Filmmaking Lab Studios

SEE FEELINGLY.

TRANSFORM THE WAY YOU SEE.

LET THE SCENE REVEAL ITS MEANING.

*Subscribers: This Live Online Exclusive is included in your Lab Series Online program.

CAMERA BLOCKING 2: SHOOT PLOT

CAMERA BLOCKING is an exciting evolution of cinematic staging. This is craft at its most alive. Where structure meets feeling, and the shotlist rises from the emotional heartbeat of the scene. Across three live online sessions, you move from theory into full embodiment. Discover how actor movement, camera placement, and location come together to unlock the soul of your story. Learn how to move the camera on the beats, block with presence, and craft images that resonate deeply, in the body and on the screen.

This series delivers tools to help you:

1. Open your scenes with emotional precision and visual clarity
2. Block with rhythm, instinct, and purpose
3. Use space to reflect character, action, and intention
4. Build relationships that feel lived-in and grounded
5. Direct from the inside out, expressing your unique visual voice

Directors, writers, actors, DPs, editors, development teams, producers, and executives all thrive using Joan's accessible and powerful tools. Across this series, you can explore the techniques behind Transparent, Beginners, Arbitrage, Snow White and the Huntsman, Little Miss Sunshine, and Whale Rider.

WHAT DOES IT COVER?

✨ Day 1 – Shoot Plot: One Intensive Day · July 12

Joan shows you how to shoot with Plot as the primary lens — the structure through which every shot is conceived, every setup chosen, and every scene revealed. This is where story becomes a living image on screen. Camera placement, actor movement, and location all rise from the emotional heartbeat of your plot.

1. Learn how plot points drive shot selection and camera movement
2. Block with rhythm, instinct, and purpose — from the inside out
3. Use space to reflect character, action, and intention
4. Direct from the emotional truth of the scene, expressed through your unique visual voice

✨ Day 2 – Original Work Review · July 21

Joan reviews original work, selected at random from the class, at her discretion. A live look at the tools in action — in your work and your classmates.

✨ Day 3 – Original Work Review · July 28

Joan continues the review, with original work selected at random from the class, at her discretion. The series closes by integrating the learning in community.