New Wildlife Cinematography Master Class by Doug Jensen – Now on MZed

MZed Education

by Mascha DeikovaNovember 22^nd, 2024

I don’t know about you, but I’m a huge fan of nature. And what could be better than combining two passions into one: the joy of being outdoors with a love for artistic cinematography. We have just launched a new course on MZed.com that goes exactly down this path. Please welcome: “Doug Jensen’s Wildlife Cinematography Master Class”, now part of the MZed Pro subscription, which includes about 60 courses (and counting!)

Of course, Doug and I have the utmost respect for anyone ready to camp in the jungle for weeks, waiting for an exotic animal to appear and then pushing the Record button precisely at the right moment to get a few seconds of phenomenal footage. Yet, it doesn’t always have to be complicated like this. In fact, wildlife cinematography can be an excellent hobby that doesn’t require expensive equipment or extensive travel around the globe. Our new 7.5-hour master class is an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to shoot, edit, and color-grade broadcast-quality wildlife videos.

Meet your instructor

Doug Jensen is a television and video cinematographer, producer, director, and founder of “Vortex Media.” His professional experience spans over 35 years of video and post-production. Apart from that, he combines his practical expertise with teaching skills in diverse training videos, books, and live classroom workshops. This is Doug’s second course on MZed.com. (If you want to discover his extensive “Sony FX6 Camera Master Class”, please head over here).

This time around, Doug takes us along on a rather passionate journey. As he admits himself, grabbing a camera, a bunch of lenses, a tripod and going out to film wildlife in stunning nature – is his idea of a perfect vacation. In this master class, he combines technical knowledge with his own learnings from years of pursuing wildlife cinematography as a hobby. Let me give you a glimpse!

Introduction to the Doug Jensen’s Wildlife Cinematography Master Class

What makes wildlife cinematography exciting and challenging? Doug Jensen’s answer is the variety, spontaneity, and randomness of filming in nature. You come to the right spot with the best possible fore- and background, choose the perfect time of the day, and take your favorite masterfully-set camera with you. And then you are either rewarded with a special shot or not. No promises given. It’s the chase that keeps us interested.

At the same time, there is a distinct difference between taking wildlife pictures and shooting wildlife video footage. The latter lets us capture animals’ behavior, their movements in motion, and the sounds they make and transfer all of it to the viewers in an immersive way. On top of that, it requires a different skill set, and Doug’s master class also targets wildlife photographers who want to transition into video.

This master class is geared towards having fun, challenging yourself to learn new skills, and learning how to shoot some awesome wildlife video regardless of where you live or travel.

A quote from the master class

For Doug, prioritizing the artistic touch and cinematic quality of the footage is important over the mere documentary approach. That’s why he also dives into his own tips and tricks on finding the best locations, capturing animals in motion, and choosing the most impressive light and composition. The introductory lesson of his master class is available to watch for free on MZed.com after signing up.

How to capture birds in flight

To give you a taste of what you can expect from “Doug Jensen’s Wildlife Cinematography Master Class,” here is an exclusive sneak peek. In the module dedicated to capturing birds in flight, Doug shares a few tips on mastering this challenging task. Among them are learning to pan your camera smoothly on more mundane and predictable subjects first, such as cars, airplanes, and people on bikes; going to the beach and practicing on seagulls or pelicans, as they are really hard to follow; filming the birds when they are moving towards you or flying parallel to your position; going for clouds in the background instead of the clear sky whenever possible, and more.

Erratic movements of birds are usually unpredictable. So, Doug has developed a specific workflow to get a perfect shot. Firstly, he scans the sky with the naked eye and looks for a target. Then, on his widest focal length, he finds the chosen bird through the viewfinder and zooms all the way in. A useful tip is to start tracking your subject when it’s as far away as possible. As the bird comes closer, the relative speed of its movement gets faster and faster, and the field of view through a telephoto lens becomes narrower and narrower. Don’t rush to press Record, though. Doug recommends waiting until the bird comes into the perfect shot composition. Otherwise, you’ll get tons of useless footage, especially if you film in slow motion, say, at 120 fps.

Also in the new wildlife cinematography master class

Of course, everything we talked about above is only a small part of this comprehensive master class. In 7,5 hours and 23 modules, Doug Jensen covers everything from choosing the equipment and setting up the camera to safety precautions and ethical practices. Here are some of the concrete topics covered in the workshop:

• Essential features you should pay attention to while choosing the right camera for wildlife filming;
• Unique purposes of zoom and prime lenses regarding wildlife cinematography;
• Learning how to track action with ten practical tips;
• The choice between raw video format, log, and REC 709 shooting modes;
• Recommended camera settings;
• Where and when to shoot, and how to select a perfect location while preserving stealth and quick mobility;
• Post-production: from sorting footage to color grading and clip export.

And much more. You can read the detailed description of each course module here.

Pricing

The “Doug Jensen’s Wildlife Cinematography Master Class” is only available for users with an MZed Pro subscription. If you are already an MZed Pro, you can click on the link and start watching the workshop straight away. If not, there are other reasons why becoming one is worth considering.

As an MZed Pro member, you have access to many hundreds of hours of filmmaking education. Plus, we’re constantly adding more courses (several are in production right now).

Starting at just $29/month (billed at $349 in the first year, $199 from the second year, or billed monthly at $49), here’s what you’ll get:

• 59+ courses, over 750+ high-quality lessons.
• Highly produced courses from educators who have decades of experience and awards, including a Pulitzer Prize and an Academy Award.
• Unlimited access to stream all content during the 12 months.
• Offline download and viewing with the MZed iOS app.
• Discounts to ARRI Academy online courses, exclusively on MZed.
• Most of our courses provide an industry-recognized certificate upon completion.
• Purchasing the courses outright would cost over $9,500.
• Course topics include cinematography, directing, lighting, cameras and lenses, producing, indie filmmaking, writing, editing, color grading, audio, time-lapse, pitch decks, and more.
• 7-day money-back guarantee if you decide it’s not for you (on annual billing only).

Full disclosure: MZed is owned by CineD.
Join MZed Pro now and start watching today!

Are you already into wildlife cinematography? If not, can you imagine picking it up as a hobby or for professional purposes? Share your experience and thoughts with us in the comments below!