The impact of cinematography

I have decided to investigate cinematography as I want to expand my knowledge on this

aspect of filmmaking in order to create a more engaging production. According to
Masterclass film 101 cinematography is the art of photography and visual storytelling in a
motion picture, it comprises of all on-screen visual elements which include lighting, framing,
camera motion and angles and colour. Through my research into the development of
cinematography over time and its effect on storytelling it will deepen my understanding of
the topic and how to implement this into my own production.
The significance cinematography has on storytelling can largely shape a film’s structure. The
strongest examples usually do this subtly. In a similar manner that UX design decisions are
made with research and purpose; the best cinematography is always practiced with a
reason of enhancing the movie watching experience. Cinematographer Roger Deakins
stated “You’ve got to know why you’re doing it; it’s got to be for a reason within the story,
and to further the story.”

Greg Toland was the cinematographer for Citizen Kane, his cinematography was widely
considered to be miles ahead of its time. The production made many significant
contributions to cinematography, a prime example being a technique called deep focus.
According to sparknotes.com the technique deep focus refers to keeping everything in
frame, even the background, in focus at the same time. This technique requires lighting,
composition and the camera type to be combined in order to produce the desired effect.
The use of deep focus is most prevalent in the scenes that demonstrate Kane losing control
and when he isolates himself as it gives viewers a clearer view of the space around Kane.
Citizen Kane is considered to have introduced Hollywood to the creative potential of many
cinematic techniques that cinematographers still use to this day. Flickside.com states that in
order to achieve the perfect composition they actually cut holes in the floors of their sets in
order to get the perfect low angles they needed, this impacts the storytelling as it makes
Kane seem dominant and visually tells the audience that he is powerful which gives them a
better understanding of his character and therefore understand the storyline better.
Toland also thought very deeply into the camera angles used, for example after Kane loses
the election high angle shots are used to show that he is defeated and make him look
smaller, dissimilar to the picture
demonstrating a low angle used to the
left. Contrastingly, when Kane is
campaigning in Madison Square Garden
a low angle shot is used to portray his
dominance and confidence.
Furthermore, Toland also uses camera
movement to reflect the moods or
change in relationships of his characters
evident in the scene at breakfast
between Kane and Emily. Flickside.com
states that Toland uses a swiss pan to
demonstrate that several years have passed in the married life of Kane and Emily. In the
start, both of them share closeness,
however later on they have positioned themselves away from one another signifying the
distance that has developed in their relationship.
Moreover, according to nofilmschool.com Citizen Kane is probably one of the most famous
uses of split dioptres, which according to masterclass.com is a partial lens that attaches to a
standard camera lens and features at least two different focal planes, to achieve the desired
deep focus cinematography.

The cinematographer for Carrie was Vilmos Zsigmond where his aim was to create a
cinematic world that is similar to our own and yet completely foreign. The lighting makes a
large impact on the cinematography in this film, as stated by Justin Morrow at
nofilmschoool.com, especially in the iconic prom scene where blue lighting is used to reflect
the proud, triumphant moment where Carrie is crowned prom queen. However, this is very
abruptly interrupted when red lighting invades the scene as the cruel blood related joke is
executed when the film reaches its climax. The use of these contrasting colours mirrors the
switch in moods and circumstances in the two scenes.
In regards to the camera work one of the most stand out scenes is shot in one long
sequence which consequently builds the tension of the scene. The movie mixes long shots
with quick cuts, split screen all to create the feeling of not being able to escape. According
to the cinematic corner blog some of the effects were interestingly achieved, for example
when Carrie flips a car, the interior shot shows passengers spinning along with it but this
wasn’t actually achieved by actually rotating the actors in a car but by simply spinning the
film frame in post-production. Similarly, to in Citizen Kane, a split dioptre is used to
create the desired focal effects. For example, Carrie is seen waiting outside with no one
around her but as the angles switch and the split is cleverly hidden the principal’s secretary
becomes clearly in focus, and therefore seems much closer to Carrie than the audience
knows her to be. Consequently, Carrie seems as though she’s being watched and the
audience get the impression someone is always right over her shoulder even when we know
they aren’t literally.
Referencing
mehlsbellswordpress.com ‘the
split dioptre lets the director
put us in Carrie’s shoes
without POV shots or any sort
of dialogue’, The picture to the
right demonstrates how the
split dioptre is thoughtfully
hidden between the green
stripe of the wall.

