Don Bosco Film School, one of Kerala’s leading film institutes in Kochi, ran a five-day professional cinematography workshop that took students through the camera department from the ground up. Rather than a single masterclass, this hands-on filmmaking workshop in Kochi moved students through the full pipeline a working cinematographer touches — from pre-production planning to ARRI camera training, professional film lighting, color grading, and a final produced shoot.
The workshop opened with cinematographer Nandhukumar S, who anchored much of the week and led the first hands-on introduction to the ARRI camera, one of the industry’s most widely used professional cinema cameras — moving students from theory straight into camera handling and operation, with sessions on interior and exterior shooting that put them behind the lens on campus from day one. Students also got hands-on time with the RED camera over the course of the workshop, giving them direct experience across two of the industry’s leading professional camera systems.
Day two shifted into process, with cinematographer P.M. Unnikrishnan walking students through pre-production in cinematography — how a shoot gets planned before a single frame is shot — followed by a color grading course session led by colorist Sujith Sadashivan, bringing the post-production side of the camera department into the same week as the production side.
The middle of the workshop went deeper into camera technique. Cinematographer Hemil Sugunan led sessions on camera movement and shot design, then introduced students to gimbal stabilizer training and the Jimmy Jib, giving them direct experience with the rigs that shape how a shot actually moves — equipment most students only ever see used, rather than use themselves.
Lighting took center stage on day four, with cinematographer Neil D’Cunha leading a session on professional film lighting techniques followed immediately by a practical shoot, applying lighting setups in real time at a live location on campus.
The workshop closed with its most demanding stretch — a full day built around shooting a scene with professional gear, led jointly by film director Antony Sony and cinematographer Nandhukumar S. Rather than isolated exercises, this final day pulled together everything covered across the week — camera, movement, lighting, and direction — into a single produced scene, before wrapping with certificate distribution.
Across all five days, the structure stayed consistent: each session opened with an introduction and closed with a winding-up and review, giving students a chance to process what they’d just learned before moving to the next stage of the pipeline. For a department where technique is best learned by doing, the workshop’s emphasis on hands-on time with professional equipment — ARRI and RED cameras, gimbals, a Jimmy Jib, full lighting setups — gave students a week that looked far closer to an actual film set than a classroom. It’s the kind of practical, industry-grade training that continues to position Don Bosco Film School among the best film institutes in Kerala for hands-on cinematography and filmmaking education.
