- Werner Herzog Masterclass Trailer
- Werner Herzog Quotes Dear America
- Werner Herzog Masterclass Free Download
- Werner Herzog Masterclass Trailer
Werner Herzog MasterClass, that’s right.
Solidifying your skills is crucial if you wish to succeed in your career path.
We just finished the course and it has been a truly enjoyable experience: Werner is not just an amazing director, but also a great teacher and knows how to guide you through the process to reach your goals.
Werner Herzog’s MasterClass: What Others Have Said From what I saw online, it seemed a lot of viewers were already fans of Werner’s work. On MasterClass, YouTube, and Reddit, the course had a largely positive reception. Werner Herzog MasterClass, that’s right. Solidifying your skills is crucial if you wish to succeed in your career path. We just finished the course and it has been a truly enjoyable experience: Werner is not just an amazing director, but also a great teacher and knows how to guide you through the process to reach your goals. Jul 29, 2021 The Werner Herzog Masterclass Review. Werner Herzog grew an undying passion for creative filmmaking at the age of 19 when he stole a camera and made his first movie. More than 30 years later, the legendary director today has 70 films and 50 awards to his credit and actively teaches documentary and feature filmmaking. Mar 07, 2018 werner herzog’s masterclass If you’ve taken more than a couple Masterclasses, you know that no two are alike. While all of the classes offer video modules, assignments (which are optional), and the ability to connect with fellow students, the content and style of each class varies significantly. No one would ever assume Werner Herzog would teach convention, but in his new MasterClass, the filmmaker takes dead aim at the way traditional film school teaches three act structure storytelling.
- Werner Herzog MasterClass [Top 5 Things We Learned]
- TOP 5 LESSONS FROM WERNER HERZOG MASTERCLASS
- BONUS: DO IT.
- SHOULD YOU TAKE THIS COURSE?
- BONUS: DO IT.
- TOP 5 LESSONS FROM WERNER HERZOG MASTERCLASS
To be upfront, this blog post contains affiliate links.
So, while clicking these links won’t cost you any extra money, we’ll get a commission from Masterclass which we then use to keep this site up and running.
That’s ok, but who is Werner Herzog?
Born in Munich on September 5, 1942, Werner Herzog is one of the most prolific, provocative, and famously independent filmmakers in the history of cinema. He has never created a single film that is compromised, shameful, made for pragmatic reasons, or uninteresting,” Roger Ebert once observed. “Even his failures are spectacular.”
When Werner was 19, he stole a camera and made his first movie. 70 films and 50 awards later, Herzog is teaching documentary and feature filmmaking. You’ll learn storytelling, cinematography, locations, self-financing, documentary interview techniques, and how to bring your ideas to life.
By the end, you’ll make uncompromising films.
TOP 5 LESSONS FROM WERNER HERZOG MASTERCLASS
1. READ. READ. READ.
There is so much to understand, so much to learn.
“If you don’t read, you will never be a filmmaker.” Herzog says.
In particular, he suggests reading an obscure book published in 1967 :
• J.A. Baker (Author)
• English (Publication Language)
• 208 pages - NYRB Classics (Publisher)
Werner Herzog Masterclass Trailer
This is not a book about watching a bird, but a book about becoming a bird.
The kind of immersion into the subject and the passion and the caliber of prose.
It’s a book that everyone who makes films should read.
2. WORKING WITH ACTORS ON SET
Sometimes it’s good to leave your character alone so no one can predict what is going to happen next. These moments are often very telling and moving.
At the same time, he teaches how to keep actors on their marks, favoring simple directions over extensive directions, knowing how to control your actors, hypnotizing actors (Heart of Glass case study) and letting your actors loose.
3. LEADING THE PLATOON
How to inspire your crew, maintaining formality and strict working relationships,
doing the doable, being the guinea pig for your crew, how to make catastrophes part of your story, how to deal with the unexpected.
4. YOU ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN FILMING. NOT THE GEAR.
He does tell you to make a pinhole camera for under $10 and limit yourself to taking just one landscape and one portrait photo. “Before you ask for a state-of-the-art camera,” Werner Herzog says. “Show me a photo you have done with a pinhole camera.”
Leibovitz gave similar advice in her Annie Leibovitz Masterclass (which we HIGHLY recommend if you are interested in a great photography course).
5. GET PAID.
“Never use your own money, unless you really really have to”. But if you plan and negotiate your terms right you shouldn’t have to. Negotiation skills: how to negotiate with producers and with conviction, how to handle lawyers, how to know what you’re getting yourself into, keeping the project urgent, warning signs of bad projects and signs of good working relationships.
BONUS: DO IT.
Werner Herzog Quotes Dear America
Just go ahead and DO IT. Don’t let bureaucrats or gatekeepers stop you. Take what you have, take the next step whatever it may be and MAKE YOUR MOVIE.
SHOULD YOU TAKE THIS COURSE?
If you’re a filmmaker, film-lover, screenwriter, or storyteller and you’re looking for a solid investment that is highly educational, motivating, and entertaining, give the Werner Herzog Masterclass a try. You’ve got nothing to lose (Masterclass have a 30-day money-back guarantee) and a ton to gain.
