Pre-Order The Book

Cinematography Beyond Technique is the essential guide for aspiring filmmakers. Learn and apply visual storytelling across technologies from traditional cameras to AI-generated video.

A Workshop for Filmmakers at All Levels

Learn from the creator of workshops taught at top film schools, and apply the principles of visual storytelling to any medium, camera or computer-generated.

Visium: The Language of Images

Listen to Visium, the visual storytelling podcast. Exploring the core elements of cinematographic language, it’s the perfect companion to classes and workshops.

Discover script breakdown

A director’s method for uncovering a character’s emotional shift in each scene. These turning points shape powerful images and give cinematographers what they need to bring the story to life.

Go beyond shot lists and build a visual strategy that guides camera and lighting decisions, even under last-minute changes.

Create Visual Strategies

Speak The Language of Lenses

Choose the right lens for every moment, without becoming an expert in optics Learn to speak the language technicians need to support your vision.

Lead Lighting Design

Learn to see light like a cinematographer, and describe it clearly to guide lighting designers in building believable worlds, on set or stage.

Tal Lazar brings over 20 years of experience as an award-winning filmmaker and 15 years as a professor at top universities.

As a cinematographer, producer, and director, Lazar’s work spans continents—from three box-office hits in Vietnam to more than a dozen feature films and hundreds of productions in the U.S.

In higher education, Lazar has led some of the most sought-after visual storytelling courses at institutions like the American Film Institute Conservatory, Columbia University, and the City College of New York. He’s a frequent guest lecturer worldwide, from the Yanjing Institute of Technology in China to the Sundance Institute in the U.S., and his online workshops are featured on Berklee Music Online, MZed.com, and more. Lazar's forthcoming book, Cinematography Beyond Technique, is set for release in 2025 by Routledge Press.

"There is no better person to teach the mission of cinematographers to their collaborators"

Stephen Lighthill, ASC
Discipline head: cinematography, AFI Conservatory,
former president of the American Society of Cinematographers

"If you are looking to understand cinematography from both a technical and creative perspectives, Tal Lazar is the type of instructor you want"

Sandra Valde-Hansen, ASC, LPS
Cinematographer: XO Kitty, The Summer I Turned Pretty,
Senior lecturer, AFI Conservatory

"Now I feel confident expressing my vision. It changed the way I see cinematography as a director"

Lorena R. Valencia
Producer, Writer & Director, CCNY Graduate Film Program Alumna

"Tal is a true rarity. He is deeply and broadly knowledgable, while also being able to translate that knowledge into a language a student can understand"

Hana Kitasei
Cinematographer, AFI Alumna, Senior lecturer at the AFI Conservatory and Berklee College of Music Online

"Tal opened up my understanding of visual storytelling, which even improved my screenwriting!"

Jakari Lister
Writer & Director, CCNY Graduate Film Program Alumnus

"Tal's classes are fundemental for the needed communication between the cinematographer and production"

Carolina Costa, AMC
Director & cinematographer, AFI Conservatory Alumna

Tal makes any topic easy to understand with his well-paced and succinct teaching style. There is no one whose expertise I trust more"

Flora Lennihan
Writer & Director, CCNY Undergraduate Film Program Alumnus