With the advent of affordable, very high quality moving image capture tools like the Canon 7D and its sibling HDSLRs, more people than ever before have an opportunity to create and realize their unique and remarkable visions.  While there are countless very useful forums that discuss the technologies and troubleshooting, price and feature comparisons and workflow techniques, there are scarce resources that offer free access to the deeper work involved in becoming an excellent camera operator, let alone a cinematographer.  So I wanted to share a summary of my notes from my Cinematography program at UCLA under the tutelage of Deland Nuse, Pete Shaner, Charles Rose ASC and film theorist Alessandro Pirolini and from personal experience for the many budding directors of photography out there; concepts and tools that will help you on the road to creating well-crafted, powerful images as you embark upon the remarkable journey of storytelling via motion pictures.

The responsibilities of a Cinematographer throughout the three phases of production – pre-production, production and post-production

The cinematographer’s responsibilities on a film are manifold; beginning with comprehension of the screenplay and the intentions of both writer and director and finding a way to draw out the subtext, style, tone, dramatic functions, color scheme and to create a consistent basis for visual meaning among these elements. In addition to these artistic considerations, the cinematographer is responsible for hiring the key members of the camera, electric and grip departments, making decisions about shooting formats, cameras, lenses and processing and working with the set designers and costume departments to develop a palette and accurate understanding of the textures, colors, contrast, and other technical considerations for the project.

The cinematographer’s work in the pre-production phase involves breaking down the script and understanding its intentions in order to create a look book and shot list (in tandem with the director and producers) that will be used as a guide for the project. In this phase, as mentioned earlier, the cinematographer will also make determinations about shooting format, aspect ratio, film stock if shooting on film, and hire the keys in each of the departments – camera, electric and grip.

Filters, gels and lights will be tested and prepared and camera tests will be performed to determine the optimal configurations that can be modified, approved and replicated on the shoot. Complex sequences to shoot will be mapped out (dolly, crane, steadicam, stunts, etc) so as to have the correct equipment and shooting procedure as well as safety considerations raised.

Location scouting involving shooting motion picture or stills may be a part of the cinematographer’s activities so as to understand the unique challenges and opportunities that the locale may bring and also electrical issues may be investigated, despite the fact that some of these problems also fall to other members including the Gaffer and in the case of safety the first AD.

The cinematographer will work closely with the art, set, properties and wardrobe departments to ensure that there is a consistency in palette, tone, to address matters of specularity, contrast and practicality (for example, the set department may need to build moveable walls etc.)

In the production phase, also known as principal photography the cinematographer is concerned with delegating her artistic and technical wishes to the head of the various departments, in particular the gaffer, best boy grip and electric and camera operators. Pre-lighting and electrical supply concerns are worked out and deployed in advance of shooting, and finding ways to adhere to the allotted time in the schedule are also of great concern. The cinematographer determines where keylights, fill and ambient lights, set lights will go and in many cases, work with new challenges or opportunities that arise (for example blocking may change, environmental situations may arise like sudden rain or snow, or wind, clouds cover).

The cinematographer will take reading with a light meter and make adjustments in order to achieve the desired exposure, contrast and contrast ratios, zones and color temperature for the scene and also communicate with the camera department what lenses, filters, gels and blocking should be used. Also she will collaborate on the various camera and lighting setups required to cover the scene adequately.

Unless the cinematographer is Steven Soderbergh or John Cassavettes, she will not have anything to do with directing actors except to make suggestions to the director. If the cinematographer is Victorio Storaro, he may spot the steadicam operator in an over the top dance number on the set of an artificial Las Vegas. Again, this is rare.

In the new age of digital cinema, the cinematographer may work directly with the DIT to create a look for the film on an otherwise neutral capture tool like the RED camera.

In post production the cinematographer will have made selections about lab processes for the film (see more details in a later answer) and work with the colorist if and when the Digital Intermediate is color timed and to ensure that consistency is maintained with the intentions of the director, producer and studio. Standards are checked and all technical elements scrutinized.

What are the tools available to the cinematographer to create a visual representation of a director’s thoughts and desires?

The cinematographer has many tools and thus many considerations when putting together the components of their process. Long before the exposed film goes to the lab, she has already considered whether or not to shoot negative or color reversal stock, daylight or tungsten, fast or slow film and whether or not bleach bypass may be used for a variety of stylistic purposes.

Different film stocks have significantly different characteristics and these may include their respective toe and shoulder (response and speed) color richness, contrast and so on. Fuji and Kodak make stocks with their own personalities. Perhaps the director wants a vintage look and wants to shoot on some sort of archival stock that resembles old television shows from the sixties. The decision to shoot Super 16mm, 35mm, Super 35mm or even 65mm and at whether it will be circular or anamorphic, 3-perf or 4.

Lenses are another domain rich with possibilities and considerations. Some of these include whether to use zoom or fixed/prime lenses, and based on the style of the piece and how it will be acquired, long, wide or normal lenses.

