Cinematography

Cinematography (from Greek: kinesis (movement) and grapho (to record)), is the discipline of making lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for the cinema. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Modern stage lighting is a flexible Tool in the production of Theatre, Dance, Opera and other Performance arts A camera is a device used to capture images either as still Photographs or as sequences of moving images ( Movies or Videos. An image (from Latin imago) or picture is an artifact usually two-dimensional that has a similar appearance to some subject &mdashusually 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. Photography (fә'tɒgrәfi or fә'tɑːgrәfi (from Greek φωτο and γραφία is the process and Art of recording pictures by means of capturing

History

For more details, see History of film. The history of film spans over a hundred years from the latter part of the 19th century to the beginning of the 21st century.

Roundhay Garden Scene directed by the world's first filmmaker, Louis Le Prince, in 1888. Roundhay Garden Scene is an 1888 Short film directed by French inventor Louis Le Prince. Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince (born 28 August 1842 vanished 16 September 1890 was an inventor who is considered by many film historians as the true father of motion pictures who

The first attempt at cinematography can be traced back to the world's first motion picture film, Roundhay Garden Scene. Roundhay Garden Scene is an 1888 Short film directed by French inventor Louis Le Prince. It was a sequence directed by Louis Le Prince, French inventor and showman, on October 14 1888 in the garden at Oakwood Grange in Roundhay, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince (born 28 August 1842 vanished 16 September 1890 was an inventor who is considered by many film historians as the true father of motion pictures who Legal residents and citizens To be French according to the first article of the Constitution is to be a citizen of France regardless of one's origin race or religion ( Roundhay is a large suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Leeds ( is located on the River Aire in West Yorkshire, England West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland This groundbreaking event happened seven years before the Lumière Brothers' Sortie de l'usine Lumière à Lyon made the first paid exhibition on December 28, 1895 at Le Grand Café, in Paris, France. Workers Leaving The Lumière Factory (also known as La Sortie des usines Lumière (original title Employees Leaving the Lumière Factory Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. . This date is known as the birth of cinema since it was the first time the cycle of production-distribution-exhibition happened. The European city soon became the motion picture capital of the world.

Cinematography is an art form unique to motion pictures. Although the exposing of images on light-sensitive elements dates back to the late 1600s, motion pictures demanded a new form of photography and new aesthetic techniques.

In the infancy of motion pictures, the cinematographer was usually also the director and the person physically handling the camera. As the art form and technology evolved, a separation between director and camera operator emerged. With the advent of artificial lighting and faster (more light sensitive) film stocks, in addition to technological advancements in optics and various techniques such as color film and widescreen, the technical aspects of cinematography necessitated a specialist in that area.

Cinematography was key during the silent movie era - no sound apart from background music, no dialogue - the films depended on lighting, acting and set.

In 1919, in Hollywood, the new motion picture capital of the world, one of the first (and still existing) trade societies was formed: the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), which stood to recognize the cinematographer's contribution to the art and science of motion picture making. The American Society of Cinematographers ( ASC) is an educational cultural and professional organization Similar trade associations have been established in other countries, too.

The ASC defines cinematography as

a creative and interpretive process that culminates in the authorship of an original work of art rather than the simple recording of a physical event. Cinematography is not a subcategory of photography. Rather, photography is but one craft that the cinematographer uses in addition to other physical, organizational, managerial, interpretive and image-manipulating techniques to effect one coherent process. ^[1]

Aspects of cinematography

Numerous aspects contribute to the art of cinematography.

Film stock

Cinematography can begin with rolls of film or a digital imaging sensor. Advancements in film emulsion and grain structure have led to a wide range of film stocks available to cinematographers. The selection of a film stock is one of the first decisions they must make during any film production.

Aside from the film gauge selection — 8 mm (amateur), 16 mm (semi-professional), 35 mm (professional) and 65 mm (epic photography, rarely used except in special event venues) — the cinematographer has a selection of stocks in reversal (which, when developed, create a positive image) and negative formats along with a wide range of film speeds (varying sensitivity to light) from ISO 50 (slow, least sensitive to light) to 800 (very fast, extremely sensitive to light) and differing response to color (low saturation, high saturation) and contrast (varying levels between pure black (no exposure) and pure white (complete overexposure)). 8 mm film is a motion picture film format in which the filmstrip is eight Millimeters wide 35 mm film is the basic Film gauge most commonly used for both still Photography and Motion pictures, and remains relatively unchanged since its 70 mm film (or 65 mm film) is a wide high-resolution film gauge of superior quality to standard 35 mm motion picture film format.

