Werner Herzog Masterclass Review 2024 | Is This Class Even Worth Buying?
Last Updated on: December 27, 2023 by Aishwar Babber | Fact Checked
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OVERALL VERDICT
I took Werner Herzog's Masterclass and loved it! Herzog teaches about making films in a really interesting way. He talks about how to tell stories, work with actors, and use sound and music. His classes are fun and full of good ideas for anyone who wants to learn about movies
Are you interested in filmmaking? Do you want to learn from a master? Werner Herzog, a famous filmmaker, offers a Masterclass that could be just what you’re looking for.
But what does Herzog, known for his unique storytelling, really teach in his class? This review will give you a detailed look. Herzog’s Masterclass is about different parts of movie-making.
He shows how to think of story ideas, work with actors, and shoot scenes. He also talks about being brave and creative in making movies.
This is good for people who are new to making movies and those who have made movies before.
We will look at what Herzog teaches in this review. We’ll see how it can help you in making movies. We will also talk about how the class works and if it is worth your time.
Is Werner Herzog’s Masterclass good for you? Read this review to find out.
Aspiring filmmakers, screenwriters, cinematographers, and fans of Werner Herzog. Ideal for those interested in Herzog’s unique filmmaking approach.
⏲️ Time Duration
5 hours and 50 minutes
⭐ Rating
8.5 out of 10
💲 Pricing
$180
📈 Overall Experience
Comprehensive insight into Herzog’s cinematic techniques and storytelling, covering a wide range of filmmaking aspects from idea development to post-production.
Werner Herzogis a German film director known for his works in Hollywood and other German-language films throughout a career spanning nearly three decades. He is a renowned screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director.
He has directed more than a dozen operas and published as many books of prose.
Herzog is recognized as a prominent figure of the New German Cinema known for making films that often feature people with unique talents in obscure fields, ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, or individuals who are in conflict with nature.
With an illustrious career spanning nearly 30 years, Werner made his first film at the age of 19 in 1961.
Since then, he has produced, written, and directed more than sixty feature- and documentary films, like
Movie
Year
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
1972
Nosferatu the Vampyre
1978
Fitzcarraldo
1982
Invincible
2000
Grizzly Man
2005
Encounters at the End of the World
2007
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
2010
And many more!
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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.
In the Werner Herzog Masterclass, you will get to learn the art and technique of storytelling, cinematography, locations, self-financing, and documentary interview techniques that he has learned and applied throughout his career and how to bring your ideas to life to convert your ideas and stories into uncompromising films.
Is it Worth it?
If you are on the fence about whether or not it is worth it to spend $90 on an online course, you shouldn’t be.
Werner Herzog is a director who has garnered critical praise on a global scale; nevertheless, when you take one of his classes, he does not instruct you on how to create high-budget films or documentaries; rather, he puts himself in your shoes and begins from square one.
The fact that he is a director who trained himself and worked his own way up the film industry is what makes this experience so rewarding; after all, you are also beginning at the bottom, so why not learn from the very best?
The craft of filmmaking must be practiced over a period of years in order to achieve mastery, and in order to create a movie or video that is of the highest quality, one must endure a tremendous deal of success and failure.
It is a lot simpler to learn about filmmaking when you have an expert and also an expert to learn from because they have their own expertise and are willing to share it with you.
When you have an expert and also an expert to learn from, you can pick up from both of them.
This Werner Herzog masterclass is jam-packed with all of the information and strategies that you will require in order to construct an appropriate narration film.
I would strongly encourage you to sign up for this masterclass if you have the desire and the drive to create a movie that people will remember for years to come.
The Werner Herzog MasterClass spans a total of six hours and consists of twenty-six individual courses. The recommended watching duration for each session is ten minutes on average.
There are several more materials available for this course on MasterClass. These contain a question-and-answer document, a Community Hub, and a Workbook that is 53 pages long.
The following is an outline of what students might anticipate learning in Werner Herzog’s MasterClass:
The Lesson Plan
The course is divided into 26 lessons. Each is followed by a video of a well-dressed Werner Herzog sitting on a chair in a large room with a projection screen to his right.
Videos vary in length from under five minutes to almost twenty minutes. Generally, an assignment follows, and on the respective web pages, students will comment.
In part, the course plays out as a tribute to Werner Herzog, the novel, the director, and the storyteller himself. He offers us the best seat in the house as he recounts his films, memories, and career.
We learn not only from a legend but also from an exceptional human being and a profoundly gifted teacher.
