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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Yes. The course builds a complete understanding of camera work from the ground up, and is intended to be useful for filmmakers on as many levels as possible. However, the course requires a high level of commitment, especially for those newer to filmmaking. It's also highly recommended to stop often and practice.

The Master Course covers considerably more ground than all books on directing combined, and many of the techniques the course covers have never been taught before.

Additionally, learning camera work from a book is very hard, because one is grappling with trying to visualize the diagrams and storyboards. Doing camera work in 3D is a novel approach that enables us to discuss advanced techniques quickly and easily. Storyboards also preclude the use of a lot of techniques simply because they can't be drawn, which is never a problem in 3D.

The filmmaking videos that we know of are for the most part video-taped seminars, and are very introductory. Such videos provide a general introduction to filmmaking, and can be good for someone very new to the business.

The Master Course is not a general course in film production, but a master class in the single -- and crucial -- discipline of camera work.

Film school provides a general education in a production environment, and the course does not aim or claim to do that. But from a pure camera work and blocking perspective, The Master Course is considerably beyond what is taught in film school.

However, it shouldn't be! It is our sincere hope and goal to have the course become an integrated part of film education. In the meanwhile, if you're considering film school, taking the course will give you a substantial edge.

Some sections of the course deal with the psychology of body language, which is an integral part of blocking, and determines how actors need to move or stand. But the course is primarily concerned with telling an effective visual story, and how to bring out emotions and meaning with the camera work, and does not deal with crafting acting performances as such.

One note: Without good blocking skills, it's very (very) hard to concentrate on the actors. This often leaves us with an unfortunate choice: to work with the actors, or to do camera work. One of the major goals of the course is for great blocking to become so automatic that we don't have to sacrifice one over the other.

Yes, blocking literally has nothing to do with which medium you're working in. The decision-making process for excellent camera work is exactly the same whether you're framing a Panavision camera, or a 3D camera in software.

Yes. Modern DVD players and TVs are multi-standard by default, and since the DVDs are Region Free, you can play them without problem. Through the years, we've never had a single person in a PAL country who had any trouble playing them. And worst case, you can always play them on a PC/Mac.

Per Holmes was originally a music producer in the 90s, with a string of platinum-selling acts to his name, including the band Cut'N"Move (which swept Europe and Australia in the early 90s), the bubblegum-pop group Toy-Box, and has received a host of awards including Danish Grammys and even a World Music Award. Though he at a younger age had set out to be a filmmaker (and won his first short film competition at age 15), his music career allowed him to become a filmmaker again, directing high-budget music videos utilizing large amounts of visual effects, motion-control, CGI etc.

In the late 90s, he decided to quit his music career and devote himself fully to narrative directing, and made a number of short films to practice his narrative storytelling technique. It was at this point he felt the need for a complete language of camera work, and not finding one anywhere, set out to create one.

Per spent the next 5 years obsessing about blocking, training for thousands of hours. At first he kept directing short films, but realizing that what he was really after was great camera work, he began blocking in 3D, which made it possible to work many times faster without the hassle of production.

The goal in the beginning was to create a video for himself containing every technique, which he could watch again and again to “burn them in”, so he would remember to use them on the set. But what began emerging was a sort of “grand unified theory” of blocking that was not just about knowing a bunch of techniques, but knowing what every shot and every move means in order to tell the most effective stories.

He felt that this could become a great learning tool for anyone who wants to direct at a high level, and began turning it into a course. Production began in the summer of 2003, and after almost 4,000 hours of 3D animation and editing, wrapped in September 2004.

With this course done, Per is in the process of developing several other courses, of which the first to be released will be Visual Effects for Directors. He also still occasionally produces music, and most recently composed orchestral theme score for a series called “WorldWatch”, hosted by Leonard Nimoy of Star Trek.