Cinematography Research

Cinematography

Cinematography is the art of capturing images during the creation of motion pictures. It refers to the photographing of the film itself, including both the shooting and the development of the film. The cinematographer creates a consistent look for the film and makes images that will help tell the story. It's what's in the frame, the lighting, getting the mood right - getting images that push the story along and keeps the audience inside the film, not outside. In the past, artists working as cinematographers generally relied almost exclusively on cameras that captured footage on film, but over time, video capture technology has become more advanced, and as a result, many films are also made with high-definition digital cameras and other similar devices. The main focus of cinematography is capturing images for films that are both beautiful and powerful in the way they drive narrative. When it comes to the visual design of a film, the cinematographer is usually a close collaborator with the film's director, and is generally the second highest ranked person in most film crews.

The abilities needed in the field of cinematography are somewhat similar to those needed in still photography, but there are also many differences. The camera and the actors often move around while a shot is being captured, so lighting across a whole scene and manipulation of the camera during moving sequences are both crucially important aspects. There are also many tools, such as camera dollies, that a cinematographer must fully understand, and these things aren't used in still photography.

Even though cinematography is the art of capturing imagery for a film, the cinematographer himself is not necessarily the main person responsible for the way a film looks. In many cases, the director is equally or even more responsible. Often, the director may choose the angles and camera movements in a film, while the cinematographer focuses on lighting and camera lenses or other technical aspects. The dynamics of this relationship can vary quite a lot depending on the particular skills of the director. Some directors know very little about camera work, so they mostly focus on working with actors; others might have more knowledge of cinematography and collaborate much more closely on the visual aspects of the film.

There are many different ways for a cinematographer to affect the way an audience feels about a film scene. Small changes in lighting, manipulation of the colours in the frame, and subtle adjustments of lenses and focus can all play a role in creating emotions. Sometimes the techniques of cinematography can be very flashy and noticeable, leading to films that are notably unusual in a visual sense, but sometimes they are very subtle and naturalistic, often to the point where the audience doesn't even become aware of the visual manipulation.

 
Lighting is of course one of the most paramount aspects of cinematography – in fact, it is probably the single most important element that needs to be successfully achieved for a film maker to create the kind of film he or she desires. With the plethora of digital video cameras flooding the market in the last ten years, many amateur and professional film makers alike have had to struggle with learning how to properly light a scene shot with a digital camera.  Some film makers believe that a digital video can be shot with inferior cinematography and still appear comparable to an actual film in the end.  This is not the case.  The rule for successful digital video lighting is simple: a digital video has to be lit like it was shot on film for it to appear as though it was shot on film.  

An example of a standard lighting technique used by cinematographers is the three point lighting technique. It is named as such because it includes three separate lights positioned to illuminate the subject being filmed. It can be adjusted to enhance or diminish light ratios, shadows, shading, etc. The three lights involved with this standard technique are known as the key light, the fill light and the back light.  The key light is the primary lighting device used to illuminate the subject being filmed from the front.  The fill light is typically placed at an angle and adds to the lighting in order to achieve the desired effect.  The back light is, of course, shone from behind and focuses on creating a contour of the person or scene being filmed.

 Another technique that has a profound effect on the way a film is perceived is the size of the shot.  For example, a subject being shot at close range will have a much more dramatic and intimate effect on the viewer than a scene shot from several hundred feet away.  The most common shot sizes utilized by cinematographers are the following: extreme close-up, close-up, medium shot, long shot, and establishing shot.  Most of these are self-explanatory, with the establishing shot being a shot that indicates to the viewer that change of location or time has occurred.

Forced perspective is a technique applied by not only cinematographers, but engineers, architects and even army personnel.  Simply defined, it is an optical illusion that convinces the viewer that they are seeing an object (or person) from a distance that is in fact completely different from the actual distance at which the object is placed.  This is achieved by using objects that are not of standard size which manipulates the brain into thinking the object is farther or closer than it is in reality.