FILM TV X 479.302

Gain experience and expertise with each of the principal camera formats in use for productions today.

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Typically Available

Winter

Summer

Duration

As few as 12 weeks

Units

4.0

Current Formats

Online

Cost

Starting at $835.00

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What you can learn.

Learn the "how" and "why" of each format through discussions and demonstrations

Understand the cost/budget factor versus image quality for each camera type

Make a practical and artistic decision for which format is best for your project

About This Course

The camera is the essential tool of the filmmaker. This course prepares cinematographers and digital filmmakers to utilize the camera by employing an aesthetic and technical approach to projects. The essential technical aspects of how digital cinema cameras function are explored through lectures and practical application. Students participate in the testing and analysis of current digital cinema cameras and become more familiar with their individual features as well as the differences between them.

Prerequisites

Successful completion of FILM TV X 478.27A Introduction to Cinematography is strongly recommended.

0:07
- Welcome to this online class for becoming camera savvy at UCLA Extension.
0:12
- My goal with the lectures is to provide a strong foundation--a base of knowledge--Course Overview
0:17
- about digital cinematography, how the cameras work, log, LUTs, color charts,
0:23
- video scopes. We're also gonna talk a lot about the beauty of the optics. We're
0:28
- gonna evaluate a couple different kinds of lenses, different manufacturers, and
0:32
- what helps separate all these besides just focal length and iris speed and
0:37
- things like that. I feel like it's the responsibility of every cinematographer
  The Responsibility of Every Cinematographer
0:41
- to know their tools inside and out especially before you go into a
0:45
- production using said tools, to understand dynamic range, sensitivity, how
0:50
- can we use the tools and translate that into visual storytelling, because that's
  The Big Key
0:55
- the big key. This class can be very technical of course. It's a camera
0:59
- technical digital cinematography type class, but at the end of the day it's all
1:03
- about applying these technical concepts to elements of visual storytelling. If we
1:08
- understand the dynamic range, what does that mean for me as a cinematographer to
  Final Thoughts
1:12
- help tell a story? Stuff like ISO, sensitivity, noise; how can I use
1:17
- different camera configurations, different camera settings, to achieve a
1:20
- particular look? And then also as part of the class, I'm gonna be processing all
1:25
- this test footage in DaVinci Resolve. We're gonna find some pretty interesting
1:28
- results with a lot of these cameras. So I think it's gonna be a really exciting
1:32
class for becoming camera savvy at UCLA Extension.

Summer 2026 Schedule

Date

Details

Format

June 22 - September 13

This section has no set meeting times.

Instructor:

Jason Knutzen

REG#

408988

Fee:

$835.00

Online

Updating...

Notes

Enrollment limited; early enrollment advised. Internet access required.

Deadline

Refunds only available from April 27, 2026 to July 05, 2026

Course Requirements

American Cinematographer Manual by Michael Goi

ISBN 978-1-4675-6832-6

Digital Cinematography: Fundamentals, Tools, Techniques, and Workflows by David Stump

ISBN 0240817915

Internet access required to retrieve course materials.

This course applies toward the following programs

Cinematography

certificate

Cinematography

certificate Develop the tools essential for working as a cinematographer. Gain a thorough understanding of current cinematography and camera techniques.

Develop the tools essential for working as a cinematographer. Gain a thorough understanding of current cinematography and camera techniques.

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Becoming Camera-Savvy: A Workshop for Today's Filmmakers