Advancements and adjustments to nearly all gauges of film created the "super" variety wherein the area of the film used to capture a single frame of an image is expanded, although the physical gauge of the film remains the same. Super 8 mm, Super 16 mm and Super 35 mm are all formats that utilize more of the overall film area for the image than their "regular" non-super counterparts.

The larger the film gauge, the higher the overall image resolution clarity and technical quality.

In the realm of digital imaging, various film stocks are no longer applicable, but the cameras themselves feature image adjustment capabilities that go far beyond the abilities of one particular film stock. The cameras can be adjusted to varying degrees of color sensitivity, image contrast, light sensitivity and so on. One camera can achieve all the various looks of different emulsions, although it is heavily argued as to which method of capturing an image is the "best" method. It should be mentioned that the digital method of image adjustments (ISO, contrast etc) are executed by estimating the same adjustments that would take place if actual film were in use and are thus vulnerable to the cameras sensor designers perceptions of various film stocks and image adjustment parameters. Sensors generally have an optimal ISO rating past which faster speeds will result in noticeable increases in image noise, thus compromising the quality. Image noise is a random usually unwanted variation in brightness or color information in an Image.

The lab

Laboratory work can also offer a considerable variance in the image produced. By controlling the temperature and varying the duration in which the film is soaked in the development chemicals and by skipping certain chemical processes (or partially skipping them), cinematographers can achieve very different looks from a single film stock in the laboratory.

Filters

Filters, such as diffusion filters or color-effect filters, are also widely used to enhance mood or dramatic effects. In Photography, a filter is a Camera accessory consisting of an optical filter that can be inserted in the optical path Most photographic filters are made up of two pieces of optical glass glued together with some form of image or light manipulation material between the glass. In the case of color filters, there is often a translucent color medium pressed between two planes of optical glass. Color filters work by blocking out certain color wavelengths of light from reaching the film. With color film, this works very intuitively wherein a blue filter will cut down on the passage of red, orange and yellow light and create a blue tint on the film. In black and white photography, color filters are used somewhat counter intuitively; for instance a yellow filter, which cuts down on blue wavelengths of light, can be used to darken a daylight sky (by eliminating blue light from hitting the film, thus greatly underexposing the mostly blue sky), while not biasing most human flesh tone. Certain cinematographers, such as Christopher Doyle, are well known for their innovative use of filters. Christopher Doyle ( born May 2, 1952) is a highly acclaimed Cannes Technical Grand Prize - Golden Osella - four-time Filters can be used in front of the lens or, in some cases, behind the lens for different effects.

Lens

Focal length

The camera does what a human eye does. Eyes are organs that detect Light, and send signals along the Optic nerve to the visual areas of the brain 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. Variation in focal length is one of the chief benefits of such an advantage. The focal length of an optical system is a measure of how strongly it converges (focuses or diverges (diffuses Light. The focal length of the lens in particular, determines the angle of view and, therefore, the field of view. Cinematographers can choose between a range of wide angle lenses, "normal" lenses and telephoto lenses, as well as macro lenses and other special effect lens systems such as borescope lenses. Macro photography is close-up Photography; the classical definition is that the Image projected on the "film plane" (i BorescopeApplicationpng|thumb|250px|right|Borescope in use with example of what you might see through the borescope 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. The differences between the perspective rendering is actually not due to the focal length by itself, but by the distance between the subjects and the camera. Therefore, the use of different focal lengths in combination with different camera to subject distances creates these different rendering. Changing the focal length only while keeping the same camera position doesn't affect perspective but the angle of view only. A Zoom lens allows a camera operator to change their focal length within a shot or quickly between setups for shots. A zoom lens is a mechanical assembly of lens elements with the ability to vary its Focal length (and thus Angle of view) as opposed to a fixed focal As prime lenses offer greater optical quality and are "faster" (larger aperture openings, usable in less light) than zoom lenses, they are often employed in professional cinematography over zoom lenses. In film and photography a prime lens is either a Photographic lens whose Focal length is fixed as opposed to a Zoom lens, or it is the primary lens Certain scenes or even types of filmmaking, however, may require the use of zooms for speed or ease of use, as well as shots involving a zoom move.

Diaphragm aperture

Like in photography, the control of the exposed image is done in the lens with the control of the diaphragm aperture. As to properly expose, the cinematographer needs that all lenses be engraved with T-Stop, not f-stop, so that the eventual light loss due to the glass doesn't affect the exposure control when setting it using the usual meters. The choice of the aperture also affects image quality (aberrations) and depth of field (see below).

