NFTS Leeds: Self Shooting - A Beginners Guide

This course is aimed at those who are new to self-shooting, and are looking to develop, embed and hone their skills.

With a mix of theory and practical exercises, the course provides a solid grounding in the skills you need to get shooting. Over the two days of the course, you will cover all of the essentials you need to start self-shooting and gain hands-on experience to help you film with confidence.

Many of the skills learnt on this course can be applied to any camera or shooting format, meaning this course will be of benefit to you regardless of which camera/s you have access to.

This course will cover:

• Camera menu, set up
• Tripod and handheld operating
• Composition
• Exposure control and white balance techniques
• Focus control including depth of field
• Recording sound
• Controlled/Uncontrollable action
• Management of CF cards and media

Through a series of practical exercises, you will learn how to frame and operate the camera both handheld and on the tripod, record good quality sound and shoot sequences. You will review exercises with the tutor and will be given individual feedback.

About the Tutor:

The course is led by Rob Speranza. Rob is an American Camera Operator, Film Producer and Line Producer from Brooklyn, New York. Rob is also an extremely experienced and confident self shooter. Throughout his career, he has been nominated for a range of awards and continues to direct, shoot and produce exciting, eye-catching films for businesses alongside making documentaries and promotional films.

This course is aimed at people with little or no experience who want to start down the road of the self-shooting runner, AP or producer.

Previous course participants said:

'A great step forward in beginning to understand all that's involved with self-shooting. Great, simple, and practical advice that can easily be put into practice.'

'(The highlight was) just genuinely feeling comfortable in the small group setting and having one on one moments to ask the 'stupid' questions. There was no pressure to feel like you 'should' know anything, which allowed for relaxed learning (always more productive). I really enjoyed being able to just play around with the equipment and figure things out.'