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Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography Actors: Conrad L. Hall, John Bailey, Vilmos Zsigmond, Charles Lang, Sven Nykvist, Robert Wise, László Kovács Directors: Arnold Glassman, Todd McCarthy, Stuart Samuels Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Academy Ratio Format: Color, Black & White, Closed-captioned Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Running Time: 95 minutes Studio: Image Entertainment Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2000-05-09 Buy from Amazon |
 "Disappointing"Not certain what the raves are about, essentially a collection of short clips (the color ones are terrible) and retired cinematographers presenting shallow irrelevant synopses of their lives and the film. Learned nothing about lighting theory, technique, cinematography, or any of the other expectations I had.  "Amazing!"My instructor showed my class this movie about an hour ago, it was terrific, I love how movies work even more than I did before I watched it........... if that's possible. I hope to someday be luckey enough to join this field of work. "Eyes Wide Open"This is a great documentary. Across the course of the film, you may have your eyes opened as if for the first time: it comprises clips and interviews about the history of cinematography, or indeed the whole look and language of film. While many of the clips show well-known moments in film, their compilation in this way offers one fresh and striking visual after another. The revelation is the strength of early and rarely-seen films, and the assertion that had sound films been invented a decade later, the visual language of film would have developed and intensified still further. As it is, the images are just ravishing, and it's really rather moving to watch. This is a warm and thought-provoking look at cinematography, and is highly recommended. The only reservation is the mono sound on the DVD, but it's a small sacrifice when the visuals hold pride of place. Be prepared -- you'll want to revisit many classics after this! "A Special Vision for the Medium of Cinematography""Visions of Light" was a co-production of the American Film Institute and NHK[ Japan Broadcasting Corporation ]. The work has the blessing of, and was created with, the cooperation of the American Society of Cinematographers[ ASC ]. Some 27 ASC cinematographers were interviewed for this project, which was shot in the High Definition Video System format by director of photography Nancy Schreiber. The project inter-cuts three main types of footage as it's content: A) Film to Video transfers from over 100 feature films, shot during the period between 1907 and 1989. B) Film footage of the process of shooting some of the feature films in question. C) HDVS footage of interviews with cinematographers discussing both their own work and the work of others that they admire. One can sense from viewing this material, that cinematographers play a major role in shaping the visual feel of a film through their choice of: A) Camera - with different size cameras affecting the possibilities of shooting location and achievable motion. B) Film - use of color vs. black and white, choice of exposure, pre and post shooting film processing methods. C) Lighting - choice of different types and combinations of artificial lighting, or the sensibility of using natural lighting in different locations and at different times of the day. More discussion on the division of labor between director and cinematographer or from other contributors to the final contents of the film frame would have been desirable, but sadly such material is not included in this documentary. A working assumption of "Visions of Light" seems to be that the viewer would already have an intimate knowledge of film production methodologies. Still, the selections chosen from the feature films in question will be appreciated by all for their visual beauty. They will also serve as stunning curated documentation of highlights from the history of cinema. Directors Todd McCarthy, Arnold Glassman and Professor Stuart Samuels are to be congratulated for their thorough research into this subject. "Study of lights and shadows is visually enlightening""Director of photography. The person in charge of lighting a set and photographing a film. Also known as 'first cameraman,' 'lighting cameraman,' or 'cinematographer,' he is responsible for transforming the screenwriter's and director's concepts into real visual images." From Ephraim Katz's Film Encyclopedia. This collection of film clips and interviews with various DPs (director of photography) and camera operators such as Allen Daviau, William A. Frakeman, Haskell Wexler, and Nestor Almendros reveals their influences, the period during which they worked, what techniques were evolving, and anecdotes. Clips from about two hundred or so films are examined. Yes, as Ernest Dickerson says, cinematography's the way one responds to light. Initially, there was just a director and cameraman, the director in charge of the actors, the cameraman in charge of everything else. And the stationary cameras didn't give them much to do, but of course that changed over time with the camera dollies and booms, and later, handheld cameras, made more effective by Steadicams, whose inventors won a special Oscar in 1977 in the technical field. But camera movement gave the DP greater ability to achieve his visual triumphs. Other than the Katz quote, DPs were to tell the story visually and to make actors and actresses more handsome and prettier but to enhance special features. Actresses like Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo required special attention, but boy, did they sparkle! Dietrich's cheeks were made narrower with the lighting used in Shanghai Express. And small wonder Harold Rosson made Jean Harlow prettier in Red Dust--he even married her (lucky guy!) after her husband Paul Bern committed suicide. This takes a chronological history of lighting, from the silent era up to the late 1980's, and puts it in context with the history of film. For example, the role of cinematography changed with the advent of sound. According to cinematographer John Bailey, the 1920's were the golden age of cinematography because at the time, the camera was unencumbered by sound and all devices accompanying verbal dialogue storytelling. And when anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen came to be used, DPs had to find some way to use that extra space on either side, as they did with Lawrence Of Arabia, like the scene of Lawrence, having rescued Qaseem, who is greeted by one of the boys, riding towards him. And with the gradual independence from the studio system, previous errors such as flaring lenses were deliberately used as new techniques. My favourite era is the film noir era, which borrowed from the German Expressionism of the 1920's. Sparse lighting, slashes of light, dark shadows, dense rarified vocabulary of visual information, low angles define the characteristics of such films as The Killers, Out Of The Past, and Touch Of Evil. It's stark black and wide, hardly any greys. But other uses of dark or darkly lit techniques were shown with the candlelit sequence in Grapes of Wrath, a clip from Fat City, and the accurate capture of period dramas, where there was no electricity and so thus families relied on light from windows. As for best uses of technique, the pure visual accident in In Cold Blood, where Robert Blake's character is speaking to the chaplain about his father, and the light reflecting off the pouring rain on the window shone on Blake's face, making it look as if he were crying. This collaboration between the American Film Institute and Japan's NHK Television is ideally for film students/buffs and for moviegoers of a more intelligent and inquisitive calibre, which I hope will comprise of enough people. |
