Cinematography for Directors. Jacqueline Frost
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it once, so I’ll walk onto a set understanding what that scene is. I think any preparedness that you have on a film is just money in the bank. It helps you get through without bankrupting the bank of time. All movies take on their own tone and life.
(Harris Savides, Frost interview)
During production, the director is in charge of the set and ultimately maintains the pace of the day with the aid of the first assistant director. A director should come to the set prepared and on time with shot lists, storyboards, and a clear idea of how they want to cover the scenes of the day. To make sure the coverage they are shooting works for editing, the director can previsualize it, either alone through storyboarding or working with the cinematographer. The director should be able to visualize the entire film completed in his or her mind before turning on a camera, to ensure that they will shoot all the footage necessary to tell the story the way they intend it to be seen on screen.
■ If the cinematographer is the captain of the ship, then the director is the admiral of the navy. He’s got an enormous responsibility and needs to take it very seriously.
(Richard Crudo, ASC, Frost interview, July 2007)
The director will be the first person praised if the film is successful or the first to be attacked by critics if it is not. The pressure is on during production with all the questions aimed at the director regarding various details of the film. Each department head will come to the director with their own set of questions. The wardrobe department, the art department, the first AD, the actors, and, of course, the cinematographer, who will want to know where to put the camera so that the gaffer and crew can start lighting. Because the number of questions can be overwhelming at times, the director often relies on the support and confirmation of their collaborators. Usually the first person they will look to for that support and confirmation is their cinematographer.
■ There are directors, as we know, who are very technical. They go deep into their language and they like shooting film the way they see, and they have an idea where to place the cameras, and that’s a very important communication issue to them, to their audiences. Then there are directors who may only see the story from a storytelling perspective, but with a literal interest, so they rely on the cinematographer much more to help them to devise a visual way of telling the story.
(Dante Spinotti, ASC, Frost interview)
The director should be thinking about each scene and how to cover it, how to handle the actors with a focus on whose scene it is. It is helpful if shot lists have been created in preproduction and a dialogue between director and cinematographer has been previously established so that once you are on set you already know how a scene is going to be shot, such as what focal length of lens will work best and whether it is a moving or static shot. The cinematographer will be there for consultation if needed. They are there to facilitate the visual realization of the script.
■ You have to trust the director and the director has to trust you. If you are in a situation where you feel that the director trusts you, you can take your work further, even if it’s as simple as exposing a shot a little darker. You don’t take those risks with people you don’t know, especially if you are doing a studio production. The last thing you want is to go into a screening room at dailies and have everyone whining because the shot is too dark.
(Roger Deakins, ASC, Moviemaker, July 2007)
The director, as noted, is often focused on the actors, eliciting the best possible performance from them. While the director is rehearsing the blocking of the scene with the talent, the cinematographer is watching for shadows and following the movement of the scene with the camera. Since it is ultimately the director’s vision being transformed to images on screen, she or he may have requested a specific focal length for the shot, which the cinematographer provides. Both are headed for the same completed scene, with the director focused on the performance and the cinematographer focused on the visuals. A smart director will be open to suggestions that a cinematographer may have regarding light, focal length, and movement.
What should a director know about cinematography?
■ It’s so much more exciting when directors understand my world. As a cinematographer it is my job to find out what the director’s strengths and weaknesses are so I can be of service wherever needed. I’ve worked with directors who know focal length and may say, “Let’s use a 35 mm or 27 mm,” and I’ve worked with directors that I have to make look through the lens just to see what’s happening.
(Nancy Schreiber, Frost interview)
There are many directors working today who have limited technical experience in film, particularly those who come from a theatrical background, or writers who have been given the opportunity to direct. Less technically inclined directors will need to learn the basic tools of cinematography to effectively communicate with their cinematographer. It is helpful to have a basic knowledge of focal length and how it affects the image and depth of field. It is also important to have an understanding of composition and framing, what you want the shot to look like, and what information you are providing with that particular shot. The selection of lenses, framing, and blocking for a scene are all things that the cinematographer can assist with.
10. Rodrigo Prieto and Ang Lee on the set of Lust, Caution. (Photo courtesy of Rodrigo Prieto)
■ Ang Lee is very technically savvy. For him the subtlety between a 32 mm and a 28 mm is a big deal, or one filter versus another. He’s very aware of subtle differences. If I show him the difference between one film stock and another, he will see the differences; other directors may not, so sometimes you have to present them with the differences that are bigger. Such is the case with Oliver Stone he is not about subtlety. When you propose something, it has to be bold and he has to see it. When I worked with Julie Taymor, she had a certain language of film, but she wasn’t extremely technically savvy. I think that helped, because she would come up with ideas that were not constrained by traditional limitations. Then I had to figure out technically how to achieve her idea. I tried not to limit her by saying something would be really difficult, so in that case it was to our advantage that she wasn’t aware of limitations.
(Rodrigo Prieto, ASC interview, July 26, 2007)
■ I have worked with technically savvy directors. The more they know about cinematography the better off you are. I shot a film for Ernest Dickerson, who is now a director, and I was worried about it because I thought, “Wow, I’m shooting for an ex-cinematographer; that’s going to be tough.” What I found instead is that he made me more daring in the things I did because he understood all the technical aspects of it. If I was having a problem with depth of field, he would either re-stage it or he’d extenuate it. When working with someone who understands the medium to that extent it’s fantastic.
(Matthew Libatique, ASC, Frost interview)
The first thing a director needs to consider is the blocking of the actors and the composition of the frame. Understanding how the basics of cinematography tell the story by highlighting thematic elements of the script is essential to effective filmmaking. That directly correlates to understanding focal length and the difference between lenses, such as primes versus zooms. It is also important to understand the attributes of depth of field and how that translates to the screen.
■ I enjoy the technical side of filmmaking, but I’m only able to enjoy it because I have true technicians with me. I actually learned a lot of what I know by reading American Cinematographer magazine. Some of the articles could get a bit technical, but that just made me want to learn more. I’m still a bit of a Luddite, though, and I probably think I know a bit more than I do.
(Paul Thomas Anderson, director, American Cinematographer, January 2008, 39)
A director also has to know whether the image is moving or static and what is being communicated to the audience by that movement or lack of movement. Understanding the types of moves and the equipment to accomplish those moves is also quite important. The difference between the movement of the Steadicam and the movement