The Best Documentary Film School? (Art of Documentary Review) 

Nice to see a trusted source give AOD a thumb's up. I may take the plunge now.

I really like your presentation style and I'm so glad I found your channel! Thank you for such great content!

Great video Luc! I’m a part of AOD too and I thought the content and the delivery for Module 1 was excellent. It definitely taught me a lot about how to better approach my films, and the monthly group calls are really good. I’m thinking about joining Module 2 in September because I’d love to go more in depth with the theory. But Mark and Michael are excellent at what they do and this has been one of the most helpful courses I’ve taken.

so helpful - thank you!

I really appreciate this, thank you! ❤

I am a photographer of many years, I’ve have been a film lover since I was a kid. I noticed though that I have always been drawn to films that are extremely cinematic in nature and framed very well. I thought making films and documentaries was out of my reach. That was until I found you and Mark. You just helped me decide to sign up for the AOD course.

I'm completely new to filmmaking and so far I'm loving what I'm learning and documentaries are definitely something I've had on the back burners of my mind but not really anything I've given serious thought too. Knowing that a resource like this is out there does give me a tremendous amount of hope and excitement. When I finally manage to put that kind of money aside I'll definitely be looking forward to taking the course. I do hope that some kind of forum is made to answer questions since I know I'll have about a thousand+ of them.

Well done, I like your video and AOD.😁

Nice, I'm a AOD subscriber from a long time. I decided at the age of 46 to go into video after a career as an art director, and AOD allowed me to reach a good level of knowledge very quickly (experience in the field, of course, is another thing) definitely saving me a lot of mistakes. So besides professionals AOD is also suitable for those who are not so young anymore. Anyway you and Mark are my favorites in these field and I would love to see you do something together even though you live on opposite sides of Canada.

Hey Luc, congrats! You got a response from the man himself! I took the AOD course also, and also thought it was really well done. The parts I got the most value out of were the episodes where Mark had a sound guy come in and the episode where they had BTS footage showing Mark and Michael filming a cross country race. That, and Mark's advice to wear kneepads when you're shooting. Another course I can recommend is Griffin Hammond's course on short documentary - he comes from a TV news background and covers the subject from that perspective.

Thanks for this review. I'm on the fence about signing up, but likely will eventually. Mark's YT channel is a serious wealth of info, so I don't doubt the value of these courses. Your comment about expanding the section on income is an area that pretty much all filmmakers would like to know about. Once you get past a few no-budget passion projects and decide to commit yourself as a filmmaker, next comes the hard truths about making a living, or at least funding projects.

Thnx bro!

Mark is great! Also your and Danny’s Chanel I think are most inspiring

definitelly new big fan here thank you for useful information :) i wish i can discuss my filmmaking journey with you and improve :)

You’ve become a must click. Props!

Hey Luc, I somehow missed this video and just watching it now because I was on the waiting list and got the email that the course was open now... so I was still looking for reasons to pull the trigger or not... I was so surprised that someone as experienced as you did take the course, and precisely for this reason is your review much valuable for me. I'm a self taught filmmaker with a background in graphic design and communication who seriously switched to filmmaking only about 10 years ago. Even if I don't have Netflix of NG in CV, I still had the opportunity to work for Vice and ViceNEWS were I learned a lot.. so I was (and still am) doubting if investing in this course (module 2) would be worth. I'm sort of torn between the idea that we never start learning and that it's always valuable to see how other do it and the idea that the best way to learn is to do the things instead of watching a bunch of videos on youtube (even if I know these are meant to ba complement to a real life project of some sort). Also, the free videos of Mark a generally so good that I wonder if the pay content goes really beyond what you can get for free. All this being said, its true that the price, even being high (and module 2 is even more expensive), is still cheaper than a good lens... So.. It's a hard call... :) I'm aware that when you took the course, the advanced module wasn't available yet.. but hearing that still, you found module 1 valuable is sort of reassuring. I'll have to sleep on it, but not too long... Anyhow.. congrats again for your channel.. is funny to see that you have followed Mark since the beginning too.. and also found that at that time there was not enough content online specifically about documentary.. I think his channel his channel and yours are really gold and I wish I could have watched that content 10 years ago.

You are putting out some pretty good content yourself and I have learned a ton from you. Keep it up and let me know if you are running your own course, because I think your delivery is brilliant.

You deserve 2Million subs

Los módulos tienen subtítulos en español?

Hey Luc. I was looking around some honest review on AOD. However, you too are coming with your own course. So, what would you do differently and what will someone yours over AOD? I'm moving from photography, which was my passion to video (no as my main source of income)..I have a nice job to pay for my projects. My photography led me to self publishing 4 books, and now i wish to create short meaningful videos. I started with Tomorrow's Film makers, but their focus is not documentary. That is when i found AOD and your channel. I still haven't started with their courses But i am watching all your videos. Thanks for your work.

I'm excited to be on the notification list for the Sept. class. Do you have any sort of recommendation on how to participate in the course? Is this course interactive in any way? I was curious if there were any tasks or projects associated with the course. Or is it simply a presentation that we absorb and apply to our craft? You mentioned a lack of community and I was wondering if you belonged to the private Facebook group when you made that statement? Also, would you recommend this for a "one man band" sort? Thanks!

this helped me make my decision! now all I need is the money haha

What is your opinion on pursuing a degree in film VS journalism? I’m in the military and my job is in the public affairs / photo-video journalism field. I have the opportunity to go to college for free. However, the catch is that I can only pursue a degree online so my options are minimal (not many colleges, except for-profit art schools, offer film degrees online since it requires more hands-on learning). My other option is studying journalism or mass communication, and just taking film-related courses (AoD, for example) on the side. I want to produce documentaries. I’ve already practiced with the journalism, video, and photo skills I’ve learned from the military so far. I just need to look at which study field will give me even more skills to apply to my work.

well, I may do it. though it sounds very similar to why anyone would make almost any form of art: analyse the added value and work with that with proper intent - which means it almost always boils down to the story. with film very direct. with a painter a little more spread out over multiple paintings, their 'oeuvre' as they call it. Or writers, although writers have the 'luxury' to make it all up. yet again, writers don't have the 'luxury' to stumble upon a story and document it. I suspect that is also what many documentary makers hope to do: stumble upon a story and document it as it unfolds. that's probably a harsh waking up for those types - I don't believe that happens often. although, I'm soberly hoping to encounter a project like that myself, not expecting to find it :p.

I'm not in the documentary field but will this help with video sales letters, brand message videos and youtube? I do also film conferences but not sure if I need this for that. If it doesn't I appreciate the up front honesty; it shows that you are not in it for the money!

The course does sound good but at $600USD it is *quite* expensive. That's a lot of cash for some people, especially if they are only looking to make docos part time and are needing to put together a basic kit. I wonder if it was really necessary to increase the course price so much from what it originally was...

All three bundles are now $1300. A bit different from what you paid. Still worth it? He added a create and earn section. V interesting. I’m super Intrigued!

How much BTS content does he have on the AOD?I find that really helps.

Luc, have you been a documentary filmmaker for over 10 years?! I think you mention it at least 4 times in this video! I love your videos, but I have to give you hard time about this :)

I am a photographer of many years, I’ve have been a film lover since I was a kid. I noticed though that I have always been drawn to films that are extremely cinematic in nature and framed very well. I thought making films and documentaries was out of my reach. That was until I found you and Mark. You just helped me decide to sign up for the AOD course.