking With Models

Models are not just the most patient actors, there’s a very particular reason The Master Course uses them: They are completely expressionless. As we work with dynamics between the characters and blocking camera moves, all emotions must be coming from the camera work.

Working with models is incredibly educational, because the effect of every technique becomes so clear. As soon as we separate the acting performance from the camera work, we get a much deeper understanding of how the camera work infers thoughts and feelings.

Blocking In 3D

Learning Directing in 3D is a unique approach that is superior to any current method. Blocking techniques become extremely clear, we can quickly superimpose visual aids such as lines and field-of-view, and visualize many cameras at once when they’re designed to work together.

3D is really the ideal environment for learning camera work, and makes advanced techniques obvious. Without the need for wrestling with diagrams in a book, we immediately get to see every technique, both from the camera’s perspective, and how it fits into the mechanics of the scene.