Cinematographer

A cinematographer (from 'cinema photographer') is one photographing with a motion picture camera (the art and science of which is known as cinematography). The title is generally equivalent to director of photography (DP or DoP), used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and techical decisions related to the image. The cinematographer is sometimes also the camera operator. The term cinematographer has been a point of contention for some time now; some professionals insist that it only applies when the director of photography and camera operator are the same person, although this is far from being uniformly the case. To most, cinematographer and director of photography are interchangeable terms.

Miscellaneous

The documentary film Visions of Light is an excellent look at the progression of the art of cinematography across film history, and includes interviews with many famous cinematographers. It is a good introduction for those interested in the field, and includes much in the way of archival footage, anecdotes, and famous cinematographers commenting on whom they looked up to.

Related Topics:
Documentary film - Visions of Light

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