and photography can be a big problem. However, if they have a good relationship and are helpful to the film, why not work together again? Here, some long-term cooperation teams will discuss what makes them long-term cooperation?
When one examines the history of film, for example, "Batman: The Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan, he will find that the dynamic between the director and the photographer is a very critical relationship, "no less than the director and the protagonist The relationship between them." He will find that this is the decisive factor, not only about how a movie looks, but also how it looks like it was directed. The relationship between director
and director of photography is like the 18th century captain and his navigator, or Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones . But this is not always the case. Even in the golden age of Hollywood, the long-term relationship between director and director of photography was not as many as people thought. Of course, there are exceptions: Alfred Hitchcock used Robert Burks throughout the 1950s and 60s, whether it was in the black and white film Strangers on a Train or the color film "Ecstasy" Notes" (Vertigo). In other cases, such as Ingmar Bergman and Sven Nikovest, director and director of photography have become almost synonymous.
But today, directors make far fewer films than before. Their visual styles tend to become more obvious and personal. Some very solid, fruitful and iconic partnerships have been formed. We visited several teams to explore what makes a successful collaboration.
(top) Brian Singer (right) and his long-time co-director of photography Newton Thomas
Director Brian Singer and director of photography Newton Thomas Siegel have made many films together, including "X-Men" (X-Men), "The Usual Suspects" and "Superman Returns" (Superman Returns), their communication has been very tacit. "A lot of times," Singh said, "I can use gestures to tell him what I'm thinking, and I can show it to you, although it may seem funny. I will wave my hands around, and then we will Will know what the other party wants." In the long-time director/photographic director team, Singer and Siegel have overcome many obstacles-taste, arrangement and self-which can be ruined Factors for close cooperation. Although not bothered by these factors, they occasionally need to discuss it. "In "Action Target Hitler," Singh said, "Thomas and I were going to a spot in Germany, and the other members were rushing to the next spot. I convinced him to go to the subway station for lunch. Tom was worried about the team. The members have to wait, but I said,'Let's talk for 20 minutes, just the two of us.'" They were eating sandwiches and determined that the appearance of this historical drama would explode under Hitler's desk. Completely changed after a few seconds. In this film Tom Cruise plays the assassin who is about to assassinate Hitler. "At that Subway store, the two of us decided that from the bomb explosion, the camera will no longer be installed on the device, whether it is a tripod, a rocker or a Steadicam stabilizer, but we do not plan to hold the camera, it will not be like " It’s the same as in the movie "The Bourne". We call it a "human hold". Put the camera on your lap or shoulder. If the camera is placed on a swing arm, someone must hold it. The goal is to keep the camera as long as possible. It may be stable.'Nevertheless, this will produce a sense of movement and commotion that is almost imperceptible,'" Singh said. "I think this is common sense: when a cinematographer and director make a movie together, this experience is beneficial to both of them. They promote each other’s creativity and perhaps make each other more perfect. You want to make This relationship continues," Siegel said. "I am surprised that no more people have discovered this kind of symbiotic relationship with each other." These intentional and sometimes accidental relationships develop in many ways. Singer interviewed Siegel four times before officially hiring him to shoot "The Very Suspect." ("When I went to interview him for the fourth time, I thought he was a little annoyed," Singh said.) But when director Gilmo del Toro and photographer Guillermo Navarro joined hands, they became more famous The antiIt was the Mexican photographer who later filmed Cronos, The Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth, and 2 Hellboys.
Director Gilmo del Toro (right) and Guillermo Navarro
"The first film we made together was "The Devil's Silver Claw", but in fact our collaboration was a bit earlier than this. A Mexican film that you must have never heard of needed someone to draw a storyboard at the time, so I volunteered and didn’t ask for a penny because I wanted to work with Guillermo-he was famous for using light as a god. . Of course he was also famous for his bad temper." Del Toro recalled. Although knowing this, Del Toro relied on the "young man's shamelessness" to point out the mistake of the photographer who was older than him in the lens he set up. "He looked at me as if he was going to kill me. "Well, kid," he said, "Come and show me." So I walked around the front of the camera and showed him with my hand, "This is The top of your viewfinder, right? This is the bottom of your viewfinder, right? "We've been good friends since then." Speaking of this past, Navarro laughed, "He came to me , Pointed at me, and I said,'What is this guy? You don't even know the camera and you dare to tell me what to do?' "This is an interesting situation. "We have been together for 20 years since 1987," Del Toro added. "I don't think we ever quarreled." However, when under pressure, Del Toro remembers that they disagreed once: "We were filming "Devil's Silver Claw" and once we had a disagreement, and I said,'I think it was on the scene. The fill light is a bit too bright. He said, "Let’s do this: Let’s shoot once in my way, and again in your way. Then we will see the result.’ Of course, he is correct, I I think his lighting is beautiful and extraordinary, and I never questioned him again." Del Toro said that he and Navarro have complete trust-this is a quality that other director/director of photography teams should also need .
Christopher Nolan (right) and Wally Pfister
"Be cautious in every new relationship," Wally Pfister, who has filmed five films with director Nolan in the past nine years Photographer. These films include "Memento" (Memento), "Batman" and "Batman: The Dark Knight" (The Dark Knight). "In the beginning, you have to understand how they work, and then eventually, when you understand what they think, you can work together better. I will also help other people on the scene who are not familiar with his actions." "A lot of trust focus It's all about time allocation," Nolan explained. "The advantage of filming one film after another with the same team is knowing how to use time most effectively on site. But when Wally said that it takes time to do something, I trust him and will give him time." Familiarity with the director of photography may mean saving a lot of time, Siegel agrees. "If you work with someone for as long as I have worked with Brian, I know he doesn't want to do this or that, so I don't even have to ask," he said. "You will also find that when you work together for so long, a rhythm will be formed. You will know whether to take this shot or not, and what you should get from him; you have the established Complete the process, so you don’t need to re-establish the process every time, because your working methods are already in place.” Singh admitted that sometimes he and Siegel would quarrel about “overprocessing of images”, but everything he did was indeed It is very interesting. The director said, “He will first take pictures of what he has taken with a digital camera, and then grade it himself, giving the photos everything he wants to see in the digital relay. He provides this information to the graders. The colorist will adjust the material immediately on the spot. When the Genesis camera is used in "Superman Returns", or the film is used in "Target Hitler" or "X-Men", and then the film is transferred to a digital film, the adjustment The colorist already had Tom’s live notes in advance. So when we watched the material, I found that some parts were already completed. That’s pretty good. You can see a better picture. "YouThe correct appearance can be obtained at all stages of the process. "Chris really started to like shooting at magical moments (referring to the change of daylight at dawn and the change of light at dusk and sunset)," Fister said. ("They call this a'magic moment', but it's more like a magical 15 minutes." Nolan said wittily) "He likes this look, when we filmed "The Prestige", he said, "Let me know if there is a chance to shoot in that light." We were 5 days ahead of schedule. We should have shot a big night scene, and we shot it in the Universal Studio until 1:00 in the morning." Nolan hates working at night, and loves to shoot at dusk, Pfister has an idea. "I said to him,'Look, how are we shooting at magical moments? If you are confident, we can add the wide-angle lens and master equipment. I think I can do a good job of arranging the close-up shots, and we can leave here soon.' His eyes widened all at once." They finished their work at 10 o'clock in the evening. "The director is king," Pfister said of the power structure of the scene. "I won't do anything without discussing it with him. But well, great leaders are always willing to listen to the professional opinions around them." "The ultimate responsibility is the director," Nolan agreed, "but if you don't listen Good advice, then you are a fool.” Unsurprisingly, the most skilled photographers hope that their relationship with the director is to share creativity and pursue excellence together. "I refuse to treat my job as a tinkering plumber," Navarro said. Unfortunately, many filmmakers think that this is the role of a photographer, you are here to solve the problem, and you show up with a tool belt to make repairs. Del Toro respects Navarro's work, but this respect is also mutual. "When I set up a lens, I never hear him say a word, and when he sets up the light for the scene, I will not make any interference." As Siegel pointed out, when a person is too attached to something When thinking about it, it can only make the director of photography feel frustrated. "I did some camera tests when we were shooting "Action Target Hitler," Siegel said. "Some ideas aroused Brian’s curiosity. He wanted to take a look at the test. This is related to the choice of film and lens. What he cares about is the appearance of the film. I did this test for him. When he was in college Seeing the test on the screen, he said, “It looks like a European film.” We were in Germany, and for a moment I thought it was a compliment, and then I realized, “No, this is bad, it means It looks like an art movie.' So, that idea has disappeared." To determine the ultimate direction of this relationship, the most appropriate time is the "dating stage." Singer and Siegel already had a lot of experience working together before filming "The Very Suspect" in 1995, with one exception: Singer won the Sundance Award for "Public Access", which is the only one. Siegel did not act as the director of photography for Singer films. "I like the tape he cut out," Singh said. “But I’m testing this person’s personality. I’m not just doing interviews for "The Very Suspect", but doing interviews to find collaborators in all my films. That’s why I asked him to come back for multiple interviews. I don’t Just to measure his work, I also want to determine whether this is someone I can get along with for more than 35 days, or something.” One thing that cannot be foreseen is how technology is inserted into the director and his/her director of photography. In the dance. "It won't change the chemistry between us," Siegel said, "but it definitely changed what we have to do. Even in deciding whether to use film or digital shooting. This is something we never had to consider before. , I think it depends on the situation, because every movie is different. I don’t think we are at a stage where you can say "I shoot film" or "I shoot digital". Even shooting 2D or 3D . Every project has its own requirements."