THIS CLASS IS TREASURE HOUSE TO EXPLORE FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO LEARN ABOUT FILMMAKING.
What does the £85 enrollment fee include?
Once you purchase the class, you have access to the following:
• Unlimited, lifetime access to every chapter in your course
• A downloadable workbook with chapter recaps, important takeaways, and exercises
• Membership to our active community of engaged students (upload your own work, or provide feedback on a peer’s!)
• Access to any answers your instructor provides to any students’ work
• Class-specific tools to help you practice your craft
Interested in joining this Masterclass? Get more info here!
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Werner Herzog Masterclass Free Download
I’m now on the second week of the Werner Herzog Masterclass for filmmaking. This course has really helped me get through the week. I followed some of the lessons during my lunch break and have looked forward to a masterclass binge all week.
The second week of the Werner Herzog Teaches Filmmaking Masterclass was just as inspiring, invigorating, and educational as the first week. Once again I’m thoroughly convinced that I’m getting full value for money. Anything that propels me to the keyboard and compels me to write even when I’m tired and grumpy is a great investment. What with my new job, I’ve had to start getting up at 4:30 am in order to write my novel before work. I can tell you it’s A LOT easier with Herzog’s motivational words still ringing in my head.
So… What did we learn on the second week of the masterclass?
Disclosure: Please note that this Werner Herzog Teaches Filmmaking MasterClass review contains referral links. That basically means I’ll earn a small commission if you decide to grab the course after clicking. I recommend this course because I personally bought it and benefitted from it first and my review would be exactly the same with or without referral links. Please only purchase this course if you personally decide it’s right for you.
Along with stunning stories about working with Klaus Kinski, the focus of this week’s Masterclass with Werner Herzog was a very valuable education in some of the following topics:
- Negotiation skills: how to negotiate with producers and with conviction, how to handle lawyers, how to know what you’re getting yourself into, keeping the project urgent, warning signs of bad projects and signs of good working relationships.
- Locations: how quality location scouting leads to quality footage, pre-production advice, how to consider the logistics of shooting, adapting to different locations (from the Sahara to the jungle to icy cold environments), shooting with and without permits, thoughts on CGI vs. the real thing, how to “get away with film”.
- Leading the platoon: how to inspire your crew, maintaining formality and strict working relationships, doing the doable, being the guinea pig for your crew, how to make catastrophes part of your story, how to deal with the unexpected.
There were less assignments this week but still plenty of stuff to do and many of the assignments from the first week are still hanging over my head.
As you can see, there is a lot of stuff here. And every second of time spent with Herzog is worth its weight in gold. I’m in awe at how magically Herzog manages to distill his decades of filmmaking insight into every word he utters.
By the end of this week, my impressions can be summed up in two sentences:
- I would totally turn gay for Werner Herzog.
- Masterclass are a phenomenal company and I will continue following their courses and singing their praises as long as they keep delivering the goods.
I’m not the only one who is impressed with the Werner Herzog Masterclass. Part of the appeal of the class is that you have access to other students who are also following along. You can choose to engage and interact with them or simply follow Herzog’s classes and homework. Every class has a discussion area and every student (all in different stages of their filmmaking careers but all enraptured by the art of film) are as impressed with the class as I am.
And how could you not love the class when you have hands-on, practical advice from a genius of Werner Herzog’s stature mixed in with riotous anecdotes from grinding hard in the field of filmmaking. Anecdotes that result in Herzog saying stuff like this:
We get great insight in how to direct landscapes in much the same way you direct people. Herzog goes deep into how he managed to obtain one of the most iconic and greatest openings in the history of film… In just ONE TAKE. We’re talking about this opening at Machu Pichu for Aguirre:
We get to hear the creative decision that inspired Herzog to go against the raving Kinski and not use the iconic image of Machu Pichu (he calls it “postcard kitsch”) and go in a total different direction.
We get to hear about how Herzog managed to house over 450 extras and crew when there was only one hotel that could accommodate 8 people. You then see how these lessons in location logistics will then inform your own directorial decisions.
We get tremendous stories about forging shooting permits in dangerous locations. We get stories about how to be rogue one moment and honourable the next and how that personality shift will see you through the most dangerous locations from minefields to North Korean volcanoes.
I wish I could gush about every single thing I loved about the Werner Herzog Masterclass. But I don’t want to give everything away. Of course, when you buy the course, we can talk about everything as much as we like. At this stage though, I think it’s sufficient to say that I’m am very happy with my purchase.
I can’t believe I still have another month of lessons left. To appropriate one of the many great Werner Herzog quotes from this Masterclass, I feel like a bandit who has gotten away with loot.
I can’t wait for the next week. I’m trying my hardest to pace myself but I can’t resist. I’m going to peek ahead at week 3. I’ll let you know how I get on with the Masterclass with another update next week. Until then, I encourage you to grab the course if you have any interest in filmmaking.
Werner Herzog Masterclass Trailer
P.P.S. You can check out my reviews for the first and third weeks of the Werner Herzog Masterclass here and here.
Read my other Werner Herzog MasterClass Reviews: