Henry Weidemann

Movies: -Heat -Into the Wild -Once upon a time in the west Directors: -Michael Mann -Ridley Scott -Sergio Leone Cinematographers: -Roger Deakins -Robert Richardson -Conrad Hall

I went to see "Syfall" on friday and really liked it. I don't have much knowledge of technical details regarding the cinematography, but I've always admired Deakins' style and think he has done a great job. Especially the scenes in Shanghai and Macau look just beautiful!

Just found this interview with Danny Cohen talking about "The King's Speech": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3197e49Slo

I have my fingers crossed for Deakins. But I think Wally Pfister wins.

After Roger Deakins won a BAFTA for "True Grit" it is now Wally Pfister who wins the ASC Award for "Inception". Thoughts?

I agree. I was stunnend about the reactions of the people in the cinema after the films final scene. They applauded and celebrated...but not because they loved the film...they where happy it was finally over! :o Of course it was a very unusual and quiet film with long shots and view dialogues. Pretty much like an Italo - Western, but the reaction made me kinda sad. I think it was beautifully photographed and Corbijn really put the focus on the images rather than the spoken words to tell the story. I think we are just not used to this Leone - style filmmaking anymore.

"Red Riding 1974" was the latest british film I saw. Interesting cinematography. Really liked it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQnBJuskguE

I haven't seen "The King's Speech" and "True Grit" yet, but if Deakins doesn't win this year, I am going to do crazy things. The few short clips I saw of "True Grit" where amazing. Of course Pfister did a great job on "Inception" as well and it probably wouldn't be a surprise if he wins, but I go with Deakins.

I think it's almost impossible to find a copy of American Cinematographer Magazine anywhere in Germany, even not in Berlin. If you want to have a copy of it you have to rely on the archive editions on www.theasc.com, or maybe ask around at the local film schools in Berlin. Maybe they have it there for some educational reasons.

I recently came across a documentary about Flamenco, directed by Carlos Saura and photographed by Vittorio Storaro! I think its just beautifully shot. You can find the whole film on a well known website. :) Here's a trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xg2-8Ipvz4

The movie opened last week in Germany and I went to one of the first screenings. The trailer looked amazing and I couldn't wait to watch the whole thing. Unfortunately the projection at the cinema had a very poor quality but I enjoyed everything nonetheless! I have to say that Jason Reitman is not just a great director but also a very gifted writer! The whole movie looked great but especially the shot where George Clooney sits alone in his hotelroom at night drinking a glass of whisky (I think it was after he went to Chicago and found out that Alex has a husband and a family) got me on my knees. It looked absolutely stunning!! Great work!!

Well, it's a tough thing to chose for me since my list is endless :rolleyes: anyway... The Thin Red Line, John Toll Road to Perdition, Conrad L. Hall Collateral, Dion Beebe/Paul Cameron In the Mood for Love, Christopher Doyle The Assassination of Jesse James, Roger Deakins Girl with a Pearl Earing, Eduardo Serra Last Samurai, John Toll The Cooler, Jim Whitaker Master and Commander - The far Side of the World, Russell Boyd Saving Private Ryan, Janusz Kaminski

I would recommend you to take a look at "Network" directed by Sydney Lumet. There's a bar scene in the very beginning of the film that looks just fantastic. Maybe you can get some inspirations from that.

The movie came out yesterday in Germany and I took the first opportunity to watch it. I liked the movie itself a lot as I like almost every film Michael Mann did so far - although I have to add that it could be a bit more epic and slower. The costumes and art direction is great, but I think it was definetly the wrong decision to shoot in HD. The day-scenes where ok but I had my problems with some of the interior sequences - especially the scene in the restaurant where John meets Billie for the first time. I thought it looked terible! I think if you shoot a period movie like this it would be a better decision to shoot it on 35mm. Although, as I said, the costumes, art direction and make - up have been great, I never had the feeling that I am in the 1930's, because the whole movie looked too modern and too stylish to me in HD! But anyway, I would still recommend it because it's a Michael Mann film and it's very entertaining.

