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What is Cinematography?
Pete Jones is honest about his limited knowledge when it comes to actually shooting a film. Pete knows his story, he knows his time period, his characters, and his dialogue, but he does not pretend to understand the intricate visual language of filmmaking.
As a result, the novice filmmaker hands the visual conch to Pete Biagi, the cinematographer, or director of photography. Alleged insubordination aside, Biagi is an experienced and gifted DP. He was trained at Columbia College in Chicago, and has shot independent films, commercials, and music videos. He has also won numerous awards for his work.
But what exactly does a DP do? Everything that is caught in a frame of film is done so under the watchful eye of the DP. To use Biagi's words, "The job of a DP is to visually interpret the story and lead the crew." Sounds nebulous at best.
A DP must have extensive knowledge of lights, and how to set up a shot. He or she runs a lighting crew that can be as few as one or as many as hundreds. Lighting a bedroom scene is vastly different from lighting a football game or a courtroom, and it is on the DP to execute each one.
In a perfect world, a DP and the director would devise a shot list consisting of every camera set up for every scene in the film. The DP then works with the lighting team to plan the set-up for every shot. Interiors, exteriors, group shots, moving shots. Lights and lighting accessories have become sophisticated tools that allow a DP to create an enormous array of lighting effects to manipulate the mood, style, and emotion of a given scene. High-key lighting, or ample lighting, is usually reserved for more upbeat scenes. Low-key lighting is used for slower or more dramatic scenes. Light can effect perception, composition, and contrast in a given shot.
Another consideration for a DP is color, or hue. Different colors identify with different emotions or times of day. Emotionally, cool colors are associated with aloofness and strife, while warm colors are associated with romance. Time of day is characterized by different hues: yellow for sunrise, red for sunset and blue for night. Color can also be manipulated in post-production in a laboratory.
DP's also have a keen sense of the camera itself. Different lenses and filters create varying effects of depth, contrast, and texture. Certain lenses can create a grainy effect to impart grit or realism, a newsreel-like quality. Other lenses soften a shot, an effect used in moments of romance or intrigue.
Add to these considerations camera movement. A camera can be mounted anywhere: a helicopter, a crane, on the ground, or underwater. Camera angles and movements are the work of the DP in concert with his or her director. Composition dictates where the viewer's eye is drawn and where it travels.
Not an easy job, to say the least.
Some of the best-known DP's in the world are not necessarily household names, but are the stuff of legend in Hollywood after having shot some of our most memorable movies:
Vittorio Storaro: Before making his move to Hollywood to shoot "Apocalypse Now" for Francis Ford Coppola in 1979, this Italian-born DP made films out of Rome for 20 years. He shot "Reds" for Warren Beatty, "The Last Emperor" for Bertolucci, for which he won an Oscar, and countless others.
Janusz Kaminski: Pretty much on-call for Spielberg, having shot "Schindler's List," "The Lost World: Jurassic Park," "Saving Private Ryan," "Amistad," A.I.," "Minority Report," and currently in production for "Catch Me If You Can." Born in Poland and married to Holly Hunter, Janusz has shot nearly 25 films in 12 years.
Michael Ballhaus: Another European-born DP who cut his teeth for decades primarily in Germany before heading to Hollywood in 1982. He is a favorite of Scorsese ("Goodfellas," "The Age of Innocence," "Gangs of New York"), and Robert Redford calls once in a while too ("Quiz Show," "Bagger Vance"). The 66 year-old Ballhaus has shot over 80 films.
Jan de Bont: Before directing "Speed," Twister," and, uh, "Speed II," Jan de Bont acted as DP in over 50 films, including "Die Hard" and "Basic Instinct."
It would seem that to be a successful DP requires an eye for the aesthetic, an encyclopedia of knowledge and, as with any Hollywood gig, a sprinkle of luck.
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