This is an introductory lesson where your new instructor gives you an insight into how he became a successful self-taught filmmaker who’s made films on all seven continents. Get an idea on how to become a ‘soldier of cinema’,
2. Teach Yourself Storytelling: Watch Films
Werner helps you deconstruct the opening scene of Viva Zapata, starring Marlon Brando and teaches you the importance of careful film analysis.
3. Teach Yourself Storytelling: Read
Werner insists that don’t just watch movies if you want to master storytelling. Werner shares passages from his mandatory reading list and explains why reading is key to becoming a great filmmaker.
4. Writing a Script
Werner believes in thinking out of the box and reveals how he draws on poetry and Beethoven. Learn how to work outside the three-act screenwriting structure to inspire scripts that capture his vision in words.
5. Financing First Films
You don’t need millions to make a movie that earns you widespread recognition or wins an Oscar. Werner Herzog teaches future aspirants to start the journey toward bringing a project to the screen with $10,000 and an extraordinary idea.
6. Negotiation Skills
The film is a perfect balance of both art and business, Werner is here to help you learn how to protect your stories he shares his insights and experiences into the industry.
7. Locations
Werner has shot magnificent movies in numerous magnificent locations like Jungles, oceans, and volcanic craters.
In this lesson, he teaches you how to find spectacular locations for filming your story and turn them into functional sets for the same.
8. Leading The Platoon
There is an insane and rather motivating fact that Werner offered to eat real maggots first when Christian Bale had to eat in Rescue Dawn. This is a clear example of the power of leading by example to inspire your cast and crew.
9. Set Rules
In filmmaking, if you’re on time, you’re late. Be professional: Organize your set to tell the story, not to impress anyone. Forget the director’s chair, turn off your cell phone, and stay close to your actors.
10. Camera: Shooting Strategy
Werner always insists his learning assistants not shoot coverage but instead use one camera to make the best film possible. Just keep it simple, focused, and efficient.
11. Camera: Cinematography
Making an amazing film involves great-quality cinematography. In this lesson, you will learn how to bring your vision to life with extraordinary images, as Werner teaches you how to paint with light and work with cinematographers.
12. Camera: Techniques
Learn how to maximize your creative visions. Werner teaches the basic rules of cinematography.
13. Working With Actors: Creating the Character
Werner shares both the subtle and bold techniques of casting, wardrobe, and behavioral ticks developing characters with your actors.
14. Working With Actors: On-Set
Werner breaks down how to work with the best of the best, including Klaus Kinski, and how he directs actors on set.
15. Sound
Sound quality is an essential aspect that can make or break your film. Learn from the ace filmmaker how to avoid lost footage and listen for the remarkable.
16. Music
Learn how to work with composers to create amazing, memorable scores and how to communicate the mood you want for your music.
17. Editing
Editing begins on the set and Werner is here to share with you his unique methods that will help you to make a beautiful film by giving you a practical way to cut through the footage.
18. Invaded by Images: Part 1
An amazing film tells a great story, and that story requires inspiration, and it can come from anywhere. Werner states that you have to know how to recognize the perfect inspiration and seek it out. Learn where Werner got the ideas for many of his most famous films.
19. Invaded by Images: Part 2
Warner breaks down the development of scenes in Stroszek and the genesis of Fitzcarraldo to tactfully teach you how amazing stories are often a combination of discoveries.
20. Documentary: Making the Conversation
Werner discusses how to make your subjects comfortable as he emphasizes his techniques to “crack a human being open,” identify with them, and capture their humanity.
21. Documentary: Eliciting Difficult Stories
Werner teaches here how to get to the heart of your subject and shape your story as he breaks down the need for “knowing the heart of men” and narrative discipline.
22. Documentary: Dealing with Human Beings
Learn from Werner takes you into an in-depth flashback about his experiences of filming Grizzly Man and Into the Abyss to teach you the lines you should not cross and how to get to the heart of your subject quickly.
23. Documentary: Truth in Nonfiction
Shape the ‘ecstatic truth’ and ditch the ‘fly-on-the-wall approach to documentary filmmaking to tell a beautiful and brilliant story.
24. Career Strategy
Be one of the ruthless ones who burst onto the scene. Learn how to deal with rejection and take control of your career.
25. Life as a Filmmaker
The life of a filmmaker is fraught with doubt, rejection, and constant battles for survival. Learn how to survive in an impossible industry.
26. Postscript
Werner leaves you with the words of a medieval mystic and wishes you luck on your journey.
Werner Herzog’s Masterclass is a paradise for amateur filmmakers who aspire to take up this art as a full-time profession and build a successful career in that field.