Visually it looks stunning! I wish I could see the whole film one day!

I got exactly the same answer (and I think everyone does). The last sentence gives a little hope that they maybe think about some opportunities to stay in contact with the people online.

This is really a pity! For me as a beginner in Cinematography Roger's Website has been a wonderful source of help and information. When I discovered his site first, I was so happy to be able to get my questions answered by a highly acclaimed cinematographer. This website was probably the best cinematography master class you can get for free and on the web! I agree to what other guys have written above. I will write a mail to the webmaster as well and I hope others will do the same so that we hopefully can reach a conclusion that is helpful for everyone.

I think there's a difference between "realism" in the common sense of the word, and "realism" in the sense of telling a story for a motion picture. I can't remember seeing those "unrealistic" moments when I watched the movie, but it's now 3 - 4 years ago that I've seen it. I think if the lighting goes hand in hand with the story and if it works out the unspoken elements of the story, it can be realistic or natural as well, just in a different way.

The interior light is way to dominant to create the "sunset" - effect. As mentioned above, the light has to come through the window but first you should think about how you want it to look like: Shall there be only the light of the sunset? Or shall it be combined with some interior lighting? If you frame the shot like you did it in the photo you have to justify the sunset - mood by letting the light come through the window because the window is visible in the frame.

I watched the movie on Thursday and thought it looked good. At one close up shot of Naomi Watts I could recognize a small blurring but that really doesn't matter :rolleyes: . Especially the aerial shots looked really great...and I agree to what Tim noted above: The framing was really nice.

Here's a great interview with my favorite Cinematographer Roger Deakins: http://www.indigestmag.com/deakins1.htm

Hey Thomas, the first one is good, I like the framing of some of these shots. I don't know the intention of your teachers but I can imagine that they wanted to see how much your images are able to express without any movement or music because these two elements influence a lot the emotional effect that images create and they make them look stronger than they really are. As a suggestion you could try to change the depth of field in some shots (if your camera allows you to change it).

Well, I haven't seen all of the nominated movies but I would think that Miranda is going to be the favorite, he did a wonderful job on "Benjamin Button". I truly admire Deakins - he is overdue for an Oscar, but the fact that he has shot "The Reader" together with Chris Menges who has already won two Oscars combined with the fact that the Academy members have their own mind in such cases will possibly let his chances melt down.

I would highly recommend "Collateral" and "Memoires of a Geisha", both films look stunning in different ways. Some might say that "Memoires of a Geisha" looks overdone and looks too beautiful...I don't think so...take a look at it yourself.

Hey Jay, the first advice I can give you is: take a camera and shoot, shoot, shoot. Because this way you can find out if that's really what you wanna do. Try to experiment with the camera and you will learn about its functions and and see how to use them in specific situations. Try as well to experiment with light, just to see how it affects the object(s) you lit and what kind of moods you can create by putting it at different angles. Walk around outside in the nature and keep your eyes open wherever you go. You always get in contact with any kind of light sources no matter if they're natural or artificial, indoors or outdoors. See how it forms the environment and how it shapes the look of things, people, whatever. You will get a feeling for it and it will help you to use it as a narrative tool. Take a look at paintings and study the way painters used light, colors and the image formation to tell a story. This can be a great source of inspiration (for example Claude Lorraine, Caspar David Friedrich, Jan Vermeer...). Try to study the works of great cinematographers as well. You will find a lot of movies mentioned here in this forum. For example take a look at the works of Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now), Conrad Hall (Road to Perdition), Roger Deakins (The Asassination of Jesse James) or Sven Nykvist (if you are interetsed in B/W). On the following adress you can find a lot of interviews with famous cinematographers wich is a useful source as well: http://www.cameraguild.com/ I hope I was able to help you a bit. I am a beginner as well, but there are lots of experienced guys around here I am sure they can help you a bit more. Cheers!