Cinematography
From Free net encyclopedia
Cinematography is the discipline of making lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for the cinema. Etymologically, it means "writing in the movement", from the French word cinéma, shortened from cinématographe, the camera invented by the Lumière brothers in the 1890s.[1] It is closely related to the art of still photography, though many additional issues arise when both the camera and elements of the scene may be in motion.
In the film industry, the cinematographer is responsible for the technical caliber of the images, but also works closely with the director to ensure that the aesthetics are supporting the story being told. They typically manage and orchestrate the entire camera and lighting crew on a set, and for this reason they are often called The Directors of Photography or DP. Ensuring visual coherence and quality generally requires cinematographers to participate in every phase of a project's development.
Traditionally the term "cinematography" referred to working with motion picture film emulsion, but it is now largely synonymous with videography due to the popularity of digital cinema. Modern image processing has also made it possible to radically modify pictures from how they were originally captured. This has allowed new disciplines to encroach on some of the choices that were once the DP's exclusive domain.
Contents |
Cinematographic decisions
A professional who engages in cinematography, known as a cinematographer or Director of Photography (DP or DOP) makes many creative and interpretive 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.
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.
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.
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 film. IMAX quality films have the highest quality, while 8mm have the least, although the latter is predictably the cheapest to use.
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, otherworldly atmospheres, while underexposure can make the film feel "darker" and more oppressive.
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.
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.
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. To shift focus from one object or character to another within a shot is commonly known as rack focus.
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 using a proportion. 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. The first wide screen format also known as anamorphic was CinemaScope. Cinemascope used a 2.66:1 aspect ratio. CinemaScope was used from 1953 to 1967. It was replaced by Panavision's anamorphic format which has a 2.4:1 aspect ratio. Newer Panavision digital cameras and 3-perf 35mm film cameras render HD digital format's 1.78:1 (16:9) aspect ratio.
The close-up (aka CU)
Medium shot (aka MS)
Long shot (aka LS)
A long shot may be used as an establishing shot, which puts a scene into context. Also used for the purpose of establishing scenery.
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.
Duration of a shot: long takes
Lighting
Special effects
The first special effects in the cinema were created while the film was being shot. These came to be known as "in-camera" effects. Later, optical and digital effects were developed so that editors could more tightly control the process by manipulating the film in post-production.
For examples of many in-camera special effects, see the work of early filmmaker Georges Méliès.
Frame rate selection
By varying the speed at which a strip of film moves through the camera, one may create fast or slow motion. For instance, if film is shot at 18 frame/s and then later projected at the standard 24 frame/s, all the action will appear sped up. Similarly if you shoot at a frame rate of 50 frames per second and project at the normal speed of 24 frames per second, the action will appear twice as slow.
See also
- Cinematography section of the Movie Making Manual WikiBook
- Digital cinema
- Fictional film
- Film crew
- Filmmaking
- Film theory
- History of cinema
- Internet Movie Database
- List of film formats
- List of film techniques
- List of movie-related topics
- List of video-related topics
- List of Societies of Cinematographers
- Photographic film
External links
et:Filmikunst fy:Filmkeunst hr:Kinematografija lv:Kino mk:Филмска уметност lt:Kinas nl:Cinematografie pt:Cinematografia