Alex Buono's Visual Storytelling 2

Alex Buono

Alex Buono's Visual Storytelling 2

Alex Buono
4.8
6h 20m
16 modules (view curriculum)

$349
$349
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  • Total Time:

    6h 20m

Description

Building on the curriculum of "The Art of Visual Storytelling", Alex Buono deconstructs the architecture of visual style, and through live demonstration shows you how to recreate various genres and looks on almost any budget. In the second part of the course Alex gives a masterclass on Visual Subtext, explaining the "why" behind the "how".


Subtitles available: English

Modules

20m

Alex opens the course with an overview of the complete syllabus, then dives straight into a case study on visual style using the SNL 40th anniversary title sequence.


Subtitles available: English

12m

In the first live demos of the course Alex takes us through two creative practical effects he used on the SNL 40th anniversary sequence - custom bokeh and the pixel stick - and shows how to execute the same effects.


Subtitles available: English

09m

Alex continues to showcase the in-camera effects that helped to create his memorable SNL intro, and in this module he guides us through an example of "free lensing" or "lens whacking" which gives a dreamy aesthetic to shots.


Subtitles available: English

27m

In this module Alex breaks down the components of visual style, and explains the strategy that he's used on Saturday Night Live to faithfully recreate the exact look and feel of Hollywood blockbusters, Documentaries, Promos, Music Videos, Reality TV shows and many more, all within the shortest of timeframes.


Subtitles available: English

21m

Alex continues his visual style deconstruction example from the previous module, in a firelight scene live demo that replicates a shot from "The Maze Runner".


Subtitles available: English

19m

In this module Alex discusses one of his biggest challenges on-set: Mixed color temperatures. He gives his three strategies to combat this, along with live demonstrations to show you the exact steps to take to ensure your shots are evenly colored and gradeable.


Subtitles available: English

24m

Continuing the discussion on visual styles, Alex takes us through the different sub-genres within the popular 'Doc style', which has gained popularity in both narrative and factual filmmaking.


Subtitles available: English

19m

Continuing to deconstruct Documentary-style, Alex takes us through some live demos showing how to recreate each in an interview setting.


Subtitles available: English

22m

In this module Alex walks us through four separate approaches to shooting a car spot, using the Lincoln Matthew McConaughey TVC and SNL's Jim Carrey parody as an example. He then shows us some techniques that even Hollywood feature films use to shoot car scenes without requiring huge budgets.


Subtitles available: English

14m

Alex tackles one of the most difficult shots to shoot on a budget - the day exterior. Using the SNL sketch "New Day" as a case study he walks us through a complete breakdown of how he lit and shot it all in just one afternoon. Afterwards we look at how to create contrast and control lighting in day exterior shots, using Alex's work on the SNL short "Swiftamine" as an example.


Subtitles available: English

29m

Continuing his examination of various film genres Alex tackles one of the most popular - the music video - and gives his four rules for shooting them. After breaking down the SNL short "Wishing Boot", he takes us through a live demo shoot that provides a versatile approach for any music video. We finish the module by looking at high-key lighting examples, and a demonstration combining it with different flavors of filtration and diffusion.


Subtitles available: English

20m

In this module Alex focuses on lens selection, and the differences between still and cinema glass. He breaks down his work on "Documentary Now" and how he achieved authentic looks by employing vintage lenses, and then gives a live comparison of a vintage lens next to a modern cinema lens.


Subtitles available: English

17m

With color correction being such an integral facet of filmmaking, Alex talks about it briefly in this module, sharing the precise correct order of events that he employs to ensure he gets the best results when correcting footage either on a solo project or when working with a colorist.


Subtitles available: English

19m

Making mistakes is an essential part to learning one's craft. In this module Alex opens up about his biggest on-set mistakes from dropping lenses, to under-exposing shots on his Academy-award nominated short film "Johnny Flynton". He goes on to share his insights on how best to get hired for jobs.


Subtitles available: English

58m

The inflation of images in the modern world has caused a recession of meaning - we've been overexposed to the point where a picture is no longer "worth 1,000 words". This has made visual subtext all the more important as filmmakers and artists look to add more depth to their creations. In this module Alex gives his three rules to visual subtext, explaining how to add subtext to your film to make it more universal through case studies including "The Silence of the Lambs", "Guardians of the Galaxy", "Gladiator" and more.


Subtitles available: English

44m

In the final module of the course Alex looks at how to begin introducing visual subtext to your own works. He reviews the primary sources for subtext and gives examples of each, before concluding with an explanation of how he attempted to incorporate these techniques into his work on "Green Street Hooligans".


Subtitles available: English

About the Educator

Alex Buono

Cinematographer, Producer, Director

2 Courses

Drawing on his experience as the Director of Photography for the Saturday Night Live film unit for 17 years, Alex is able to instantly deconstruct and replicate almost any genre or visual style. His work as a Cinematographer and Producer have earned him an Academy Award nomination as well as multiple film festival awards.

