current fave director?

[twister!]

Oh well, can't abstain any longer - as almost nobody else has mentioned him - my vote is as always with Mr Hitchcock (but not sure whether you mean currently favourite or currently working).

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ May 25, 2003 01:33 PM: Message edited by: Justin (formerly Twister) ]</font>

[Matt Green]

Wachowski Brothers, Orson Welles, Baz Luhrmann and Quntein Tarantino

[GREATwarEAGLE]

This thread should have been titled current fave cinematographer. The majority of examples listed that support everyone's fave deal with "camera work." That's cinematography.

[Yammeryammeryammer]

Yes. That's true. But then again, the DPs and cinematographers do answer to the director. And also some of these directors (Rodriguez, Raimi, etc) have styles they have had since their low budget days which often involved a small or nonexistant crew, leaving the 'camera work' duties to the directors. Good point though Eagle.

[belovedmonster]

i thought the cinematographer was only responsable physical for the look of the film, ie. lenses, film stock, lighting etc.

Camera work is done by the director working closely with story board artists (artistic drafts men with knowlege of staging, editing and composition, aswell as some cinematography knowledge) aswell as perhaps working with production designers.

The cinematographer is who lights the film and just generally makes sure the film looks like the director wants it. He isnt the one who decides is the camera is going to pan or cut, or whether to use a low angle or not.... all that is done by other people. Namely the director.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ May 26, 2003 09:41 AM: Message edited by: belovedmonster ]</font>

[belovedmonster]

im not saying the cinematographer isnt an artist, it is them that can make a movie look beautiful or not. It is them that creates the mood and atmosphere in any given shot. Something which is definately an artform.

Im also not arguing that all directors do the exact same thing, i agree some have thier abilities focused in different areas of the film making process.

Im just saying who ever said this thread should be fave cinematographers is wrong becos when we say we dont like the camerawork we are not talking about the look of the film, or indeed the look of the visuals as a whole... but specificly at the camera work in terms of framing, composition and things like that, which isnt part of the cinematographers job.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ May 26, 2003 01:11 PM: Message edited by: belovedmonster ]</font>

[Haxmin]

I would just counter that that argument does not hold water in all cases. It depends very much on who the Director and Cinematographer are. Often the DOP will actually decide most of the shots in a movie. Other times he won't actually decide any. Normally the shots you see on film come from creative Discussions between the Director and the DOP - If the camera work is poor they are normally equally to blame for that. It's like suggesting the the wardrobe dept, sfx dept or sound and music dept just do as the Director tells them without actually forming a great deal of creative input themselves. I feel that argument is wrong and the occassions where a Director would take this stance normally leads to a total stinker of a movie.

My point is that your argument just seemed a little bit sweeping and generalistic.

[belovedmonster]

Im sure cinematographers have input on camera work in some cases, but what is certain... although a cinematographer might have input in some films, the director has imput in all films. And at the end of the day the cinematographers main job is that of the look and style of the shots, not the compositions of them.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ May 26, 2003 01:58 PM: Message edited by: belovedmonster ]</font>

[Generic Skinhead]

Most of the shoots I've worked on the DOP has had equal or even more say in framing than the director. And both of them are really answerable to the producer.

[GREATwarEAGLE]

"DP's are responsible for all matters pertaining to the photography of the film lighting, exposure, composition, cleanliness, etc. are all ultimately, their responsibility."

This quote was taken from
http://www.filmmakers.com/features/c...aphy/cine2.htm
Not that I think this website is the last word on the subject. But it reflects standard filmmaking protocol.

I posted that this thread should be titled current fave cinematographer, because that was, for the most part, what everyone seemed to be specifically addressing - each director's concern with cinematography. Whether it was the director behind the camera or the DP.

Acting. How the scenes unfolded. How the scenes were set up. What was left for the audience to decide. What was subtle, what wasn't. What aspects of the characters and the story were explored. And how was all this done so that the audience would be engaged.
This is the meat and potatoes of the director's job.

Framing, composition, and lighting, while effective and sometimes crucial, really shouldn't be the primary concern of the director.

There are plenty of exceptional films that have no visual flair whatsoever. But they succeed because the director concerned him/herself with other, more important responsibilities.

But don't take it from me...

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><table border="0" width="90%" bgcolor="#333333" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="0"><tr><td width="100%"><table border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" bgcolor="#FF9900"><tr><td width="100%" bgcolor="#DDDDDD"><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif"> I have made two short "serious" student films before, but I utilized friends of mine in those; I was more concerned in learning about lighting, composition, etc., than getting good performances at the time. I don't want to go down that route again. </font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></BLOCKQUOTE>

This quote was taken from a thread from the Hostboard forum, Super-8 Filmmaking:
http://www.hostboard.com/cgi-bin/ult...c&f=409&t=3156