The Cinematographer: Crash Course Film Production with Lily Gladstone #8

Summary

This script delves into the vital role of the cinematographer, who brings a director's vision to life through framing, lighting, and camera movement. It explores the pre-production planning, the choice of equipment, and the creative decisions made during production to convey a film's story visually. The importance of collaboration with the gaffer and production designer is highlighted, as well as the cinematographer's involvement in post-production to refine the visual narrative.

Takeaways

• 🌟 The role of a cinematographer is to bring the director's vision to life through framing, lighting, and camera movement.
• 🎨 Cinematographers are often referred to as the 'director of photography' (DP), highlighting their dual role as both an artist and a technician.
• 🔧 Pre-production involves the cinematographer in assembling the camera department, planning shots, and determining special equipment needs.
• 🎥 During production, the cinematographer oversees lighting and shooting, working closely with the lighting department and gaffer.
• 💡 Types of lights used in film include Fresnel, fluorescent, LED, incandescent, and HMI, each with unique characteristics and applications.
• 📐 The cinematographer uses 3-point lighting to create depth and separation in scenes, consisting of key light, fill light, and back light.
• 🌅 Natural light, such as during the 'magic hour' before sunset, can be used to create a specific mood or visual style in films.
• 🌆 Cinematographers collaborate with the production designer to ensure the film's overall look, including set design, costumes, and color schemes.
• 🎬 Camera movement, such as pans, tilts, and dramatic crane shots, can evoke emotions and enhance storytelling.
• 🖼️ Color and contrast are essential tools for the cinematographer to direct the viewer's attention and convey narrative themes.
• 👥 The cinematographer remains involved in post-production, working with the editing and special effects teams to refine the visual storytelling.

Q & A

What is the role of a cinematographer in the film production process?

A cinematographer is responsible for translating the director's vision into visual elements such as framing, lighting, and camera movement. They are also referred to as the director of photography (DP) and are involved in various stages from pre-production to post-production.

What are some common titles for a cinematographer?

Cinematographers are sometimes referred to as the director of photography (DP). The terms cinematographer and DP are generally interchangeable, with regional preferences for one over the other.

What technical skills should a cinematographer possess?

A cinematographer must have great technical skills, including understanding camera operations, lighting techniques, and the ability to work with various types of film stocks or digital cameras.

What is the importance of the gaffer in relation to the cinematographer?

The gaffer is the head of the lighting department and is fundamental to achieving the desired images for the film. Since pictures are a record of light bouncing off objects, the gaffer plays a crucial role in realizing the cinematographer's vision.

What are some types of lights that a cinematographer might use on a film set?

Cinematographers may use various types of lights, including Fresnel lights, fluorescent lights, LED lights, incandescent lights, and HMIs, each with their own characteristics and uses.

What is 3-point lighting and how is it used in filmmaking?

3-point lighting is a basic lighting setup that includes a key light (the brightest light), fill light (dimmer and more diffuse), and back light (brighter than fill light and shines from behind the subject). It helps create depth and separation of the subject from the background.

What is the significance of the 'magic hour' in cinematography?

The 'magic hour' refers to the brief period of time immediately before sunset. It is often used in cinematography to capture natural sunlight that provides a unique, soft, and warm lighting effect, as famously done in Terrence Malick's 'Days of Heaven'.

How does a cinematographer work with the production designer?

The cinematographer works closely with the production designer to ensure the visual elements of the film, such as color schemes, set designs, and reflective qualities of surfaces, align with the director's vision and contribute to the storytelling.

What are some factors a cinematographer considers when setting up shots?

Cinematographers consider factors such as focus, depth of field, foreground, middle ground, and background elements within the frame, as well as color and contrast to impact the audience's perception and convey the story.

How does camera movement contribute to storytelling in films?

Camera movement can evoke specific feelings or psychological effects. Simple movements like pans or tilts can follow action, while more complex movements, such as a dramatic crane shot, can convey emotions or internal revelations.

What is the role of a cinematographer in the post-production process?

In post-production, the cinematographer is heavily involved in the editing process, working with the director, editor, and post-production supervisor to manipulate and finalize the images captured during filming, ensuring they align with the film's intended look and feel.

Outlines

00:00

🎥 The Role of the Cinematographer

This paragraph introduces the critical role of the cinematographer, or director of photography (DP), in filmmaking. The cinematographer is responsible for bringing the director's vision to life through the art and science of visual storytelling. They must be adept in various fields, including artistry, engineering, and photography, to translate the script into visual elements like framing, lighting, and camera movement. Pre-production involves assembling the camera department, planning shots, and choosing the right equipment and film stock. During production, they oversee lighting and shooting, working closely with the gaffer to control the film's visual aspects. The paragraph also delves into different types of lighting equipment and their applications, as well as the cinematographer's involvement in post-production to ensure the final look of the film.

