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John Allen

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About John Allen

  • Birthday 02/18/1991

Profile Information

  • Occupation
    Cinematographer
  • Location
    Iowa

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  • Website URL
    http://www.johnallenphotography.com
  1. Hey everyone, I know this is very subjective, but when it comes to camera movement, what are your favorite films (or scenes)?
  2. I definitely agree, but I remember seeing/reading somewhere (and I'll post it if I can find it) where it was apparently Kazuo Ishiguro and Mark Romanek's original intension to find actors who were perfect for the roles, without their individual name getting in the way of the performance. In other words, they definitely didn't want to use the stars to push the film's credibility, because of course it would take away from the story. Also, I believe that when Romanek decided to cast Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield, they were still fairly young in the public eye. I think Mulligan was just finishing up on shooting An Education and Garfield had a minor role in The Other Boleyn Girl. We must remember that Romanek had been discussing this with Ishiguro long before they began preproduction. So even though Knightly is a very prestigious actress, the point was that they were not casting with the intention to use the stars fame to help boost the reputation of the film. This was the point I was making, and I wanted to commend Romanek and Ishiguro for doing it in this manner.
  3. I agree, Never Let Me Go seems to deserve something for cinematography. I guess it wasn't anything spectacular, but for a low budget film, I really felt it's deserving of recognition. :)
  4. Thanks David, that is a great list! Let Me In looks especially good, but I have yet to see it. I will need to do that ASAP! How did you like it apart from cinematography?
  5. Hey everyone, I haven't posted here for quite awhile, but I thought I'd show you all a simple little mood piece I did recently for a clothing company. I used the 7D with a helios (a great russian lens I found) and just used all natural light (something I'm growing more and more fond of). Anywho, there you have it. I hope you enjoy it, and if you don't, well then I'm sorry. lol Cheers! http://vimeo.com/17962035
  6. Hey I was just wondering if anyone else has seen Never Let Me Go yet and what did you think of it? I saw the film about a week ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. Adam Kimmel's cinematography was perfect for the story I thought; beautiful, but helped add to the story rather than take away from it. As for the story, I loved it! It's a story that doesn't come around very often, though it's a tale about things we've heard before. Among other elements, it's a story about love and the fear of change. Another thing about this film that really intrigued me was just the fact that when Mark Romanek (Director) and Kazuo Ishiguro (Author) decided to make the film they agreed that they would make it on a very low budget, and choose actors who were younger and less commonly known. I love this about the film just because I'm afraid directors (or perhaps the producers) too often pick actors with bigger names, and in the end it really hurts the film as a whole. I feel choosing to make the film on a low budget forces the filmmakers to base their decisions on the sake of the story, and I greatly admire that in a filmmaker. Let the discussion begin!
  7. Dude you can! That's awesome. Thanks for sharing. :)
  8. Oh no. I not only can now get 'writers block' but I can get 'lighters block' as well. The next thing that will haunt me will probably be something like 'sketchers block.'
  9. Great metaphor David! I can't think of any better way of putting it. But yes. It is all about the story folks! Story, story, story, story! Without it, you're lost. You gotta ask yourself, "why am I a cinematographer? Why do I want to make films?" If the answer is that you want to change a persons emotion through light and shadows, then you know that you HAVE to read the script. Memorize the script(I'm exaggerating a bit here). You've got to dive into that story and live it for yourself. That's the only way you're going to take that story and put it up there on the screen and tell it visually the way the writer told it through written word. It's our art. Our art is not just recording any old pretty image onto the camera; we are the story tellers. We're the ones that will create the emotion. And so I stress again(as do many of the others), story, story, story! Read the story, and pull out the hidden qualities it holds for you. Have fun! :)
  10. Alright, I hope you don't misunderstand what I'm about to say, because I'm not disagreeing with you. But, I have to point out that light is not always the best. What I mean to say is, you don't always have to see everything. Maybe a window light would be good, but maybe it wouldn't. Maybe it would be best to have only one light. Maybe you should only see the glimmer of his eyes. I just want to evoke the thought that adding lights isn't always a good thing. Darkness is your friend. I am a strong believer in the idea of having a room smothered in darkness with one single lamp silhouetting the character against the background. I like that image much better than having more lights than you really need. As most great DPs say, "it's not about what lights you can add, it's about what lights you can take away...that usually gets you a better image." As Gordon Willis said, "No is a very good word. Yes is a very bad word." What I think he's trying to say here is that keeping it to minimal is the best. The more you add light, the worse it's gonna look(most of the time that's the case). Again, I want to clarify that I am not disagreeing with you Oscar, I very much agree with having layers of light. I was merely afraid that he might get the impression that you need lots of light...when you really don't.
  11. Just got back from seeing the film. I thought it was really pretty solid. I thought that the trailers looked kind of corny, so I went thinking it was going to be corny. I have to admit, there were a few scenes that were a little corny, but I think those were intended. Overall I thought it was pretty good. Also, I thought it was cool how the DP let all the lights in the room flare off the lens. I think it gave it more of a "futuristic" or "sense of speed" look, which might have not been accomplished as well if he had avoided it.
  12. Haha, that was hilarious David. Thanks for sharing.
  13. So from the sound of it I'm guessing if they asked you to shoot the new Star Trek film, I bet you'd be glad to shoot it for free? :D
  14. Yeah you make a good point there. Sorry, I didn't phrase myself well, and I shall try and do better next time. I didn't necessarily mean that just because the WATTAGE is double, then it would be double the output. But yes I know I phrased myself that way, and so I understand the missunderstanding. I was basically trying to emphasize that since the HMI is more efficiant, then it would be at LEAST double the output. I am sorry for my lack in clearification. Anyway yes, I agree with you 100%.
  15. Well yeah of course the 1.2 HMI is going to have more light, it's double the output. But what I meant to say is that I think a tweenie would be all the light you'd need. Yeah, that's another advantage; it's cheaper to rent tungsten fixtures rather than HMIs. Either way, you could do both. I personally like the quality you get from the quartz lamps more than the HMIs, that is, when you are going for 3,200k.
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