I finished the lesson. No doubt, with my short films and videos, I need to do better. I hear a voice from WH: just do it! Now, I am thinking differently.
I hope this will somehow translate into my video work for Stark Insider. I know that I missed this label a lot. When I watch my things, even recent work, I cringe. Such is the ride.
1. Werner Herzog’s Wheelhouse: The Documentary
The latter portion of the course delves into his true bread and butter: the documentary. WH’s enthusiasm for the genre is unmistakable over the course of four pages.
He discusses how he “cracks open people” and exposes strategies for getting strangers to lay down their souls on video, in essence.
2. Truth VS Fiction
Truth vs. fiction is another interesting trend, especially with regard to documentary films.
For staging those scenes in his documentaries Werner Herzog is infamous (apparently, this is something I discovered during the course). But we are, he implores, not journalists. We are cinematographers.
The facts are simply that: the facts. They’re not “enlightening” us.
Take, for instance, the phone book. There are just names and numbers. Only the truth. Again, nothing to enlighten us or to make our hearts or minds open.
3. Werner’s idea behind the staging of scenes!
When he discusses when it makes sense to stage something by showing a clip from Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (2010), one of the most interesting sequences of this MasterClass comes from.
On a predictably gloomy, ominous day, there is a Russian woman in a burka standing before a frozen lake. Two men lying flat on the ice behind her are in the distance, creeping around, looking at the ice.
About why? What’s it that they do? Herzog reveals all of that and also describes why the scene was not exactly as it looked, and, most importantly, why it had to be shot like that and its reason for doing so (and its answer, even in Russia, where those who say the film knew it was staged). It certainly was food for thought.
4. More than just Filmmaking!
Of course, there are filmmaking exercises. I like that the focus is put on storytelling in them (no surprise there). We don’t get into 4 K (he’s not necessarily a fan) here.
In fact, it was his relentless focus on reading, writing, and discovering the heart of a story that pushed me to the brink and convinced me to sell my beloved digital RED Raven film camera.
Werner Herzog Masterclass Pricing
There are two ways by which you can purchase a Masterclass: a single Masterclass and an All-Access Pass for any of the gurus on the platform.
Single Masterclass: $90
All-Access Pass: $180 per year
The All-Access Pass comes in real handy when you wish to take more than one masterclass, so there is no limit on the number of masterclasses on the All-Access Pass.
A 30-day money-back guarantee is also available for any of the Masterclass packages you purchase, and you will get a complete refund of the amount in case you are not satisfied with their services.
Werner Herzog Masterclass Review
Excellent advice, just to read and expose oneself to different stories, plots and dialogue!
What a pair of fancy glasses! They snap open and click back together from the front, so interesting.
Werner Herzog is a German film director known for his works in Hollywood and other German-language films throughout a career spanning nearly three decades. He is a renowned screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director.
📺 Where can I watch Werner Herzog?
With MasterClass, you can learn and be inspired anytime, anywhere, including your smartphone, personal computer, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku streaming media players. You can even download your favorite lessons and watch on the plane or listen during your commute in audio-only mode
💁What is MasterClass?
MasterClass is the streaming platform that makes it possible for anyone to watch or listen to hundreds of video lessons taught by 100+ of the world’s best.
🤷♀️ How does the 30-day guarantee work?
Our goal is to make sure that you have the best learning experience possible. If MasterClass isn’t for you, then email us within 30 days of the date you purchase your subscription, and we’ll offer a full refund.
🤑What is the pricing of Werner Herzog masterclass ?
Masterclass All-Access Pass is billed at $180 and comes with a 30-day moneyback guarantee.
Final Verdict: Werner Herzog Masterclass 2024
Filmmaking is an art that takes many years to master, and you have to go through a lot of ups and downs to make a perfect film or video.
The skill of storytelling comes to very few. This is where Werner Herzog comes in amazing masterclass videos.
When you have an expert and a professional to learn from, this learning about filmmaking becomes a lot easier as they have their own experience and are ready to share it with you.
Werner Herzog’s Masterclass is packed with all the information and techniques you will require to produce a proper storytelling film.
If you have that fire and desire to make an awesome film, I would surely recommend you go for this masterclass.
Aishwar Babber is a passionate blogger and a digital marketer. He loves to talk and blog about the latest tech and gadgets, which motivates him to run GizmoBase. He is currently practicing his digital marketing, SEO, and SMO expertise as a full-time marketer on various projects. He is an active investor in AffiliateBay. You can find him on Twitter, Instagram & Facebook.