05:01

🌟 Cinematic Techniques and Post-Production

The second paragraph explores the various cinematic techniques and considerations that a cinematographer must account for when setting up shots. It discusses how shots are constructed with a beginning, middle, and end, and the importance of focus, foreground, middle ground, and background in creating impact. The use of color and contrast as aesthetic tools to guide the audience's attention and convey narrative themes is highlighted. The paragraph also touches on the history of camera movement and its emotional impact, as well as the cinematographer's significant role in post-production. This includes involvement in the editing process, color and exposure adjustments, and digital manipulation of footage to maintain the film's intended look. The collaborative nature of the cinematographer's work with other departments, such as the director, editor, and special effects team, is emphasized, showcasing the complexity and importance of their job in the filmmaking process.

Keywords

💡Cinematographer

A cinematographer, also known as a director of photography (DP), is the chief artist responsible for capturing the visual aspects of a film. They translate the director's vision into visual elements such as framing, lighting, and camera movement. In the script, the role of the cinematographer is central to bringing the film's story, emotions, and themes to life through the art of motion pictures.

💡Framing

Framing refers to the way a scene is composed within the camera's viewfinder. It is a critical aspect of cinematography that helps in guiding the viewer's attention and conveying the narrative. The script mentions that cinematographers use framing to translate the director's vision, an example being how Gordon Willis used framing to keep Marlon Brando's eyes in shadow to reflect the character's mysterious nature in 'The Godfather'.

💡Lighting

Lighting in film is the process of illuminating the scenes to create the desired mood and atmosphere. It is a fundamental aspect of cinematography that can dramatically affect the visual storytelling. The script discusses various types of lights, such as Fresnel, fluorescent, LED, incandescent, and HMIs, and how they are chosen and arranged by the cinematographer to achieve specific effects.

💡3-Point Lighting

3-Point Lighting is a basic lighting setup used in film and video production. It consists of a key light, fill light, and back light. The script explains that the key light is the brightest and shines directly on the subject, fill light softens the shadows, and back light creates a halo effect, separating the subject from the background. This technique is essential for establishing the visual language of a scene.

💡Gaffer

A gaffer is the head of the lighting department on a film set. They work closely with the cinematographer to achieve the desired lighting effects. The script emphasizes the importance of the gaffer's role in creating the visual images of a film, as light is essentially the medium through which cinematography captures the scene.

💡Practical Lights

Practical lights are light sources that are visible within the scene itself, such as desk lamps or windows. The script mentions that cinematographers sometimes use practical lights to create a more realistic environment or to add depth to the scene, as they are part of the world the film is portraying.

💡Magic Hour

Magic hour refers to the brief period of time around sunset or sunrise when the sunlight is soft and warm, often used by cinematographers to create a particular mood or aesthetic. The script cites the example of Néstor Almendros and Haskell Wexler using natural sunlight during the magic hour for 'Days of Heaven' to achieve a unique visual effect.

💡Production Designer

A production designer is responsible for the overall visual look of a film, including sets, costumes, props, and other physical elements. The script explains that the production designer works closely with the cinematographer to ensure that all visual aspects of the film, from color schemes to reflective surfaces, align with the director's vision.

💡Color and Contrast

Color and contrast are aesthetic tools used by cinematographers to guide the viewer's attention and create narrative or thematic links. The script discusses how color can transport the audience to a new place, as in 'The Wizard of Oz,' and how contrast can convey a sense of mystery and menace, as seen in noir classics like 'The Third Man'.

💡Camera Movement

Camera movement involves the physical motion of the camera during filming, such as panning, tilting, or tracking shots. The script mentions that moving the camera can evoke specific feelings or psychological effects, like the dramatic crane shot in 'Citizen Kane' or the push-in shots that indicate a character's internal revelation.

💡Post-Production

Post-production is the phase of film production after the filming is completed. The script highlights that the cinematographer remains heavily involved in this stage, working with the director, editor, and post-production supervisor to manipulate the captured images, adjust color and exposure, and ensure the film's visual continuity.

Highlights

Movies are composed of a series of images that can be beautiful, harsh, or memorable.

The cinematographer is responsible for bringing the director's vision to life through motion pictures.

Cinematographers are also known as directors of photography (DP) and must be skilled in art, engineering, photography, and storytelling.

Their role involves translating the director's vision into visual elements such as framing, lighting, and camera movement.

Cinematographers need to understand the narrative, character arcs, and editing process.

Pre-production involves assembling the camera department, planning shots, and determining necessary equipment.

