gci or mm.

[Israel Romero Ramírez]

hey guys, I would like to know if any of you have been on any of this places? Global Cinematography institute or Maine Media.

 

Though MM is like 16k but 8 week including lodging and meals and well the 12 week is like 18k... but is it good?

 

Then there is GCI in Hollywood... 3 sesions... like ammm the first 2 levels are like 8k without lodging and well forget bout meals... but where would you go?

 

If you see the schedule of both I think that MM has better and a full time and a full program, but the GCI has some new stuff like 3d, gamming etc...

 

where would you recommend to go? I just want to be better dp and learn more, this kind of courses don't exist in mexico...

[Brenton Lee]

I did 2 weeks of the 8 or 12-week course ... I did Camera Assistant and Camera Operator.

 

I have to say, the Camera Assistant class exceeded my expectations so much. The teacher had been a 1st AC since 1984 ... there wasn't a trick he didn't know in regard to digital / film / focus pulling, etc. AND he knew how to teach. Class didn't 'start' till 9am, but he'd be there at 8am ready to show people stuff they wanted to learn ... and he'd be there till 9pm still teaching. Panavision supplied gear (an Alexa and Millennium) and a tech who also knew his stuff.

 

By the end of the class, a bunch of inexperienced people left competent at focus, loading film, threading cameras, setting actors marks, slating, filling in camera reports etc, setting up cinetapes, calibrating wireless FF like the Preston, doing lens tests and camera tests like you would in a rental house .... organising equipment, labelling, doing stocktake. It was quiet phenomenal. A huge part of it was also safety, set etiquette etc too.

 

The second week was 'Camera Operating'. Again, a very experience and knowledgeable teacher. It was an equal blend of 'theory' and conventional technique but also of being progressive and creative. It was almost bordering more on being a DoP / Cam-Op. The exercises were good - everyone left confident in working on dolly and job moves, working on location, etc.

 

 

I also had a chance to see what the other guys completed on their 8-week course and it was pretty amazing. They shot super 16mm film which was processed and scanned before the end of the week. They learned really impressive lighting techniques ('location lighting' and 'feature film lighting') with a huge range of equipment. They also did a whole week of steadicam ...

 

The other units go a lot into the fundamentals of cinematography and visual story telling.

 

If I could go back in time, the 8-week program is exactly what I would do. It might seem like a lot of money but holy cow .... the access to equipment, knowledge etc is second to none. There is no way you would regret spending that money in a few years.

 

The class was diverse ... 5 or 6 guys, 2 women ... everyone from all over the world, Australia, El Salvador, Qatar, all across the US too.

 

Also, the food was amazing.

 

I give MM 8.5/10.

[Israel Romero Ramírez]

I did 2 weeks of the 8 or 12-week course ... I did Camera Assistant and Camera Operator.

 

I have to say, the Camera Assistant class exceeded my expectations so much. The teacher had been a 1st AC since 1984 ... there wasn't a trick he didn't know in regard to digital / film / focus pulling, etc. AND he knew how to teach. Class didn't 'start' till 9am, but he'd be there at 8am ready to show people stuff they wanted to learn ... and he'd be there till 9pm still teaching. Panavision supplied gear (an Alexa and Millennium) and a tech who also knew his stuff.

 

By the end of the class, a bunch of inexperienced people left competent at focus, loading film, threading cameras, setting actors marks, slating, filling in camera reports etc, setting up cinetapes, calibrating wireless FF like the Preston, doing lens tests and camera tests like you would in a rental house .... organising equipment, labelling, doing stocktake. It was quiet phenomenal. A huge part of it was also safety, set etiquette etc too.

 

The second week was 'Camera Operating'. Again, a very experience and knowledgeable teacher. It was an equal blend of 'theory' and conventional technique but also of being progressive and creative. It was almost bordering more on being a DoP / Cam-Op. The exercises were good - everyone left confident in working on dolly and job moves, working on location, etc.

 

 

I also had a chance to see what the other guys completed on their 8-week course and it was pretty amazing. They shot super 16mm film which was processed and scanned before the end of the week. They learned really impressive lighting techniques ('location lighting' and 'feature film lighting') with a huge range of equipment. They also did a whole week of steadicam ...

 

The other units go a lot into the fundamentals of cinematography and visual story telling.

 

If I could go back in time, the 8-week program is exactly what I would do. It might seem like a lot of money but holy cow .... the access to equipment, knowledge etc is second to none. There is no way you would regret spending that money in a few years.

 

The class was diverse ... 5 or 6 guys, 2 women ... everyone from all over the world, Australia, El Salvador, Qatar, all across the US too.

 

Also, the food was amazing.

 

I give MM 8.5/10.

 

 

man jyou just gave me what I wanted to read! I was thinking on gci but what I didn't like was that the number of classes wer so few, and I mean like one level is in 2 weeks... its not that I don't trust them but I like more the idea that one course will take more than just one day or a few hours.

 

Thank you very much!