Terry Gilliam, Jean Pierre Jeunet and Martin Scorcese all typically use wider lenses for a variety of reasons. While Gilliam and Jeunet (via Darius Khondji) use wide lenses to create a surrealistic, exaggerated caricature world with elongated, distorted perspective for many of his films, Scorcese uses wide lenses for the very deep focus so that he can capture detailed focused well into the background of his sets. This was a technique exploited and some might say even created by Orson Welles in Citizen Kane, who also used low angles to give certain characters a powerful overbearing presence.

An example of a very wide angle lens used by Darius Khondji in Jeunet's City of Lost Children

Longer lenses are used to compress foreground and background elements, or to rectify the ratios between facial features and thus provide a more flattering look to principal actors, or to aid in the illusion of less distance between objects of interest in the domain of stunts among other reasons.

In terms of lighting setups, the cinematographer must consider whether to use high or low key lighting (the former often used in comedic or less intense situations the latter for higher dramatic, mysterious or suspenseful ones – though these are merely conventions and by no means hard-set rules.) Sometimes these lighting styles can be used opposite to their standard, for example the scene in Blue Velvet when Kyle McLachlan wanders through the apartment in high key lighting with a dead crazy man and a strange seductress – by choosing to use high key lighting, director David Lynch is literally turning on the house lights so that we can witness the horrors that have transpired clearly.

In addition to high and low key lighting, there is the matter of whether to use hard or soft light (see section below). Although low key lighting is often associated with film noir, a genre that traditionally has very hard lighting influenced by German expressionism, there can also be soft light in low key style, as demonstrated by Jordan Cronenweth in Blade Runner (who also established a whole new style with his powerful sweeping Xenarc beams of light through windows in this film) or Conrad Hall Jr. (and Darius Kondji/David Fincher) in Panic Room wherein they wanted a sort of dim ambient glow akin to when the eye becomes acclimated to the dark.

An example of Jordan Cronenweth's low-key lighting style in Blade Runner

Lighting can come from motivated sources so as to appear as though it is coming from a visible or implied window or lamp, or unmotivated sources, like an ambient, ethereal or alien glow. See further details of this in my answer below.

Then there is the matter of the types of lights one will use to accomplish these looks. Tungsten or daylight, fresnels, open, flourescent (Kinoflos etc), LED (now there are even fresnel-type LEDs!), soft, focused beam, HMIs – there exists a wide variety of lights all with strengths, weaknesses and inherent characteristics. The cinematographer must make determinations by considering how much power will be needed or avaialble, the color temperature, the style of lighting and so on.

Filters like neutral density and or circular polarizers are used in front of the camera lens to control exposure. ND filters for example are used in bright daylight either to control the brightness expressly, or perhaps because stylistic or technical demands require that the aperture be opened up in order to attain a shallower depth of field.

Circular polarizers can be used to control reflections and specular highlights from windows or shiny surfaces, again resulting in stop loss which must be factored in.

Color filters are also used to control color temperature, or in the case of black and white film, to enhance certain elements by removing or manipulating a certain color in the spectrum, resulting in accented foliage or skies or polar bears in a blizzard.

Gradient filters can be used to modify only part of the frame while fog and diffusion filters assist with contrast and or softening of detail or edges. Similar to the use of fog and diffusion, actual for may be used and atomized in an area to control contrast in a unique way wherein foreground maintains its contrast while background detail and contrast is lessened somewhat.

What are the parameters that a cinematographer applies when planning out where to place the key light for a specific scene?

The key light is a powerful indicator for what the primary subject of interest should be in a scene. It can appear to come from a motivated or unmotivated source, but it is important to keep its continuity in mind (temperature, intensity, direction, quality, position).

The key light can create hard or soft light, it can also be very focused or more dispersed. Large soft light close to the subject can be used to create smoother transitions, similarly to powerful bounced key lighting. Hard key light may allow for the fill to remain in deep higher contrast, carved shadow to great effect and evoke mystery and occlusion.

The height of the key light also has great dramatic possibility. The Godfather light for example, pertains to placing the key in front and almost directly overhead the subject so as to cast shadows over the eye sockets, below the nose and chin and create an ominous sense of mystery and of the subconscious.

A key light 45 degrees from the camera and above the actor is a common useage and also known as the Rembrandt style.

A low-placed key light, shining up at the subject, typically used in horror and science fiction, and a favorite of Boris Karloff’s monster movies is often referred to as Mystery lighting.

Placing the key 45 degrees behind the subject creates narrow lighting wherein the upstage side appears more lit and the side closer to camera is in shadow.

A keylight that is slightly higher but not overhead the actor creates a butterfly shaped shadow on the actor which can create an aesthetically pleasing effect.

In addition to the narrow lighting style mentioned above there is also the broad lighting style. It should be said that these can be used to add or subtract surface area or actors with narrow or wide faces as suit the purposes of the piece.

A key placed at 90 degrees to the subject has its own look and it referred to as side lighting. A technique referred to as Harlequin lighting consists of having one half of the subject lit, the other dark and then the reverse in the background, summoning the sort of Yin/Yang effect of Italian Harlequin masks.