During production, the cinematographer oversees lighting and shooting, working closely with the lighting department and gaffer.

Various types of lights, such as Fresnel, fluorescent, LED, incandescent, and HMIs, are used to create different lighting effects.

3-point lighting is a common technique involving key light, fill light, and back light.

Cinematographers decide the light source direction, color, intensity, and quality within the film's world.

Practical and artificial lights, as well as natural light during magic hour, can be used for filming.

Cinematographers work with the production designer to determine the film's overall look, including set design and color schemes.

Shot composition involves decisions about focus, foreground, middle ground, background, color, and contrast.

Camera movement, such as pans, tilts, and dramatic crane shots, can evoke specific feelings or psychological effects.

Post-production allows for further image manipulation, with the cinematographer working closely with various departments.

The documentary 'Visions of Light' explores the history and art of cinematography.

Cinematography follows guidelines and customs but has no strict rules, requiring creativity and collaboration with the director.

Transcripts

Movies are made up of series of images.

Some are beautiful, some are harsh, and some stick in our minds forever.

Like the gently rolling spaceships in 2001 A Space Odyssey.

Or Peter O’Toole riding out of the desert in Lawrence of Arabia.

Or Darth Vader emerging from the smoke in Star Wars.

But who actually takes these pictures?

If the director is the one who sets the vision for the film, whose job is it to bring that

vision to life?

That’s the person who puts the pictures in motion pictures.

The cinematographer.

[Intro Music Plays]

Cinematographers must be artists, engineers, photographers, and storytellers, all at once.

Sometimes you’ll hear the cinematographer referred to as the director of photography

or “DP.”

But don’t be confused, it’s the same job.

In some parts of the world, they prefer one title to the other, but generally speaking,

the two titles are interchangeable.

And no matter what they call themselves, their basic job is to translate the director’s

vision into things like framing, lighting, and camera movement, so that the film’s

story, emotions, and themes are conveyed visually.

A cinematographer must not only possess great technical skills, but also understand the

fundamental narrative beats of the film, the arc of the characters, and how the shots might

cut together in the editing room.

And the job begins long before the cameras start to roll.

During pre-production, the cinematographer assembles the camera department, plans shots

with the director, and determines any special equipment that might be necessary for the

shoot – from cranes and dollies to steadicams and special lenses.

They also help the director decide what kind of film stock or digital cameras to use and

what the overall look of the film will be.

During production itself, the cinematographer oversees the lighting and shooting of the

film, shot by shot.

This includes supervising the camera department and working very closely with the lighting

department -- the head of which, you’ll recall, is the gaffer.

Since pictures are technically just a record of light bouncing off objects, the gaffer

is fundamental to achieving the images that make up the film.

And when it comes to the lights themselves, the cinematographer has a lot to choose from.

For example, there are Fresnel lights, which use special lenses called … Fresnel lenses

... to produce a wide, hard light that softens at the edges.

Commonly used for stage lighting, these lights can get very hot very quickly.

Fluorescent lights are much cooler and softer, but they’re quite fragile, which matters

on a film set when the lights are being moved around so frequently.

LED lights create very little heat and are favored by a lot of independent and DIY cinematographers

because they’re cheap and use less power.

However, the colors and shadows they cast can be unreliable and difficult to match,

bulb to bulb.

Incandescent lights, meanwhile, generate a lot of heat, but they generally give a warm,

yellow light that can be very appealing.

And then we have HMIs, or... this...

These are massive lights that give off an enormous amount of heat.

They’re so bright that they’re often used to simulate daylight.

As in, the sun.

So, that’s the hardware, but in addition to choosing which of these lights should be

used, the cinematographer also has a say in how they’re arranged.

The most basic style of lighting, used in everything from formal interviews to fiction

films, is 3-point lighting.

You start with a key light, which is the brightest light, often positioned so that it shines

most directly on the subject of the shot.

Then you add some fill light, which is a dimmer and more diffuse light used to fill in the

shadows created by the key light.

Finally, back light, which is usually brighter than the fill light, shines from behind the

subject of the shot.

This creates a “halo” or “edge” of light that outlines the subject and separates

it from the background.

One of the questions the cinematographer grapples with is figuring out where the light is coming

from in the world of the film.

This will determine the direction, color, intensity, and quality of light that illuminates

the shot.

Sometimes cinematographers will use practical lights, which are light sources you can actually

see in the shot, like desk lamps or windows.

Other times they’ll deliberately use artificial lights, or even turn to a more radical strategy

to light their films.

Cinematographers Néstor Almendros and Haskell Wexler famously shot Terrence Malick’s Days

of Heaven using natural sunlight, mostly that brief period of the day immediately before

sunset, often called magic hour.

