Please watch every video, especially in the first half of this program. Even if you feel like you know everything about a certain topic, there are countless times where people have commented saying, "I can't believe I didn't know this particular setting or editing trick."

The sequence of videos in this course was designed to build one topic after another, like a skyscraper, one story at a time.

Now, I understand there might be specific trainings that aren't relevant to you, especially as we start diving into the editing tutorials. For example, we teach several different editing programs and apps in this program. You don't need to learn all of them, instead you can just pick one and run with it as your specific editing program of choice. Even with that being said though, it can only help you to watch every single video. The more knowledge, the better.

This is probably the most common question I get asked on our weekly Q&A calls, just in the Facebook group, in the comments beneath the videos, when people randomly message me on Facebook or on Instagram, the list goes on. It goes like this: "I have XYZ camera, is it good enough to start with?"

The reality is almost all cameras nowadays are more than good enough to start with. Assuming it was made within the last decade, it will have everything you need to shoot great content.

Now, are there better cameras out there? More capable smartphones with more advanced technology than the one you own? Yes, but I guarantee that if you master what we cover, especially in the first half of this program — the camera settings, composition, camera angles, lighting, and movements — you will be able to shoot better content with whatever camera you own than someone with all of the advanced gear, but no knowledge of the filmmaking fundamentals.

Now, before you think I have some really expensive lighting setup that's actually hitting you right now, it's less than $100, and I can show you how to get the exact same look. So, as always, it only goes to prove the point: knowing how to use your gear is way more important than having the best gear.

There's a reason we call the first day in the program universal camera settings, because no matter what you're shooting on, these settings are what you need to know to shoot great content.

So, don't tell yourself that you're going to wait to buy the next camera to learn these things. If you have a smartphone, you have everything you need to unlock all of these cinematic camera settings. Before you ask, "Is my camera good enough?" Take it off the shelf, throw it in video mode, and start practicing what you learned in this course. You'll see very quickly that you can create awesome content with it.

The value of this program is in the streamlined, value-packed sequence of training videos and practice exercises. Each topic leads seamlessly into the next.

On the flip side, the value of YouTube is its focus on entertainment. In order to grow their channels, most YouTubers create with the focus on hooking your attention with some shiny object topic, and then keeping you watching based primarily on their ability to entertain you.

This is great because the videos are fun, but education usually falls secondary to entertainment. Not to mention, the videos you watch on YouTube were not designed to be watched one after another, meaning you're going to get a ton of duplicate information, biased opinions from different instructors that contradict each other, and so on.

There is phenomenal content available on YouTube, don't get me wrong, but the platform is designed to become an addiction for its viewers, just like Facebook, Instagram, and all of those other apps that we all use.