DCP 130: Shane Hurlbut and the Illumination Experience Cinematography Tour

Sep 11

Shane Hurlbut makes another appearance on the Digital Convergence Podcast. Not only is Shane an outstanding cinematographer—he is a generous mentor and educator. In this episode, Shane shares with me his thoughts on how the new "emulsion"—the sensors of amazing digital video cameras—affects the cinematographer's choices in gear. He argues that one camera cannot fit all situations, that each camera has strengths that must be exploited based on the needs of the story.

“I love to walk on the set and see it start to all come to life. The adding of just one light and then the magic starts to happen.”

— Shane Hurlbut

Cinema is not just about cameras, it's about sculpting light. I was transfixed as I listened to Shane passionately describe the transformation of actor Joe Mantegna into Dean Martin (in the HBO movie The Rat Pack) by paying close attention to the placement of light.

How can you learn to sculpt light and illuminate and bring to life your story? The Illumination Experience Tour (presented by MZed) is a full-day workshop designed to teach you the powerful principles and techniques pioneered and developed by Shane Hurlbut that you can immediately use in your filmmaking projects. As you listen to this podcast you can hear Shane's passion and excitement as he talks about what you can expect in this intense, hands-on workshop. We talk, too, about his Inner Circle premium membership site—a community of several thousand filmmakers from all over the world.

I'm deeply grateful to Shane for taking the time to chat with me in this episode!