Michel Gunray ("Warmth with Light", "Ace Producer"), operates outside the studio system, and his partners usually Award-winning director of photography Alan Kuras. He said that the choice of media generally depends on what is best for the project, and it is up to the two of them to discuss and decide. Like most directors, he hasn't been forced to shoot in HD yet-it's not because he doesn't have a good affinity for HD. "In some projects and appropriate circumstances, we have already photographed in digital format," Gang Rui said. Even if Kuras is 35mm tallAt first, she still had some questions about working with Gang Rui. "I have seen Michelle's commercials," she said. "Because many works are about time and space, not specific visuals, I remember thinking at the time, ‘oh my god, he really needs help in the visual department.’" But she liked his idea. "I have always been interested in dealing with hallucinations in a native way, in-camera effects. He really likes organic, things that the special effects department hasn't post-processed." "So I walked into the meeting ["NuanNuan contains light" Meeting] said, “I’m interested in meeting this person and talking to him, but if he doesn’t care what the movie looks like, if he doesn’t care about shooting with VHS like 35mm, I’ll consider if I still want to I made this film. Because most of what I do is about photography and visual storytelling.'" In the film, the role of Kate Winslet evaporates from the life of the role of Jim Carrey. So Gang Rui showed her picture. "This picture was a crumpled, peeling picture," Kuras recalled. "After that, he showed me this peeling and peeling photo and said,'This is how I want Kate to disappear, this is what I think of in my head.'" "This completely hit my red heart ," Kuras said. "I can see painting, liquid emulsion, glass and its peeling, and how to make the movie look like this. We are talking about mirrors and glass, and I think everyone knows that. We are very excited to work together and have many ideas. Waiting for us to discuss together." "When we met for the first time, I said,'How would you take this, how would you take that?'" Gun Rui described the encounter with Kuras. "I really gave her a problem, but what she told me was exactly what I wanted to hear." He didn't want to use more artificial means to achieve the natural and humane characteristics of his story. . "We talked about movies, which is a very intimate description of human nature. We all agreed that we want to shoot life that can be truly felt, and she has very specific ideas on how to do this." Kuras agreed to communicate And professional knowledge is important for successful cooperation, but humor is also important. "In "Warm and Inner Light", she said, "Associate director Michael Hausman always teased everyone, and called Michelle Frenchman from him. He would say,'Bring that The Frenchman came out and said, "We were all stunned, he dared to make a joke about Michelle being a Frenchman!" "But, Michelle laughed," Kuras recalled, "So we all laughed, and then it became 'Cheers to France!' The stupid ban imposed by Bush at the time required that things not be said to be'French', so Michael began to say,'Where is the toast to freedom?' Michelle came out and said,'Michael, I It’s not a toast to freedom. I’m to a toast to France!'”
personality undoubtedly affects the working relationship between the director and the director of photography. The same is true for the understanding of power division. Before the production started, Del Toro said that he sketched out the palette, the visual vocabulary they had to deal with, the movement of the camera, all of which had no problem. ("This is an open, self-explanatory situation," he said.) Then, he and Navarro worked together to figure out what to move—lighting and other equipment, walls, floors, building debris. "His experience is indispensable," Del Toro admitted. "When I looked at the scene, I saw beauty, artistry, aesthetics, and poetry. He looked at it and thought,'How do we light this place? Is the distance between the walls enough? How can we make it work? Environment?” He once said to the production designer, “If you don’t agree with my method of lighting the scene, you can collect the ticket money and let people come to visit.” Del Toro added, “I might List sketches for specific scenes, and Gillemore would say, “How will this affect the skin tone of the actors?” Some of my actors have weird skin tones. I came with a fully formed concept, and we sat down to discuss After reading the script in two or three days, one scene after another, and then all the artistic and choreography concerns.” Del Toro said, he used to look at the shooting through the lens (“When I was thin,” he joked ), "But we now have a video monitor. I also know his cameras, Yacida, Fortunata-each has a woman’s name, and each has its own personality. Essentially , We are like brothers, sometimes he is an older brother, sometimes I am an older brother, usually I am a younger brother, but occasionally at a certain time, he needs an older brother. You can’t imagine that someone is missing at the sceneLook like. Guillermo is an indispensable person. "However, keeping the team united is sometimes also about schedule, practical factors, and artistic factors: "In my career I will not make more than 50 films," Nolan said, comparing his output with studio directors in the 1940s. Than. "We are making fewer films today. Furthermore, my two latest feature films are two-year projects, so it is difficult to match the schedule. This is life. But Wally likes to shoot commercials. He will do commercials when I make feature films, which is good. "If there is a perfect match between the director and the director of photography, it will be a gratifying creative experience for the members of the team. "The director is the person who brings the project to the stage," Kuras said, "but as a director of photography, I feel that I am working on the project. Participate a lot in the media and help the director shape it in many ways. For many people, their ego will hinder them and they will not try to understand what another person thinks. You have to be open enough to try different ideas. ”