Depth of field and focus

Focal length and diaphragm aperture affect the depth of field of a scene — that is, how much the background, mid-ground and foreground will be rendered in "acceptable focus" (only one exact plane of the image is in precise focus) on the film or video target. In Optics, particularly as it relates to Film and Photography, the depth of field (DOF is the portion of a scene that appears sharp in the image Depth of field (not to be confused with depth of focus) is determined by the aperture size and the focal distance. Depth of focus is a lens Optics concept that measures the tolerance of placement of the image plane (the Film plane in a camera in relation to the lens A large or deep depth of field is generated with a very small iris aperture and focusing on a point in the distance, whereas a shallow depth of field will be achieved with a large (open) iris aperture and focusing closer to the lens. Depth of field is also governed by the format size. 70 mm film has much more depth of field for the same focal length lens than does 35 mm. 16 mm has even less and most digital video cameras have less depth of field than 16 mm. But if one considers the field of view and angle of view, the smaller the image is, the shorter the focal length should be, as to keep the same field of view. Then, the smaller the image is, the more depth of field is obtained, for the same field of view. Therefore, 70mm as less depth of field than 35mm for a given field of view, 16mm more than 35mm, and video cameras even more depth of field than 16mm. As videographers try to emulate the look of 35 mm film with digital cameras, this is one issue of frustration - excessive depth of field with digital cameras and using additional optical devices to reduce that depth of field.

In Citizen Kane, cinematographer Gregg Toland used tighter apertures to create very large depth of field in the scenes, often rendering every detail of the foreground and background of the sets in sharp focus. Citizen Kane ( 1941) is an American Dramatic film, and the first Feature film directed by Orson Welles, who also co-authored Gregg Toland, ASC ( May 29, 1904 - September 26, 1948) was a highly influential American Cinematographer noted for his innovative This practice is known as deep focus. Deep focus Deep focus became a popular cinematographic device from the 1940s onwards in Hollywood. Today, the trend is for more shallow focus.

To change the plane of focus from one object or character to another within a shot is commonly known as a rack focus.

Aspect ratio and framing

Aspect ratio

The aspect ratio of an image is the ratio of its width to its height. The aspect ratio of an Image is its width divided by 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 to 1. 33:1 and this aspect ratio is commonly known as 1. 33. The introduction of sound-on-film narrowed the aspect ratio briefly, before the Academy ratio of 1. The Academy ratio of 1371 is the standard aspect ratio of a frame of 35mm film when used with 4-perf pulldown, and was standardized by 37 was introduced in 1932 by means of thickening the frame line. A frame line is the unused space that separates two adjacent images or Film frames on the Release print of a motion picture. For years, cinematographers were limited to this shape of image, but in the 1950s, thanks to the unanticipated popularity of Cinerama, widescreen ratios were introduced in an effort to pull audiences back into the theater and away from their home television sets. Cinerama is the trademarked name for a Widescreen process which works by simultaneously projecting images from three synchronized 35 mm projectors onto a huge deeply-curved A widescreen image is a film computer or television image with a wider and shorter aspect ratio than the standard Academy frame developed during the Classical These new widescreen aspect ratios granted cinematographers a wider frame within which to compose their images. Many different proprietary photographic systems were invented and utilized in the 1950s to create widescreen movies, but one dominates today: the anamorphic process, which optically squeezes the image to photograph twice the horizontal area to the same size vertical as standard "spherical" lenses. Anamorphic format is a term that can be used either for the Cinematography technique of capturing a Widescreen picture on standard 35 mm film, or other The first commonly used anamorphic widescreen format was CinemaScope, which used a 2. CinemaScope was a Widescreen movie format used from 1953 to 1967 35:1 aspect ratio, although it was originally 2. 55:1. CinemaScope was used from 1953 to 1967, but due to technical flaws in the design and its ownership by Fox, several third-party companies, led by Panavision's technical improvements in the 1950s, now dominate the anamorphic cine lens market. Panavision is a Motion picture equipment company specializing in Cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills California. Changes to SMPTE projection standards altered the projected ratio from 2. 35:1 to 2. 39:1 in 1970, although this did not change anything regarding the photographic anamorphic standards; all changes in respect to the aspect ratio of anamorphic 35 mm photography are specifically correlative to camera or projector gate sizes, not the optical system.

