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January 29, 2022 10:00 am–12:00 pm
Rubenstein Arts Center, Room 232
Film & Video

Take 2: Camera Support and Movement

Partnership with Duke Arts Create & Cinematic Arts

Taught by Steve Milligan

Filmcraft Workshop Series

The Cinematic Arts Filmcraft Workshop Series gives students the opportunity to learn hard skills and advance their ability in practical areas of filmmaking, such as cinematography, editing, post-production, and sound. The workshops run for six weeks, starting the Friday that drop/add ends, January 19. Each workshop is offered twice, on Friday afternoon and the following Saturday morning. No experience or registration is required.

The Cinematic Arts Filmcraft Camera Guides which accompany the workshops are provided as links at the end of this page.

Camera Support and Movement

Camera movement is easy to recognize and appreciate, but fiendishly difficult to execute.  Aside from issues of accuracy and stability, movement complicates focus, lighting, sound, and editing.  Almost every aspect of filmmaking is more difficult if the camera moves.

Camera movement is also one of the most expressive and personal characteristics of a filmmaker’s style–and for the reasons above one of the most neglected.  This workshop directs students toward the tools and techniques necessary to express the full vocabulary of cinematic movement in their own work.

The following elements will be covered in this workshop:

  • Dollies, jibs, gimbals, and ad hoc rigs
  • Hand-held technique
  • The secret life of tripods
  • Focus and lighting strategies for the moving camera

About the Instructor

Steve Milligan is a professional cinematographer. Over the last fifteen years he has worked in long and short form documentary, narrative features, commercials, music videos, and projection design. He has been a lecturing fellow in the Duke Arts of the Moving Image program since 2015, and advisor to the Duke student-run production company, Freewater Productions since 2006.

About the Location

This workshop will take place in the Cinematic Arts Studio in the Rubenstein Arts Center, 232.

About Duke Arts Create

Duke Arts Create is a series of free, hands-on arts workshops designed to help all Duke students, including graduate and professional students (including Duke Health), as well as Duke faculty and staff develop a variety of creative skills in the visual arts, dance and movement, creative writing and more. Workshops are open to all skill levels and backgrounds. Most workshops are held in the Duke Arts Annex, the Rubenstein Arts Center or the Duke Arts Office 2101 and are typically held weeknights from 6-8 p.m.

Registration for the following week’s workshops go live on Friday mornings at 9 a.m. – sign up in advance to guarantee your spot. Didn’t get a spot? No problem! We always reserve space for walk-ins. Email DukeCreate@duke.edu if you have any questions. Sign up for the monthly newsletter here, which includes the full list of classes offered during the following month.

Duke Arts Create is sponsored by the Office of the Vice Provost for the Arts (Duke Arts).