Cinematography

Although literally it means writing the movement, the term cinematography is generally understood as the art and process of recording visual images for the cinema (with a camera) and later developing those images in a laboratory. Thus, it has as much to do with lighting and photography as it does with film.

Cinematographic decisions

A professional who engages in cinematography, known as a cinematographer or Director of Photography (DP or DOP), makes many decisions during the course of his or her work, from pre-production, shooting to post-production, all of which affect the overall feel and look of the motion picture. Many of these decisions are similar to what a photographer needs to note when taking a picture: the cinematographer controls the film itself, the lensing, aperture exposure, focus and the distance of the shot. The one difference is that cinematography has a temporal aspect, as compared with photography, which is purely a still image recapturing process. It is also bulkier and more strenuous to deal with movie cameras, and it involves a more complex array of choices, and as such a cinematographer usually needs to work co-operatively with more people than does a photographer, who could frequently function as a single person.

Related Topics:
Cinematographer - Photographer

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The Film: Film Stock, Width and Exposure

The photographic image is related to how the photographic aspects of a film affect the overall artistic effect of the movie, similar to how they affect a photographer. Some of these are in preproduction, such as the selection of the film stock, or in post-production, such as in laboratory work. Film stock can adversely affect how your intended film looks. The cinematographer can select the range of his or her color film stocks: three-color Technicolor yields rich, saturated colors which are very different from Eastman Kodak color strips. Choosing a slower (or low-speed, i.e., one that is not as sensitive to light) film stock gives starker, more "contrasty" blacks and whites with little range of grays in between. On the other hand, a faster (or high-speed) film stock will decrease contrast, giving a wider range of grays. Fast films are also typically grainier compared with slower ones.

Related Topics:
Photographer - Preproduction - Film stock - Post-production - Technicolor - Eastman Kodak - Grainier

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Laboratory work can also reproduce or augment effects. By controlling the temperature and varying the chemicals and strength and duration in which the film is soaked in, cinematographers can achieve very different looks on their film strips in the laboratory.

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A range of film widths, from 8mm to 70mm and IMAX, give a choice between quality and price of the film. Most theatrical releases utilize 35mm and 70mm films. IMAX quality films have the highest quality, while 8mm have the least, although the latter is predictably the cheapest to use.

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The length of exposure does much to create darker or brighter images. Typically, a film is simply well exposed, but underexposure or overexposure can give cinematographers a range of creative ideas. For instance, overexposure is commonly used for mystic, overworldly atmospheres, while underexposure can make the film feel "darker" and more oppressive.

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Filters

Filters, such as diffusion filters and contrast filters, are also widely used to enhance mood or dramatic effects. Certain cinematographers, such as Christopher Doyle, are well known for their innovative use of filters.

Related Topics:
Filters - Christopher Doyle

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Lens

Focal length

The camera does what a human eye does, that is, it creates perspective and spatial relations with the rest of the world. However, unlike one's eye, a cinematographer can select different lenses for different purposes. Variations in focal length is one of the chief benefits of such an advantage. Cinematographers can choose between a wide angle lens, normal lens and telephoto lens. Wide-angle lenses have short focal lengths and make spatial distances more obvious. A person in the distance is shown as much smaller while someone in the front will loom large. On the other hand, telephoto lenses reduce such exaggerations, depicting far-off objects as seemingly close together and flattening perspective. Zoom lenses allow camera operators to change their focal length at will.

Related Topics:
Eye - Focal length - Wide angle - Telephoto - Zoom lenses

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Depth of field and focus

Focal length also affects the depth of field of a scene ? that is, how much the background, mid-ground and foreground remain in sharpness simultaneously. A wide angle lens will have a greater depth of field than does a telephoto lens. More of the planes of a staged image will be in focus. In Citizen Kane for example, cinematographer Gregg Toland used a fast film stock and large depth of field to render different planes within a shot simultaneously focused, a practice that is known as deep focus. Deep focus became a very popular cinematographic device from the 1940s onwards in Hollywood.

Related Topics:
Depth of field - Citizen Kane - Gregg Toland - Deep focus - Hollywood

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Aspect Ratio and Framing

Aspect Ratio

The aspect ratio of an image is the ratio of its width to its height. Beginning in the 1910s, motion pictures settled on a ratio of four to three (four units wide to three units high). Often written as 4:3, this ratio may be reduced by dividing both sides of the equation. Thus, 4:3 becomes 1.33:1 and this aspect ratio is commonly known as 1.33. For years, cinematographers were limited to this shape of image, but in the 1950s, widescreen ratios were introduced ? granting them many more options in the shape of the frame.Yes of course.

Related Topics:
Aspect ratio - Widescreen

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The Close-Up

Medium Shot

Long Shot

Camera Movements

Arguably the height of a cinematographer's art, the moving camera captures the essence of the (non-edited) cinema to conquer space and time. Again, Welles is one of the foremost practitioners of this craft, with his opening to Touch of Evil being one of the most well-known (and quoted) examples.

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Duration of a shot: long takes