| Film Fanatic October 2002
The Cinematographer -- The Science and Art: Part
Two
Last month I described how important a film’s
visuals are to its story, and how a cinematographer’s job is to reveal subtext within
a story through visuals. This month I’ll be digging deeper into some of the
techniques and tools used by a cinematographer. This is a very complex branch of
filmmaking requiring years of experience and training to master. So consider what you are
about to read as just scratching the surface of this art, err, science form.
It’s all in the light
Everything our eyes see is created by reflected light. Go
into a darkened room with a flashlight and direct its beam at an object (say a wall
painted red). The light will reflect off the red wall back to your eyes. Since the wall is
red, it absorbs all colors within white light’s visible spectrum -- except for red.
Similarly, if the wall were blue then only blue would be visible.
This is, of course, a very simple example. The color of
light can vary depending on the material that is used to generate the photons from its
source. If the light is emitted from a fluorescent bulb the light will display more of a
greenish color. If the light is emitted from a standard 60W light bulb, then the object
will appear redder.
A good cinematographer knows how to leverage the color of a
specific light and make it work in the context of a filmed story. A good example of this
is in chapter 13 of Natural Born Killers, where Robert Richardson lights the
interior of a pharmacy to reflect the physiologically ill condition of Mickey and Mallory.
Tools and composition
If you were to rummage through a cinematographer’s
goody bag you’d find a camera, light meter, film stock, and lenses. This is not a
definitive list, rather the "meat and potatoes" of what empowers a
cinematographer to capture the reflected light off a subject and compose it within a
frame. The "frame" is literally the frame of the film material that sits behind
the lens of a camera.
The camera is essentially a black box with controls that
allow a quantity of light through a lens at a set interval of time. But remember,
cinematography is simply still photography in motion -- each frame is required to move
across the lens of a motion-picture camera at a rock-steady 24 frames per second (fps).
Any less and a human’s persistence of vision will fail to make the mind believe that
the images seen are tangible. Without tangibility an audience loses its suspension of
disbelief. Without suspension of disbelief the movie fails to be effective.
While some experienced cinematographers have been known to
measure light intensity by eye, a light meter is indispensable for accurately measuring
the amount of reflected light. Without it there would be no precise way to know how much
to expose a particular film stock. As consumers we rarely have to worry about exposure,
since automatic cameras have internal light meters that do the work for us.
Film material works by recording colors via
a light-sensitive chemical emulsion. This gelatin-based coating is bonded to a plastic
ribbon. The ribbon sports sprocket holes that secure critical 24fps movement and proper
alignment of the film through the camera. Depending on its recipe, an emulsion will react
differently to a particular wavelength of light. Take a peek at Kodak’s website and you’ll find that some
motion-picture film stocks enhance color saturation and some reduce it; some stocks favor
greens and some favor reds.
Typically a specific film stock supplies the basic look a
cinematographer is after. But like the popular cooking show Iron Chef, it’s
how a cinematographer manipulates that basic "theme ingredient" that contributes
to his or her unique interpretation of a visual.
Robert Richardson, for instance, uses 18 different film
stocks (and some videotape) in Natural Born Killers to realize Oliver Stone’s
vision of the media gone awry. But Richardson doesn’t just throw film in a camera and
hope for art. He applies further tuning of the film stock through lighting, colored
"gels" and glass color filters. Richardson also uses lenses to manipulate the
audience’s perception of the action and characters (like the use of a fish-eye lens
in chapter 13’s "Drug Zone" scene). In general, though, Richardson’s
methodology marginally prefers the manipulation of color to the geometry of an image.
While a film’s emulsion involves the manipulation of color, a camera’s lens
affects the geometry and composition of an image.
Lenses come in two types: telephoto (zoom) and prime. Prime
lenses have fixed focal lengths, while telephoto lenses allow the cinematographer to
adjust the perceived distance of the object to the front of the lens. A lens is in charge
of composing the geometry of a scene. This geometry is typically described in terms of
long shots (LS), medium shots (MS), close-ups (CU), and extreme close-ups (ECU). Each
"shot" corresponds to the relative distance of the filmed subject from the
audience. In the hands of a novice, a lens allows a cinematographer simply to direct an
audience’s eye to important details onscreen. In the hands of a master, a lens can
manipulate an audience’s emotions and perceptions through the geometry of an image.
A good example of this manipulation is in the last act of
the The War of the Roses. Stephen Burum’s use of lenses with long focal
lengths along with low, oblique angles perfectly complements the geometry of Oliver and
Barbara Rose’s twisted world. For the audience there is little doubt that Rose’s
sanity has gone off the deep end. And like William Munny’s interaction with Little
Bill Daggett in Unforgiven, very little is said between the Roses. What matters
most is expressed through the camera’s eye and the frame’s composition.
...Anthony Di Marco
anthony@hometheatersound.com |
