RISE OF THE MACHINES Controlled remotely or programmed in advance, robotic camera supports provide precision, repeatability, and the power to get the lens closer to some subjects than ever before. Cinematographer Rob Drewett got into natural history filming via a…
STORING STORIES Data storage may not be the most glamorous of technologies, but in today’s world of digital filmmaking it is every bit as important as the camera. Tom Mitchell is the founder and technical director of Mission Digital, supplying…
A FINE VINTAGE By the late noughties, older lenses were considered by many to be too soft and generally obsolete. Then came digital cinema cameras, and suddenly so-called “vintage” lenses with their distinctive analogue characteristics were back in fashion. “We…
PAINTING WITH LIGHT(-EMITTING DIODES) From colourful punk gigs to offices full of flickering tubes, from cricket pitches made of light to glowing sea monsters, LED technology has opened up many possibilities for creative cinematography. “Although the quality of tungsten light…
KEEPING THE STORY MOVING From sliders to SnorriCams, Steadicams and stabilisers, grip is so much more than just a support for the camera; it’s a way to make the lens dance in step with the story. Cinematographers today have a…
Get with the programme Be it through image editing, 3D models, or just written notes, software is a crucial tool with which cinematographers communicate their creative intentions. “Software has become a completely vital part of my prep and shoot today,”…
(Art)ificial intelligence: a new force in filmmaking? The AI Rubicon has been crossed, but is the rise of the robots a good thing for cinematography? To call Stanley Kubrick a visionary would be an understatement. Having added artificial intelligence (AI)…
REACHING NEW HEIGHTS From a Korean beach to a Miami swimming pool, an English theatre to an American concert hall, cranes offer DPs a cinematic way to explore space and character. Florian Hoffmeister BSC tackled tides and translators to accomplish…
If you’ve had a bad experience with HDR (High Dynamic Range) in the early days, or been forced to use an ACES colour workflow at any point, I hope you might find this article useful. So far I’ve graded fifteen…
CAMERAS AT SPEED From superhero stunts in a circling single take to bloody revenge on a wildly spinning waltzer, the challenges of filming in moving vehicles are no barrier to a DP’s creativity. When Stephen Murphy BSC started the upcoming…
TOOLS OF THE TRADE Every DP today carries with them a powerful mobile device that can serve as notebook, viewfinder, light meter, compass and much more besides. Apps can help visualise and communicate, prep and plan. “What professional DP is…
FILTERED IMAGES DPs past and present discuss their favourite filters and consider the place of physical filtration in a digital world. “It’s still a question I ask myself every time I put [a filter] in front of the camera: is…
A NEW REALITY LED volumes are an exciting new tool in the cinematographer’s toolbox, mixing the real with the unreal. Four cinematographers who have already embraced the technology share their experiences. The term “virtual production” encompasses practices like pre-visualisation and remote…
Lead image: Zoe Boyle and Kerry Howard lit by China lanterns and covered wagons for Witless shot by Benedict Spence DYNAMIC ILLUMINATION We are lucky enough to live in a time when lighting technology runs the gamut from the simplest…
Lead image: Kevin Brari and 1st AC Lukas Fahnert shooting Lost in Time. (Photo: Steffen Schmitz) LENSES WITH CHARACTER Unusual bokeh, interesting flares, aberrations at the edges of frame – these are some of the artefacts which lens manufacturers once…
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