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Director Of Photography Commentary


forsself

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Hi,

 

If any of you guys know abot DVD's with commentary tracks made by cinematographers, camera operators, gaffers or anybody else in that department, it would be great if you could share the names of those films. It's not very common to get hold of films with a DP's commentary. Or maybe I'm wrong.

 

Fred

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I just rented one last weekend, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's film "Last Life in the Universe" which has a commentary track by Christopher Doyle. I didn't have time to listen to much of it, seemed interesting (he always is); more philosophy than 'what gear' (which is fine with me).

 

Maybe I'll rent again and listen to more of it.

 

Good film too !

 

-Sam

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Ed Burns's commentary for Sidewalks of New York focuses almost entirely on how the film was made. He covers photography, lighting, sound, getting permits, shooting without permits, editing, copyright issues, arranging for locations, etc., etc. If anyone knows of other commentaries that are as informative as this one, I'd love to know about them.

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Film(s) and Cinematographer Commentary

 

 

R.F.A.D, Abandon, The Speed of Life - Matthew Libatique

 

Roger Dodger - Joaquin Baca-Asay

 

Empire, Green Dragon, The Man From Elysian Fields -Kramer Morgenthau

 

Black Narcissus - Jack Cardiff

 

Fargo (Special Edition) - Roger Deakins

 

Do The Right Thing (Criterion) - Ernest Dickerson

 

Donnie Darko - Steven Poster

 

Field Of Dreams (Anniversary Edition) - John Lindley

 

Malcolm X - Ernest Dickerson - this was just released. Ernest should have been nominated for ASC and Academy for his work on this film.

 

Goodfellas - Michael Ballhaus

 

Personal Velocity - Ellen Kuras

 

George Washington - Tim Orr

 

End of the Affair - Roger Pratt

 

K-19/The Widowmaker - Jeff Cronenweth

 

Sunrise -F.W. Murnau -commentary by John Bailey

 

LOTR, FOTR, ROTK -Andrew Lesnie, Alex Funke ( i think this trilogy has the most commentaries of all time)

 

From Hell - Peter Deming

 

Rashomon (Criterion) comes with a special DVD documentary "The World of Kazuo Miyagawa"

 

Band of Outsiders (Criterion) - Raoul Coutard

 

Legends of The Fall (Special Edition) - John Toll

 

The Dreamers - Neal L. Fredericks

 

Monsoon Wedding -Declan Quinn

 

Mad Max (Special Edition) -David Eggsby

 

Se7en (Special Edition) - Darius Khondji

 

Fight Club - Jeff Cronenweth

 

Panic Room (Special Edition) - Conrad W. Hall

 

Alien 3 (from Quadrilogy set extra CD ) -Alex Thomson, worth it to see Fincher in action directiing as well as schooling a Fox executive

 

X-Men 2 - Newton Thomas Sigel

 

Dark City- Darius Wolski

 

Blade - Theo Van Sande

 

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind - Newton Thomas Sigel

 

Glengarry Glen Ross - Juan Ruiz Anchia

 

Walkabout - Nicolas Roeg

 

American Beauty - Conrad Hall with Sam Mendes.

 

In the Mouth of Madness - Gary Kibbe

 

Moulin Rouge - Don McAlpine

 

Romeo and Juliet - Don Mc Alpine

 

Insomnia - Wally Pfister

 

Purple Rain (20th Anniversary DVD)- Don Thorin

 

Monster's Ball - Roberto Schaefer

 

Oceans 11 - Steven Soderbergh

 

The Cooler - Jim Whitaker

 

Hedwig and the Angry Inch - Frank G. DeMarco

 

Fabulous Baker Boys - Michael Ballhaus

 

Light Keeps Me Company - DVD about Sven Nykvist, has comments from Vittorio Storaro interview

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Hi,

 

If any of you guys know abot DVD's with commentary tracks made by cinematographers, camera operators, gaffers or anybody else in that department, it would be great if you could share the names of those films. It's not very common to get hold of films with a DP's commentary. Or maybe I'm wrong.

 

Fred

 

It would be great if David Mullen could talk his producers into letting him do a commentary on his current production. We would all learn a great deal from it, plus it would increase sales of the DVD. :)

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A couple more that I've come across recently:

 

The Criterion edition of Fellini's 8 1/2 has an interview with Vittorio Storaro in which he talks about the significance of Gianni di Venanzo.

 

Also, the Criterion version of Pasolini's Mamma Roma contains an interview with Tonino Delli Colli.

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If any one you guys are ever planning on shooting on the streets or locations anywhere in India, check out Sandi Sissel's commentary on the DVD of "Salaam Bombay!".

Oh, and of course I doubt I have to mention it but "Visions of Lights: The Art of Cinematography" is a must have.

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If any one you guys are ever planning on shooting on the streets or locations anywhere in India, check out Sandi Sissel's commentary on the DVD of "Salaam Bombay!".

 

Thanks for this tip. I haven't seen the film, would like to.

 

Although I don't know if I'll ever shoot in India, I likely will again in SE Asia; anyway this sort of thing is much more interesting to me personally than, you know, "Spiderman" etc

 

-Sam

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The Brown Bunny (Japanese edition) has commentary by the DP. But the american version has not come out yet so I don' tknow if it will also include it. He explains how he focuses with one hand while acting and driving at the same time.

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Guest Willem

Another commentary that I really enjoyed listening to was for 'Oldboy'.

In fact there are threee commentaries on the special edition! (british version)

 

There appears to be some repitition at times concerning the use of green filters, wide angle lenses and bleach bypass but I actually found it reassuring to know that if I didn't catch it the first time they were bound to say it again.

 

Plus the Korean sense of humour is really dry. maybe that appeals cause I'm British. check it out.

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There is an excellent DoP commentary on "the cooler".

 

I do enjoy any DoP comments on smaller budget productions as, often, a lot of creativity has been called on and the production wishes to show it off.

 

I wish there had been a more solid DoP viewpoint on the Lord of the Rings disc set as there were some decidedly low-rent solutions used in pivotal scenes (my favourate being the use of christmas lights) but the amount of units operating would necessitate quite a group!

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"Cinematographer style" DVD is great!

Commentarys from Willis, Stern, Storaro, Balhaus, Toll, Mullen and many others...it's just so interresting and also funny.

One drawback: No extracts from movies..but it still absorbing believe me!

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Someone told me that John Toll did a commentary on Legends of the Fall, but I have yet to pull out my DVD and watch it with commentary on.

 

Conrad Hall has an interesting Audio discussion with Mendes on the American Beauty DVD.

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Clerks 2 - really!

 

Stop gasping and shreiking....Really!

 

The DP is the same from the Clerks and he talks a great deal about how that film does nothing for a DP's reel and what he had to do keep getting work. Good discussions on HD vs Film for low budget films, post process in DI to cover up mistakes and to create lighting effects/additions after the shooting. Plus you get a chance to listen to a DP who had to earn his creds after Clerks - again a movie that does nothing for ones reel.

 

Not a commentary for great tricks but one that shows how the industry changes and what working DPs need to learn wether they want to or not. And it is not too much of the Kevin Smith show... ;)

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