Cinematography
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Four Lessons in Cinematography from Nestor Almendros
Nestor Almendros has quite the filmography: most of Eric Rohmer’s films, a good amount of Francois Truffaut’s, Kramer vs. Kramer, Sophie’s Choice, and Days of Heaven (often considered one of the most beautiful films ever made). No big deal. You’d think that a cinematographer of his pedigree would be technically proficient and incredibly exacting in his approach. This couldn’t be less true. His approach to cinematography was incredibly intuitive. Directors and cinematographers alike could learn a lot from Almendros’ process, particularly when working on lower budgets and tighter schedules. Lighting Must Be Justified. Almendros believed that lighting exists for the actors, […]
by Shaun Seneviratne on Aug 30, 2013 -
“In the Same Way Painters Used Their Paint…”: D.P. Bradford Young on Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and Mother of George
In just a few years, Bradford Young has emerged as one of the most auspicious and distinctive cinematographers in American independent film. First noticed in 2011 for his work on Andrew Dosunmu’s Restless City and Dee Rees’ Pariah, he was profiled by the New York Times the following year for his subtle, carefully framed cinematography on Ava DuVernay’s Middle of Nowhere. In just the past year, Young confirmed his early promise with two sumptuous and yet highly disparate visions: for David Lowery’s Texas-set period film Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (opening this week) and Dosunmu’s Brooklyn-based contemporary drama Mother of George […]
by Anthony Kaufman on Aug 14, 2013 -
Gordon Willis on Lighting Marlon Brando in The Godfather
Gordon Willis is one of the truly great cinematographers of the second half of the 20th century, the man responsible for shooting everything from Woody Allen’s Manhattan and Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather to such lesser-known (but also brilliantly lensed) movies such as Hal Ashby’s The Landlord and Alan Arkin’s Little Murders. In the second of our ongoing series of exclusive Craft Truck videos, Willis talks about the approach he took to lighting Marlon Brando in the iconic opening scene of The Godfather.
by Nick Dawson on Aug 8, 2013 -
Cinematographer Andrij Parekh on Lighting Ryan Gosling
Starting this week, every Thursday the Filmmaker website will be hosting exclusive videos courtesy of Craft Truck, a new website which hosts “conversations with the world’s best cinematographers, editors, technology companies and more from the world of film and television.” To kick off this series, acclaimed d.p. Andrij Parekh talks about his approach to lighting and how this impacts on the performances of actors, such as Ryan Gosling, who he shot in Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s Half Nelson and Derek Cianfrance’s Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines.
by Nick Dawson on Aug 1, 2013 -
Life’s Lessons: Patrick Wang Discusses In the Family
Joey Williams almost always seems calm. He maintains a consistent position when standing, slouched slightly forward with his hands in his pockets. He looks comfortable, but also concentrated. His eyes never break focus from the person he’s addressing, and when he speaks the Tennessee-accented words drift measuredly out of one side of his mouth. Joey doesn’t command attention so much as he gradually, patiently draws it his way. Joey is the main character of Patrick Wang’s directorial debut feature, the American independent film In the Family (2011), which will be released on Blu-ray and DVD this Tuesday. The general contractor, […]
by Aaron Cutler on Jun 21, 2013 -
“Have You Been in Jail Recently?” Chris Doyle on How to Be a Cinematic Artist
The preacher in torn blue jeans and brown suede boots sipped his pint before delivering his sermon as video projections all around flashed clips of films. The church was the open-air foyer at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in downtown Toronto, and about 60 of the faithful gathered Saturday night to hear world-renowned d.p. Chris Doyle pontificate about cinematography, aesthetics, and his alter ego, Dù Kefeng. Last week, Dù Kefeng was one of the stars gathered to launch TIFF’s Century of Chinese Cinema summer program. The program will present the likes of action superstar Jackie Chan and heavyweight producer Nansun Shi, […]
by Allan Tong on Jun 10, 2013 -
The Art of the Steadicam
The Steadicam — it can make things so easy, and so beautiful. It can be simply efficient, allowing you to bang out a smooth walk-and-talk without track. Or it can be a show piece, a shot whose virtuosity grabs the audiences’s attention, even if they are unaware of the level of skill and artistry involved. Writes Larry Wright at his Refocused Media blog about the long single takes most associated with the Steadicam: More often than not, these sequences are accomplished using a Steadicam, which is essentially a balanced stabilizer that allows for smoother and more easily controlled handheld camera […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 6, 2013 -
Game Changers Part 4: Planning and Shooting
In this fourth episode of a series on the making of the low-budget independent film, Game Changers, director Rob Imbs and cinematographer Benjamin Eckstien discuss audio recording, communication between director and cinematographer, and how to plan out shooting a multi-day, multi-location project. Earlier parts consisted of an overview and then discussed fundraising, casting, camera and lighting gear. Filmmaker: What is the size of your crew? Eckstein: We typically have two people in our sound department every day, though there were some scenes or times of day where we had one person. We typically had an AC and another PA. On […]
by Michael Murie on Dec 4, 2012 -
David Lynch’s Lithographs at Plus Camerimage
David Lynch is a very popular director the world over, but perhaps no place more than Poland. His work is greeted with the same fanfare as the latest disposable, multiplex-bound spectacle in this central European country, his rock star status never more in evidence than at the 20th annual Plus Camerimage. The international film world’s most significant festival focusing mainly on the work of cinematographers (they headline the competition here and are the subjects of press conferences, interviews, workshops, tributes), it moved two years ago from its former host city of Lodz (pronounced “Wod-ge”), home of the national film school […]
by Brandon Harris on Nov 28, 2012 -
4K is Coming, Ready or Not
When 3D TVs were the rage, I was convinced it was just a cynical push by the electronics manufacturers to sell TVs and nothing else. To me, 3D was a fad that would be used for a few things, but was unlikely to become mainstream. I’d seen the future before; I saw Jaws 3D when it was first released. So when the manufacturers started talking up 4K cameras, with promises of 4K TV sets, I was convinced that this too was a push to sell new TV sets that wouldn’t amount to much. Sure filmmakers with a big budget will […]
by Michael Murie on Nov 28, 2012