Reviews

5
Interesting course!
Stanislav Khvan
5
One of the most inspiring courses ever.
Giovanni Bomben
5
Alex shows simple and achievable lighting demos that can be applied by anyone with any skill level.
Shawn Yeo
5
Love it. I learned a lot from Alex.
Mohammed Al-Shubaiki
5
Excellent course, both the larger number of specific demos and the deep dive into visual subtext to cap the course are giving me a great deal to think about for projects going forward.
Sean Edevane
5
Definitely watch until the end. Deserving of a Master Class Title.
Aruho Manzi
5
Simply amazing!
nermeen kamel
5
Mind blown! So very rewarding with a great amount of thorough explanation. Feeling enlightened, inspired with a reignited passion for my industry thanks to Alex.
Giles Mallard
5
Great! Thank You.
Łukasz Kucharski
5
A great course! Very insightful and takes you through the entire process. Highly recommend it!
Tsvetelina Yordanova
5
An absolutely mind-blowing wealth on creative and technical knowledge, skills, techniques, and new forms of trying and exploring the craft of story-telling, more specifically, lighting and cinematography. Having attended his first tour of workshops, that was amazing, but this second tour, Visual Storytelling 2, was so packed with info that was informative and inspiring - to perfect and improve the art and skills I'm working on. I was so impressed with Alex and his articulate and down to earth advice and direction. I highly recommend this course, and cannot wait to review it again.
Tom Laughlin (Davis School District)
5
Alex course is, as usual, both entertaining and useful. The parts about subtexts and art are really enlightning and mind opening about what visual storytelling is really about.
Julien Gouz
5
Alex Buono is amazing!
Ajay Paul Singh
5
Packed chalk full with tips, tricks, demos, theory, and more. This one is even better than the first he did. Now to find some jobs to use what I've learned...
Boone Sommerfeld
5
Great course!!!!!
Alejandro Welsh
5
A good all film theories to try to make your own. Alex did a great job holding my attention, I only fell asleep twice.
George Anderson
5
Really fantastic look into the visual art of storytelling. Trickled throughout are valuable tips and tricks to elevate your work, with the true takeaway being "create what speaks to you and has meaning". Great work Alex and team!
Joe Blodgett
5
Aside from all of the practical stuff, the final lectures opened up my mind and made me want to experiment more. It reminded me of the book "Steal Like an Artist" except Buono goes into more detail. I LOVED THIS COURSE AND I WANT MORE!!
Adler Lafleur
5
This course give me so much knowledge. If you haven't see season one then you should definitely watch season one first. It's amazing. I learn so much about the lighting technique, camera movement and how to construct the story. I used to be very confused about this topic but now i won't feel troubled anymore. Thanks again and please forgive my poor english!
Yiwen Wang
5
Absolutely fantastic course! Discuss then demo...that's the way to do it! Thank you so much Alex!! This course is not only informative but also inspirational!!! Hope to meet you one day...thanks again!
Carlos Ortiz
5
Great stuff
Anthony Bentley
5
If you know that expression, "food for thought" think of this course as the "all you can eat, buffet version". It is so jam packed that watching only once won't cut it. This course could be a source of inspiration and ideas over and over again. Awesome.
Marshall Cant
5
Amazing! Both Alex Buono's courses on Visual Storytelling are great. He speaks in a simple way about everything, makes it easily understandable. Nice!
Shiyun Gu
5
I enjoyed the demos throughout the course where we got to see practical uses for the lighting techniques from the lectures. The subtext lectures were awesome and will definitely be something I refer back to in the future.
Joshua Carroll
5
Fabulous course!
Fidel Ventocilla
5
Really really nice.
Nikhil Kripalani
5
Awesome
NAVNEET JARGAR
5
Fantastic!
Gianni Bonardi
5
Absolutely fascinating!
Dominic Eder-Smigura
5
Concise and inspiring, a great combination of techniques and tricks to put to use in the next shoot, with a great contextual overview to think about your art.
Art Stevens
5
Wow. Fantastic course. The subtext portion is WORTH the price of the course alone.
Terrell Epps
5
A really excellent no-nonsense course breaking down stylistic elements across a huge array of genres. Alex is fun and knowledgeable. One of the best online courses I've watched. Excellent for beginning or intermediate DPs/Filmmakers looking to dive deeper into the theory and craft of visual storytelling.
Joseph Henry
5
Just outstanding.
Wilbur Nelson
5
Absolutely worth every second of your attention. Alex approaches filmmaking alongside you in a very real practical way. If you’ve watched his first lesson series this is a perfect and more up to date partner to that. Seriously hope MZed will have him teaching on again soon!!!
German Disla
5
A very nice and deep introduction for me. Thank you so much.
Juergen Jeibmann
4.5
Interesting, fun to watch and dense. Alex Buono is the perfect man for a visual storytelling course.
Pino Sartorio
4.5
This is a solid course that not only touches on shooting many different genres on different budgets but also delves into the complexity of storytelling.
Marco Marco
4
Great resource! I knew much stuff but good summerized. But the stuff about visual subtext, golden!
Jesko Pingel

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