After the "widescreen wars" of the 1950s, the motion-picture industry settled into 1. 85:1 (which is a cropped version of 1. 37:1) as a standard for theatrical projection in the United States and the United Kingdom. Europe and Asia opted for 1. 66:1 at first, although 1. 85:1 has largely permeated these markets in recent decades. Certain "epic" or adventure movies utilized the anamorphic 2. 39:1.

In the 1990s, with the advent of high-definition video, television engineers created the 1. 78:1 (16:9) ratio as a mathematical compromise between the theatrical standard of 1. 85:1 and television's 1. 33:1, as it was not physically possible to safely create a television tube with a width of 1. 85:1. Until that point, nothing had ever been originated in 1. 78:1. Today, this is a standard for high-definition video and for widescreen television.

Lighting

Most likely the single most important aspect of cinematography is lighting. Light is necessary to create an image exposure on a frame of film or on a digital target (CCD, etc). The art of lighting for cinematography goes far beyond basic exposure, however, into the essence of visual storytelling. Lighting contributes considerably to the emotional response an audience has watching a motion picture. The control of light quality, colour, direction and intensity is a major factor in the art and science of cinematography.

Camera movement

Main article: Cinematic techniques

One aspect of cinematography that strongly separates it from still photography (aside from having a moving subject) is the ability to move the camera, which represents the audience's viewpoint or perspective, during the course of filming. See also Filmmaking Cinematic techniques are methods employed by film makers to communicate meaning entertain and to produce a particular emotional or This movement plays a considerable role in the emotional language of film images and the audience's emotional reaction to the action on the screen. From the most basic movements of panning (horizontal shift in viewpoint from a fixed position; like turning your head side-to-side) and tilting (vertical shift in viewpoint from a fixed position; like tipping your head back to look at the sky or tilting your head down to look at the ground) to dollying (placing the camera on a moving platform to move it closer or farther from the subject), trucking (placing the camera on a moving platform to move it to the left or right), craning (moving the camera in a vertical position; being able to lift it off the ground as well as swing it side-to-side from a fixed base position), and a combination of all of the above.

Cameras have been mounted to nearly every imaginable form of transportation.

Most cameras can also be handheld, that is the camera operator literally holds the camera in their hands and moves from one position to another while filming the action. Personal stabilizing platforms came into being in the late 1970s through the invention of Garrett Brown, which became known as the Steadicam. A steadicam is a stabilizing mount for a Motion-picture camera, which mechanically isolates the operator's movement from the camera allowing a very smooth shot even when The Steadicam is a body harness and stabilization arm that connects to the camera that allows the operator to move naturally while completely isolating the movements of their body from the movements of the camera. After the Steadicam patent expired in the early 1990s, many other companies began manufacturing their concept of the personal camera stabilizer.

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. An in-camera effect is any Special effect in a video or movie that is created solely by using techniques in and on the Camera and/or its parts Later, optical and digital effects were developed so that editors and visual effects artists could more tightly control the process by manipulating the film in post-production. An optical printer is a device consisting of one or more film Projectors mechanically linked to a Movie camera. Digital compositing is the process of digitally assembling multiple images to make a final image typically for print motion pictures or screen display See also Filmmaking Post-production occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, Videos audio recordings

For examples of many in-camera special effects, see the work of early filmmaker Georges Méliès. Georges Méliès ( December 8, 1861 &ndash January 21, 1938) full name Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès, was a French

Frame rate selection

Motion picture images are presented to an audience at a constant speed. In the theater, it is 24 frames per second, in NTSC (US) Television, it is 30 frames per second (29. 97 to be exact), in PAL (Europe) television it is 25 frames per second. This speed of presentation does not vary.

However, by varying the speed at which the image is captured, various effects can be created knowing that the faster or slower recorded image will be played at a constant speed.

For instance, time-lapse photography is created by exposing an image at an extremely slow rate. Time-lapse photography is a Cinematography technique whereby each Film frame is captured at a rate much slower than it will be played back If a cinematographer sets a camera to expose one frame every minute for four hours, and then that footage is projected at 24 frames per second, the event that took four hours to record will now take 10 seconds to present (1 frame per minute for 4 hours equals 240 frames, projected at 24 frames per second equals 10 seconds). This compresses the event that took place in four hours into just 10 seconds. At this speed, one can present the events of a whole day (24 hours) in just one minute. The inverse of this, if an image is captured at speeds above that at which they will be presented, the effect is to greatly slow down (slow motion) the image. Slow motion is a technique in film-making whereby Time appears to be slowed down If a cinematographer shoots a person diving into a pool at 96 frames per second, and that image is presented back at 24 frames per second, it will take 4 times as long to watch the dive as it did for it to actually happen.