Similarly, to in ‘Carrie’, ‘The French Dispatch’ uses colour to display a change in tone
through the different scenes. As the storyline switches between the past and present the
lighting is used to portray this change to viewers. For example, certain lighting techniques
are used to try replicate the look of old French cinema films through grainy, blurred, black
and white lighting, this is evident in the films second vignette ‘revisions of a manifesto’ as
shown in the picture to the right.
In contrast during another
segment of the film Yeomen
utilises low lights and high contrast
to replicate the look of noir films,
reflected in ‘The private dining
room of a police commissioner’.
Throughout the film the past scenes are in shades of black and white and the present is in
colour which is done to help the audience keep track of what’s happening and what time
period the scene is in. Andersons chief collaborator in cinematography Robert Yeomen
stated ‘Wes and I thoroughly discussed our lighting approach to each and every scene”.
Wes Anderson’s style is instantly recognizable through aspects like the use of colour,
symmetry and camera movements. The camera shots and movements used in the French
dispatch are carefully calculated to help evoke a certain emotion in each individual scene.
This is apparent in one of the
scenes between ‘Moses’ and
‘Simone’ where the camera
sweeps through the jail’s
interior but stops seamlessly
as it reaches the pair lying
together, evident in the
picture to the left, this impacts
the storytelling as we get to
see their surrounding first and
get a better view of what is
happening around the two
characters in order to understand the details of their relationship better.
The footage is never static and smoothly switches position to show the characters upside
down. According to flickside.com there is an abundance of whip pans and zooms used
therefore the actors and crew need to react very quickly in order to keep Andersons classic
look of symmetry maintained.
This film is a prime example of cinematography’s development in comparison to the other
productions I have analysed, however it uses techniques that were used in productions as
early as the 40’s like ‘Citizen Kane’ such as deep focus. Deep focus is very characteristic of
Andersons frames as there is a lot to frame in the shot, Yeoman stated ‘Today it’s very
fashionable to shoot wide open and have very narrow depth of field, but we do the
opposite, many times, Wes will have an actor very close to the camera and other actors in
the background, and he’ll want everybody in focus’.

Cinematography has vastly improved over the years not just in regards to technology but in
terms of camera shots and lighting techniques. In reference to the evolution of film over
time at nyfa.edu, movies today are often shot with much less light than previous films which
consequently allow for more naturalistic effects and modern films are often much darker
than films made in the gold age of Hollywood. In contrast, some modern films are still using
techniques created in the 70’s such as deep focus, which is clearly used in both Carrie, 1976,
and The French Dispatch, 2021. Analyzing these productions has not only vastly expanded
my knowledge on the use and development of cinematography, but also helped me gain
inspiration for techniques to use in my own final production. During my final production, I
plan on researching more into to the use of color and lighting and how these aspects effect
a scene after looking into how it greatly impacted scenes in ‘Carrie’ and how Wes Anderson
used it to convey different parts of the storyline and affect the storyline as the use of
different colors helps convey different moods. For example, red has connotations to anger
and violence so that could be used to suggest themes of that or foreshadow it in a later
scene. Additionally, through looking into how focus and different lenses affect the look and
mood of a scene I would like to implement this into my final production by possibly
investing in a split diopter to achieve a similar effect created in scenes in Carrie and The
French Dispatch as I believe this would improve my production by experimenting with
different focus points. Using different focal points greatly impacts the storytelling as if the
audience can only see the character and not the background they will be more focused on
the characters emotions whereas if they can see everything in focus including the
background they can understand what setting or what is going on around the character to
cause them to feel any certain way.