Digital Media Concepts/New Age Cinema - Film Cinematography

Movies. Cinema. One of the greatest forms of art. Cinematography, also known as the technology for motion-picture photography, is one of the biggest foundations in creating a film expressing storytelling and visual art. Cinematography is the general composition in a film with elements such as lighting, framing, composition, camera motion, lenses, zoom, exposure, and most importantly, the camera itself.

Panavision Film Camera Set

History Of Cinematography

The history of cinematography began in the late 1880’s. The history of cinematography is credited to Louis and Auguste Lumière. Film back then was mostly stationary on sticks, also known as tripods. The dolly also known as the, “camera carriage” is a contraption with a track that can move the camera smoothly for a shot. The first camera folly was invented in 1936 designed by Victor Raby and made by Studio Equipment Company. The famous crane shot is a shot where the camera is seen to go down. In 1916 the first accepted crane shot was credited to Allan Dwan for DW Griffith's Intolerance. Since then crane shots have been more used and more creative in new age cinema. One of the most iconic cinematography techniques is the Dolly Zoom, also known as the vertigo shot. The famous shot was invented by Irmin Roberts, a second-unit cameraman on the set of Alfred Hitchock’s Vertigo. This shot has been used in many other films including Films by Brent Ramos and Funwithcoolbros Films. The steadi-cam is one of the greatest and most innovative devices in cinematography history. It was first invented by Garret Brown in the 1970s The camera is minted on a stabilized rig that proceeds to give people non shaky shots. It was used in the movie, Bound For Glory the same year as Rocky by cinematographer Haskwell Wexler.

Cinematographers

Linus Sandgren Linus Sandgren is an Academy Award winning Swedish cinematographer. He is mostly known best for his work with Damien Chazelle on the goated film La La Land (2016) and his collaboration with David O Russel on the films American Hustle (2013)

Roger Deakins Roger Deakins is an English cinematographer known best for his work on the films with the Coen brothers, Sam Mendes, and Denis Villeneuve. He is also a member of both the American and British Society of Cinematographers. Deakin’s first feature film as a Cinematographer in America was the film, Mountains of the Moon (1990). Deakins’ has has won multiple Academy Awards in cinematography such as 1917 (2019) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Hoyte van Hoytema

Hoyte van Hoytema is a Dutch-Swedish cinematographer who is best known for movies such as Dunkirk, Tenet, Let The Right One In, and interstellar. He studied at the National Film School in Łódź. Christopher Nolan and van Hoytema are no strangers to pushing the limits of cinematography as far as they would want it to go

Film Camera

The oldest example people could think of the first movie camera would be the first example of motion pictures by Eadweard Muybridge in the year 1987. Muybridge set up 24 cameras across a racetrack capturing a horse in motion and creating the first motion picture. Camera’s have evolved from film to digital throughout the years. Many film-makers still use film photography for preference. Camera’s have evolved more throughout the years of cinema. The most popular companies for film cameras are ARRI and RED. These companies have had their products used for many productions in New Age Cinema shown on many films and television. Camera's are the main ley when it comes to Cinematography

Arri Alexa

The Arri Alexa is a digital motion picture camera by Arri. The first time it was introduced was in 2010. Alexa cameras are designed for being used in motion picture feature film, television shows, and commercials. Alexa uses a series of image sensors manufactured by ON Semiconductor

IMAX Camera

IMAX is a proprietary system with high-resolution cameras, formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having this very wide and large aspect ratio with steep stadium seating. The Cameras has an aspect ratio using a larger film resolution.

Red Camera

A Red Camera is a highly customizable digital camera that’s capable of creating gorgeous pictures in 4K to 8K resolutions. It’s meant for professional and semi-professional cinematography. The Camera is known for many attachments such as Brains, Lens Mount, Accessory Package.

Popular Films

La La Land

La La Land is a 2016 film by director Damien Chazelle. Actor Ryan Gosling and Actress Emma Stone play a jazz pianist and aspiring actress that ended up falling in love while pursuing their dreams in Los Angeles. The film shows great techniques of visual art storytelling with incredible cinematography by cinematographer: Linus Sandgren. The film shows beautiful lighting and camera movement which was able to win an Academy Award for best Cinematography.

1917

1917 is a film by director Sam Mendez showing the events of Battle of Poelcappelle, a small skirmish in the large Battle of Passchendaele, or the Third Battle of Ypres. The story is about 2 young soldiers who have to pass through enemy territory to send a message in order to potentially save 1,600 fellow comrades. The film is known for looking like one complete un-interrupted shot by the incredible cinematographer, Roger Deakin’s. The film shows beautiful lighting and camera movement which was able to win an Academy Award for best Cinematography.

Dunkirk

Dunkirk is based on the events of 1949 with the advance of Germany into France, trapping Allied troops on the beaches of Dunkirk. The film is directed by Christopher Nolan who is best known for his work on, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Interstellar, Memento, and Tenet. In 2018, Hoyte van Hoytema Won best cinematography in the 90th Academy Awards.