In motion pictures the manipulation of time and space is a considerable contributing factor to the narrative storytelling tools. Film editing plays a much stronger role in this manipulation, but frame rate selection in the photography of the original action is also a contributing factor to altering time. Film editing is an art of storytelling practiced by connecting two or more shots together to form a sequence, and the subsequent connecting of sequences to form an

"Ramping" is a process whereby the capture frame rate of the camera changes over time. For example, if in the course of 10 seconds of capture, the capture frame rate is adjusted from 60 frames per second to 24 frames per second, when played back at the standard film rate of 24 frames per second, a unique time-manipulation effect is achieved. For example, someone pushing a door open and walking out into the street would appear to start off in slow-motion, but in a few seconds later within the same shot the person would appear to walk in "realtime" (normal speed). Slow motion is a technique in film-making whereby Time appears to be slowed down The opposite speed-ramping is done in The Matrix when Neo re-enters the Matrix for the first time to see the Oracle. The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction - martial arts - Action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski and As he comes out of the warehouse "load-point", the camera zooms into Neo at normal speed but as it gets closer to Neo's face time seems to slow down, perhaps visually accentuating Neo pausing and reflecting a moment, and perhaps alluding to future manipulation of time itself within the Matrix later on in the movie.

Role of the cinematographer

In the film industry, the cinematographer is responsible for the technical aspects of the images (lighting, lens choices, composition, exposure, filtration, film selection), but works closely with the director to ensure that the artistic aesthetics are supporting the director's vision of the story being told. A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a Film. Aesthetics or esthetics ( also spelled æsthetics) is commonly known as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values sometimes called The cinematographers are the heads of the camera, grip and lighting crew on a set, and for this reason they are often called directors of photography or DPs. In the US and Canada, grips are lighting and rigging technicians in the Film and Video industries Lighting technicians are involved with setting up and controlling Lighting equipment for entertainment venues ( Film or Theater)

Directors of photography make many creative and interpretive decisions during the course of their work, from pre-production 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 choice itself (from a range of available stocks with varying sensitivities to light and color), the selection of lens focal lengths, aperture exposure and focus. A photographer is a person who takes a Photograph using a Camera. In Photography, exposure is the total amount of Light allowed to fall on the photographic medium ( Photographic film or Image sensor) during the Cinematography, however, has a temporal aspect (see persistence of vision), unlike still photography, which is purely a single still image. Persistence of vision is the phenomenon of the eye by which even nanoseconds of exposure to an image result in milliseconds of reaction (sight from the retina to the optic nerves It is also bulkier and more strenuous to deal with movie cameras, and it involves a more complex array of choices. As such a cinematographer often needs to work co-operatively with more people than does a photographer, who could frequently function as a single person. As a result, the cinematographer's job also includes personnel management and logistical organization.

Evolution of technology: new definitions

Traditionally the term "cinematography" referred to working with motion-picture film emulsion, but it is now largely synonymous with videography and digital video due to the popularity of digital cinematography. Videography refers to the process of capturing moving Images on Electronic media (e Digital cinematography is the process of capturing Motion pictures as Digital images rather than on film.

Modern digital image processing has also made it possible to radically modify pictures from how they were originally captured. Image processing is any form of Signal processing for which the input is an image such as photographs or frames of video the output of image processing can be either an image This has allowed new disciplines to encroach on some of the choices that were once the cinematographer's exclusive domain.

References

^ (John Hora, The American Cinematographer Manual, 9th Edition. )

2. ITV Local Westcountry I just had to pinch myself 20/2/08 Video Reference to Roger Deakins [1]

External links

Interview with Roger Deakins about his cinematography on ITV Local Westcountry
The History of Cinematography at Kodak. The following is a list of Video -related topics Numbers 3D 43 601 169 This article is mainly concerned with Still photography film For Motion picture film please see Film stock. Visions of Light ( is an American and Japanese documentary, directed by Arnold Glassman Todd McCarthy and Stuart Samuels Cinematographer Style is a 2006 (see 2006 in film) documentary by Jon Fauer, ASC, about the art of Cinematography
Cinematography.com discussion forums
Cinematography Mailing List archives

Dictionary

-noun

The discipline of making lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for the cinema.

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