art influence on cinematography?

[richard staff]

hello,

 

I am about to go into my final year at the University of the creative arts in Farnham, Surrey, England and im writing a dissertation on how art influences cinematographers.

 

i was wondering if any one has come across books/ articles or anything that could be helpful towards my dissertation?

 

also if you have gained inspiration from a piece of art work (fine art, photography etc) and how you used it, maybe show some examples of how it connects would be brilliant.

 

i want to show in my dissertation that cinematography isn't just point and shoot and that a lot of work goes into it with influences from art and other pieces of cinematography running through the cinematographers mind.

 

this also maybe a bit of a broad question for my tutors but i thought i would start off big getting as my research as possible. so if you have any idea on how to cut this question down and make it more precise that would be a brilliant help, for example only using certain DOP's and films like how Matthew Libatique uses the influence of Goya in Requiem for a Dream.

 

thank you for your time,

 

richard staff

3rd year film production student studying cinematography.

[Brian Drysdale]

Jack Cardiff has talked many times about the influence of art on his work.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Cardiff

 

A number of other cinematographers name artists that have influenced them.

[richard staff]

one of my lecturers at university was jack cardifs camera opp and clapper loader and good friend for a long time his name is chris pinnok (i think thats how its spelt) but will deffinatly look into that thank you.

[Joey Bania]

The Cinematography edition of the "Screencraft" series has interviews with some of the masters of cinematography and a unifying theme is their universal adoration for the works of the Masters of painting. It's definitely worth checking out as each has their own favorite, though Rembrandt and Vermeer come up most frequently.

[Tom Jensen]

I appreciate art as much as the next guy but I think realistically, cinematographers are more influenced by the work of their peers.

[Patrick Cooper]

You might want to check out the American Cinematographer article of The Thin Red Line in the February 1999 issue. John Toll discusses the look of the film being influenced by artwork. Though this section of the article is very brief.