The Moving Image: Foundations of Cinematography

Course Overview

This is a foundational course for photographers and beginners who want to start telling stories with the moving image. It is built from the Dean's own guide to cinematography, and it treats film not as a matter of expensive equipment but as a craft you can begin with the camera you already own — because cinematography, at heart, is not about recording what is in front of you. It is an art of visual storytelling.

The course rests on a single idea that makes the whole medium approachable: a film is photography plus motion, and every choice you make serves the story. If you already understand exposure, aperture, ISO, and composition, you are most of the way there. What changes is motion — and once you understand the simple relationship between frame rate and shutter speed, the camera stops being mysterious and becomes an instrument you can play.

Across eight lessons you will learn what a cinematographer actually does and the visual elements they control; how to make the leap from still photography to motion; the vocabulary of shot sizes and what each one makes an audience feel; how and why to move the camera; how to set a camera manually for shooting motion indoors; how to shape depth and mood with the direction of light; and how shots and sound are assembled into meaning. You will finish by planning, shooting, and cutting together your own first short cinematic sequence — a frame that moves, and tells a story.

Faculty & Resources