All language subtitles for 109 - Working With Cinematographers

outside of the director

there is no one else on a project who has more impact

on what the filmmaking approach is going to be

and with the tone of the experience

is gonna be the pace of the

of the shooting

and the kind of

you know the

the the the

the mechanical problem solving of getting

you know getting that

getting those moments into those frame lines um and um

so you you know

you have to feel like there's a kind of

a creative compatibility

and if there isn't

you shouldn't go there

because that

that compatibility is is um

is is vital

and I think the way you determine that

it you know

has to do with um

um listening to that cinematographer early on

when you're in that interview process

or you're just having coffee and a conversation

talking about other movies

not movies they've done

other films um and

and understanding on a

I'm kind of a basic

personal level

because cinematographers are filmmakers

you know I mean

they're living and breathing it

you know everybody

as much as the director is

if there is a disconnect

between what they're seeing and feeling

well you don't want to talk them into your way

because even if they do it

they're not gonna fully understand it and feel it

and you actually want the cinematographer

to be feeling the movie in the same way

you want your actors to be feeling the scenes

you want the composer

to be feeling you know

what that music is gonna be in relation to the movie

and and you

as a director

want to fuel your way through the movie uh

as much as play apply

you know your

your intellect um

and and your experience

so if there is a disconnect

I think you need to hear it

understand it and

um you know

as much as you might love that person's work

you know find someone else to collaborate with

I rely very heavily on cinematographers

not so much to decide what the shots are

are literally going to be

or what the coverage is gonna be

um because I also think editorially

so it's very

very important to me to

to have the building blocks

to take into the editing room that that

that give me confidence

and I make me believe I'm gonna have control

over the moments the scenes

the sequences

and ultimately

the movie um

but I have Learned more from cinematographers

than probably anyone else in the um

you know in the

in the big collaboration

of making movies and television shows and I I

I have some cinematographers who I worked with many

many times but I always cast the movie

with the cinematographer to the cinematographer

and vice versa because I

I want them to bring something of themselves um

that that I think is gonna be additive

stimulating for me and um

and and sort of organic and um

significant for um

for the for the movie itself

based on their taste

their aesthetic

a lot of it is

is looking at the cinematographer's work

obviously and

but those conversations are very important

and I've never chosen a cinematographer without

without having a script for them to read

so they're reacting to something tangible

um and um and it's

it's one of the times when I really try to shut up

and let them talk as much as possible and not say

here's what I'm thinking

um you know I

I imagine it all to look this way

um I really try to

you know fold my arms and

and just instigate a conversation and hear

you know what they just naturally see as

as valid for this project and see if it aligns and um

usually with the people that I've worked with

I've never had a big problem with a cinematographer

you know we're immediately

you know we're sort of building on each other's ideas

and even in that conversation

and that's when I feel like there is gonna be

an exciting collaboration and

and yet for me

it's also important to establish that

as open as I am going to be

as much as I love to discuss and collaborate

that I am going to be decisive about

ultimately the way the scenes are staged and shot and

because in a live action

you know film or television project

the director is not only the keeper of the story

but he is the administrator of the resources

uh it's not up to the line producer

it's not up to the assistant director

at the end of the day

it's you know

it's up to the director to decide how long he or she

wants to invest in a particular scene

and cinematographer has to know that

whatever opinion he or she has

that they have to be

they have to be ready to follow the lead of the

of the director

very often um

my ideas are

you know greatly impacted

even shifted

based on what the cinematographer sees

and and and

and very often

they will bring in still photographs to back up their

their their idea

or they'll they'll

they'll point to um

a documentary or some

some interesting TV commercial or another movie that

that we've either seen

all seen or

or none of us have seen except this

you know the cinematographer

and begin to build the case

and it opens my mind and

when I say that I've Learned more from cinematographers

it I what I probably mean is that they

they have probably influenced me to stretch visually

and explore

um you know

the language of cinema in ways that um

others have never

you know never really tried to

but the cinematographers have um

have you know

have have have

have always been in

very inspiring to me

Don Peterman was the first a list

Academy Award caliber cinematographer

uh who I worked with

uh and you know

he had done flash dance

and some very cool thrillers

a lot of great commercials

and I was lucky enough to get him to do splash

very great relaxed guy

we wound up doing several movies together

including cocoon

and even some years later

how the Grinch stole Christmas

visually all different

but the lesson I Learned from Don

was to not be too literal about the staging

don't be afraid to

um you know

adjust to work with a location

and to work with a light

like I remember um

a scene that I was doing for splash

and it needed to be romantic

and the scene was supposed to take place over

in this portion of this

this this fruit and vegetable

um market and

um kind of CD

kind of dark and

you know if you're being literal about the staging

they should have stopped in this one place

that was kind of a corner

and he said

you're being too literal

this is romantic

let him exit that shot

and then let's pick him up over by that doorway

where we can have some beautiful backlight

we can shoot him in this great silhouetted profile

and then when I come around on the coverage

I can sidelight him

I can put a kick in her hair

you know and and and

and let it be beautiful and romantic

and I was hung up on it

because I was thinking more like an actor

I was you know

and and literally

if the scene was supposed to end here in this corner

why aren't we shooting it in the corner

it was so liberating

and I was so excited to see what he meant

and to see that it actually worked

and that I had

you know let him influence the scene in that way

and it was it was

um you know

it was the beginning of an education for me

now I've talked to a lot of actors about

becoming directors and

and they have great taste

they have great instincts

they understand the creative problem solving

and so much that goes into making a scene or story work

and they're intimidated by the photography

and I always say of all of

all of the areas

where you can actually trust a collaborator

it's that area of the cinematography

I said time and time again

you know talk to the cinematographer about

about what you want the audience to feel

and what you feel

and that cinematographer

if you know

if they're great

can can you know

evoke those feelings and they

they they know

they know what lens to use

ask them because you want to learn all that stuff

but that in and of itself

photography in and of itself

is not a barrier to entry for new directors

it shouldn't be

that is something that's important to understand

but it is also

something that you can get a lot of help with early on

and you can very quickly begin to

to grasp it and understand the language

and learn what the various lenses mean