Here are a couple of great YouTube videos that I came across. There are some valuable lessons here from some of the world’s greatest cinematographers.
Part 1 of the Lighting Segment from “Cinematographer Style” Directed by Jon Fauer.
The industry’s best talk about proper lighting and equipment know-hows. Films are much more than a good story or good laughs, its technique and supremely efficient execution is what makes our eyes wander the screen and our minds when we think about a great film.
Part 2 of the Lighting Segment from “Cinematographer Style” Directed by Jon Fauer.
The industry’s most talented and visionary cinematographers explain the importance of proper lighting and the techniques required for appropriate illumination.
Cinematographers in interview:
Vittorio Storaro: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005886/
William A. Fraker: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005710/
Fred Murphy: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002320/
Bill Butler: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0124832/
Gordon Willis: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0932336/
Bill Dill: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0226778/
Remi Adefarasin: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001899/
Daniel Pearl: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0669050/
Denis Lenoir: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003631/
Richard Kline: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0459660/
Russel Carpenter: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005665/
Vilmos Zsigmond: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005936/
Stephen Goldblatt: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003552/
Robert Primes: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0697543/
John Toll: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001799/
I’m as much of a camera nut as the next filmmaker, and I am ecstatic about the giant leaps that camera technology has been making of late. Like so many others, I’m on the Amazon.com waiting list for two Canon 7D bodies, and they just can’t get here fast enough. But I have been noticing a trend in the independent film community lately. It seems that the most important thing to filmmakers theses days is the latest, greatest camera. Even worse, we speculate and obsess over the latest camera features and specs. The accessibility of high quality tools and the democratization of production is enabling filmmakers to do what was only a dream just a few years ago.
What is that dream for most filmmakers? Telling stories. Story is the reason that I got into this business. What is storytelling? Story is a combination of entertaining, informing and most importantly, manipulating and evoking an emotional response from an audience. Storytelling (the filmmaker’s dream) is not depth of field, sensor size, cameras, editing software, faster computers, microphones, codecs, camera stabilizers, or anything else. These are just the tools that we use to create our art . Surely, Salvador Dali didn’t sit around with other painters for days on end and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the latest canvas and brushes. Photographers are even bigger gear heads than filmmakers(debatable, but bear with me), but their discussions always come back to the photo. I have never seen a comment thread on Flickr that focuses exclusively on the camera that a photo was shot with. The critique usually runs much deeper than that. So, why is it that filmmakers endlessly discuss, debate, and lust after these items that are nothing more than our paint brushes and canvas? The tools are important, we use them to guide our audience, but what we make with these tools is infinitely more important than the tools themselves. What defines you as a director, editor, writer, cinematographer? Is it your camera, NLE, writing software? No. It’s your story.
There is a fantastic short film on Vimeo called “Perya” that’s getting a lot of attention the past few days. But I think it is getting the wrong kind of attention. This film has been blogged about over and over, and the only thing that anyone cares about is the Canon 7D that it was shot with! Yes, the images are stunning, but there is a substantial story there as well. It is a really great short documentary. Not because of the shallow depth of field or the 24P frame rate, but because of the story.
After viewing Perya the second time with a technical eye, I scrolled down the page to leave a comment. As I read the long list of comments I found myself having another emotional response. I was shocked that not a single comment on that page complimented the filmmakers on the story or the subject matter. Why isn’t anyone talking about that?
A recent post on ProLost, Stu Maschwitz coined the term Bokake for the all too common, slick, yet devoid of story, camera tests like Reverie. Perya is unfairly being treated like Bokake, but it is so much more. Perya is not a good film because it was lensed with a Canon 7D. Look a little bid deeper. Are filmmakers blinded by technology? If so, I think we need to make a conscious effort to try and focus on story, structure, character, tension, drama, lighting, action, dialog, location, pacing, performance, composition, and all of the other important things that make a good film.
If your dream has alway been to own a 7D or a Scarlet, more power to you. If your dream is to make a movie, you should start paying attention to the things that are hidden by the technology blinders that I think we have all been wearing lately.
Back in November I was invited by my friend and world class Aerial Cinematographer, Norman Kent, to document a world record attempt at a 100-way parachute formation. I shot footage from the ground while Norman and a handful of others were in the air capturing some stunning images of the formation. After a couple days of practice with smaller formations, the skydivers began the actual record attempt. On the second day of attempts, the record was accomplished. What a great experience. The people were incredible, and it was lots of fun. I can’t wait to attend another skydiving event.
A few months later… Norman asked me to cut together a miniature documentary/promo video. So, here it is. Enjoy.
Supercharge Me! is making the rounds. Jenna Norwood has just returned from a screening of her award winning documentary in Seattle, and now the film is screening at the Central Florida Film Festival this weekend. It screens Saturday, September 1st at 7:30 p.m, and Sunday, September 2 at 8:30 p.m.. I will be at the Sunday screening to help Jenna had out LaraBars, and take part in the Q&A session after the screening. So stop by and say hi.
Hooray! Just got word yesterday that “Supercharge Me!” is an official selection of the Central Florida Film Festival! The programming director told me the decision was unanimous. Five out of five judges said they believed the film would be an asset to their festival. I’m very excited to accompany the film to the festival. The two editors of “Supercharge Me!” graduated from Full Sail, the intensive film school in Orlando. so it’ll be nice to be screening the movie near their alma mater. The festival takes place over Labor Day weekend. If you’re in the area, hope you can join us!
One of those editors that she mentions is yours truly. So, if you are in the area around Labor Day, and are at all interested in seeing some of my work, please stop by and say hi. I’ll be there.
