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outside of the director there's no one

else on a project who has more impact on

what the film making approach is going

to be and what the tone of the

experience is going to 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 Fram 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 uh

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 in a

conversation talking about other movies

not movies they've done other films um

and uh and understanding on a on a kind

of a basic personal level because

cinematographers are filmmakers you know

I mean they're living and breathing it

uh 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 going to 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

going to be in relation to the movie and

and you as a director want to fuel your

way through the movie uh as much as

apply 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 going to 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 going to 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've 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 uh that that I think is going

to 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 uh looking

at the cinematographers 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 uh

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

ought to look this way um I really try

to you know fold my arms and and do 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 I mean with the

people that I've worked with I've never

had a Hu a big problem with a

cinematographer

uh you know we're immediately you know

we're we're sort of building on each

other's ideas and and even in that

conversation and that's when I feel like

there is going to be an exciting

collaboration um and uh and yet for me

it's also important to establish that as

open as I'm going to be as much as I

love to discuss and collaborate that uh

I am going

to be decisive about ultimately the way

the scenes are staged and shot uh and uh

uh because in a liveaction 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

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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

u a documentary or some some interesting

TV commercial or Another Movie that that

we've either seen all seen or or or none

of us have seen except this you know

this 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 I what I probably

mean is is that 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 U have you know

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 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 uh cocoon and

even some years later uh you How the

Grinch Stole Christmas visually all

different but the lesson I learned from

dawn 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 the 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 uh in this

sort of portion of this um this this

fruit and vegetable um market and um

kind of seedy kind of dark and uh 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 sight them

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 weren'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 a of of an

education for me

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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 a 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 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