While working on Catch-22, David Watkin said, “I’m going to do something rather daring.

I’m going to light the actors with only explosions.”

And he did!

Cinematographer Ellen Kuras relied on a unique combination of practical and artificial lights

to create the unusual transitions and effects of Jim Carrey’s memory loss in Eternal Sunshine

of the Spotless Mind.

Malik Hassan Sayeed is a master of style, shooting everything from Spike Lee’s He

Got Game to Beyoncé’s Lemonade.

When Gordon Willis decided to light The Godfather in such a way that Marlon Brando’s eyes

would often be in shadow, it was seen as a risky and daring strategy.

Cinematographers were supposed to light a character’s eyes.

That’s just how it was done!

Instead, Willis chose to use this lighting “mistake” to illustrate the dark and unknowable

soul of Don Corleone.

Now, the cinematographer also works closely with the production designer, who’s the

head of the art department.

The production designer is in charge of carrying out the whole look of the film, particularly

the physical elements like sets, costumes, props, hair and makeup, but also non-physical

elements like computer-generated images and how they interact with the physical objects

on camera.

The cinematographer and production designer work closely on everything from the color

scheme of a set to how reflective its walls should be.

And for sure, in addition to the lighting, cinematographers have to consider all kinds

of factors when setting up their shots.

Not only do the shots need to cut together to tell the story, but they’re often constructed

to have a beginning, middle, and end all their own.

The director and cinematographer must decide how much of the frame should be in focus,

using lens choice, film stock, and aperture.

Related to that, the cinematographer has to think about what’s featured in the foreground,

middle ground, and background of the shot.

The arrangement of these features within the frame can have a profound impact on the audience.

Color and contrast also fall within the cinematographer’s aesthetic toolkit.

Color can be used to draw our eye to or away from one part of the frame, make narrative

or thematic links, or – as in The Wizard of Oz – transport us to an entirely new

place!

Contrast, which refers to the ratio of the darkest parts of the image to the lightest

parts, can perform many of the same functions.

Before there was color in film, contrast was a particularly powerful tool for cinematographers.

Noir classics like Carol Reed’s The Third Man use deep, dark shadows cut by bright shafts

of light to convey a sense of mystery and menace .

Cinematographers might also decide to move the camera to evoke a particular feeling or

psychological effect.

This movement might be as simple as a pan or a tilt to follow the action, or as involved

as Citizen Kane’s dramatic crane shot in through the top of a nightclub.

Moving the camera in toward a character can convey a variety of emotions, from fear closing

in on them, to some kind of internal revelation.

There are some pretty entertaining supercuts of push-in shots on YouTube.

It makes you realize this technique is used everywhere.

Now, what happens after the film is in the can?

The job’s over, right?

Of course not.

The cinematographer is heavily involved in a film’s post-production, too, because

the editing process offers a lots of opportunities to manipulate the images that have been captured.

If a movie’s been shot on film, there are all kinds of options to change color or exposure

by altering chemicals and timing, as the exposed negative is developed and processed.

But whether the film was shot using traditional film stock or a digital process, most feature

films are digitized at some point, to make the editing easier.

And once the images have been converted into digital information, even more options open

up for manipulating the footage.

Filters on photo apps like Instagram give you some idea of how drastically you can change

a digital image after it’s been shot.

In order to maintain the look of the film, the cinematographer is almost always deeply

engaged in this process, working hand in hand with the director, the editor, the post-production

supervisor who’s overseeing this phase of the process, and the special effects department.

So, yeah, it’s kind of a big job!

There’s a fantastic documentary called Visions of Light that traces this history and art

of cinematography.

It’s out of print, but if you can find a copy of it, you can hear some of the original

masters of the medium share their stories and see examples of their work.

As with much of film production, there are guidelines and customs when it comes to cinematography,

but no actual rules.

The right style of lighting or camera movement for one film will be completely wrong for

another.

It’s up to the cinematographer to work with the director to realize their vision for the

film, translating int into images that will cut together to tell the story.

Today we learned about the multi-faceted job of the cinematographer.

We covered the various roles of the camera and lighting departments and how they work

together to realize a director’s vision.

And we considered some of the tools and strategies available to the cinematographer.

Next time we’ll look at the fascinating on-set work of set designers, costume designers,

and special effects make-up!

Crash Course Film Production is produced in association with PBS Digital Studios.

You can head over to their channel to check out a playlist of their latest amazing shows,

like It’s Okay to be Smart, Physics Girl, and The Art Assignment.

This episode of Crash Course was filmed in the Doctor Cheryl C. Kinney Crash Course Studio

with the help of these nice people and our amazing graphics team is Thought Cafe.