Steve Giralt is a New York City-based director, visual engineer, and founder of production company The Garage. He shoots those visually-stunning commercials you see on TV, and while most studios keep secret how they are made, Giralt wants to share it all with the world.
PetaPixel has featured Giralt’s work in the past, from recreating a $1,000,000 Hershey’s shoot on a $500 budget, to how he built a “burger drop” machine.
His latest project is called The Garage Learning and is live on Kickstarter. Giralt’s goal is to provide a mammoth amount of resources for filmmakers of all skill levels to allow them to create content to the level he and his team have been reaching for years.
“We make videos that artfully drop burgers from the sky, explode all types of food midair, and get slow motion to look so natural,” Giralt writes in the project’s Kickstarter. “It’s a lot of fun! Now, I want to bring the years of knowledge my team and I have gathered and innovated in our Garage to yours.”
The Garage Learning is broken into three categories: beginner, intermediate, and advanced.
Beginner lessons are for creators with smartphones as their main visual tool, and little to no Visual Engineering experience. “If you love to tinker, create, experiment, and learn—or are a parent looking for hands-on, educational activities for your kids—these courses are for you,” Giralt says.
Intermediate/Advanced lessons are for users who may have a DSLR or Mirrorless camera, and maybe even some lights. “You may be a still photographer who wants to get into shooting better videos, or a film student who wants to learn how commercials are engineered. If you’re comfortable with using your camera and have had some experience with photography or film, you’ll be able to get these lessons as part of our One Year Intermediate/Advanced Subscription, or as part of the Professional Subscription.”
Pro lessons are designed for working professionals who want to learn new techniques and ways of working with higher-end cameras and tools; or for those interested in learning how to manage a commercial image-making business.
The Garage Learning has uploaded the a work-in-progress course list:
The Garage Learning isn’t just the education, it also can include the actual tools needed to coordinate motion of objects with the camera. Called Learning Kits, The Garage wants to be able to ship you all the technological tools you will need to use in conjunction with the online courses. “The Learning Kits will bring technology and engineering skills to filmmaking, giving users a hands-on way of learning complicated mechanical and electrical systems normally not taught in any sort of art school,” Giralt says.
The Garage Learning has a particularly high goal for its Kickstarter, something that many projects on the site avoid because it makes it harder to reach the goal. However, given the amount Giralt is seeking, it feels more transparent than what other projects do because it seems like he knows how much it’s going to cost to effectively execute on the promises.
Still, remember that Kickstarter is not a pre-order platform, so do your research and pledge with caution.
You can learn more about The Garage Learning and pledge your support on its Kickstarter page.
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