The keylight is a very important, if not the most important element in determining the style, purpose and nature of a lighting setup. In fact many setups can be accomplished with nothing more than a single key light.

The cinematographer will measure this key light with their light meter and decide how many stops over or under the camera’s exposure setting they want it. “Correct” exposure, that is 18% gray is a zone 5 – parity with the camera’s exposure setting. A darker skinned subject may be left at one stop below the camera whereas a a lighter skinned subject may read key at one stop over. There are no hard and fast rules, but the cinematographer must understand and consider these factors when creatively determining the intensity of the key light on the subject.

Additionally the contrast ratio between the key and the fill, the background and set and the highest and darkest points of the scene within the frame must be evaluated. For example one may choose to allow light outside of a window to “blow out” by being several stops about the camera’s exposure and the key light.

It is only after this source is established that the rest of the setup follows.

Understanding the difference between hard and soft light and how to use them

As described above, hard and soft light are not necessarily tied to a particular style, since we have seen that low key lighting, traditionally associated with film noir, may in fact use soft light as in Blade Runner or Panic Room. Hard light, most certainly the progeny of German expressionism, carves shadows with light or vise versa. The Third Man is an excellent example for how hard, low key lighting can create sharp shadows and areas of darkness to elicit mystery, danger, intrigue. Such hard light was also used in the famous scene with Colonel Kurtz played by Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now to demonstrate a variety of symbolic and dramatic effects: the contrast between artificial and natural light, the known and the unknown, the conscious and the subconscious, good and evil, balance and disorder, as Brando’s face shifts in an out of darkness and into a fiery amber glow.

Victorio Storraro uses hard light on Marlon Brando as Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now

On the other side, soft lighting as utilized in Panic Room, allows a very low key environment but in such a way that it feels like the eyes have adjusted to the darkness and shadows. The filmmakers speak about how they could have gone with the traditional use of moonlight bursting through windows to create harsh light and illuminate the set, but in fact they used kino flows to create a smooth ambient glow in the darkness.

In Blade Runner, Jordan Cronenweth lit the dark dystopian Los Angeles of the future with large soft light sources, so as to underscore the pollution in the air and the hazy dreamy feeling of a society slightly beyond the imagination.

Soft light is excellent for blending and smoothing the transition between one zone to another, whereas hard light carves out areas of the frame, creating a more pointed, striking effect. Both have their uses and are certainly not tied to any particular style or genre.

Understanding color as a tool in drawing out emotional subtext and impact

Although there have been many attempts to directly tie specific colors to a particular meaning, emotion or other association, they intrinsically fail, because every culture associates colors differently.

At the dawn of Technicolor, for example, certain colors were favored to mean certain things, but eventually these biases were frowned upon as they were considered restrictive rather than supportive of the creative process.

But there are relationships between colors as they relate to one another in the spectrum and like with music these relationships can create a sense of harmony or dissonance, fraternity or alienation.

It is the duty of the director and cinematographer, the art director and head costumer to design a system of meaning for color that must be sustained for the duration of that specific piece.

In the Umbrellas of Cherbourg for example, director Jacques Demy used analogous colors in a discordant way to create a sense of unease and tension. Adding to this, his use of clashing textures pervades the mise en scene with an overbearing richness that evokes repulsion rather than beauty. In this film, white and red do not represent hospitality or neutrality as they might in Switzerland, but instead, conflict, frustration, loneliness.

An example of the violent clash of colors in Umbrellas of Cherbourg

In Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, the color green represents mystery and dread, appearing as both a light and in mise en scene (a specific car, sweater or dress).

In Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic, a monochromatic anemic blue hue is afforded to matters of state and politics, an amber to outdoors sunny milieux and a sickly “fluorescent” green pallor to working class enviroments like kitchens and bathrooms.

An example of a monochromatic image from Traffic

Then of course there is Victorio Storaro who may claim that each project he does requires its own unique approach, despite the fact that he has developed his own understanding and system of meaning for color wherein red typically represents birth and that youthful vitality, orange the warmth of home and family, yellow, the coming into knowledge, green freedom etc.

Color can evoke strong responses and emotion, but there are no hard and fast rules, only the dictum that whatever associations are established within the world of the play must be sustained, unless they have a deliberate and somehow disclosed (to the audience) reason for being violated, much like creating a world when writing a story – the rules and laws of a universe must be established and not violated lest the suspension of disbelief be dismantled and rendered meaningless.

Final Thoughts

The art and craft of cinematography is a lifelong learning experience, but there is no reason that it’s best tenets can not or should not be applied when shooting with any sort of image capture tool.  While the above is by no means a definitive guide, and in fact contains many subjective concepts, I hope that it serves in developing the grammar and awareness of what is possible and how to improve or even maximize use of your DSLR camera in creating your ultimate vision.

As I would love this guide to be as useful and relevant as possible, I invite your comments, corrections and addendums to the above in the spirit of developing future talent. Please post your comments below!