Cinematography Sheffield Hallam : Favorite Cinematographers and DOP's

The art of cinematography is quite an unnoticed thing, however being a student in this field, I have gone to look at films with cinematography I enjoy. From their I have gone to see who the cinematographer/DOP was on that particular film, and looked at other films they have been involved with. Looking at the stuff they work on, patterns become clear.

In this post I will talk about the various Cinematographers/DOP's I admire based on the films they have worked on, their speciality, and of course how favoured they are. For example, my favourite director in Hollywood, is one Steven Spielberg. He has directed many timeless classics and though he has fallen silent in recent years, the Oscar nomination of his film 'Lincoln' for Best Picture and Best Director in 2013, show a possible comeback. My two favourite films by Spielberg are two world war two storys: 'Saving Private Ryan' and 'Schindler's List', both of which were nominated for and the latter actually winning 'Best Picture' at their respective Oscars. What does this have to do with Cinematography? It brings me to my first cinematographer. Besides getting the nomination, another trait that all three films share is the same cinematographer, Janusz Kaminski.

JANUSZ KAMINSKI
IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001405/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Janusz Kaminski

Janusz Kaminski is a regular on Speilberg's Films including: 'War Horse' (2011), 'Lincoln' (2012), 'Saving Private Ryan' (1998), 'Schindler's List' (1993), 'The Lost World: Jurassic Park' (1997), 'War of The Worlds' (2005), 'The Terminal' (2004), 'Minority Report' (2002), and 'Catch Me If You Can' (2002), winning Oscars for Private Ryan and Schindler's List.

His constant appearance on Speilberg's films is well justified, considering his use of cinematography is nothing but beautiful. His use of the camera to capture an old fassioned feel of the time periods set in 'Lincoln' and War Horse' is effective in capturing the dullness of the time period in comparison today, but does so in the use of beautiful imagery.

Shot From Lincoln

Shot From War Horse

The two images below give out the dull graded feel of the time period, with the people all wearing basic colours, with black and brown being perticularly focused upon. The general colour scape is rather similar in these two pieces which were released nearly a year apart. The man is also experienced in war movies with 'Schindlers List', 'War Horse', and 'Saving Private Ryan' all on his resume. Take a look at these two screen grabs.

Shot from War Horse

Shot From Saving Private Ryan

Both these shots are taken when the soldiers are running headlong into a wave of machine gun fire. Despite one being set in world war one and the other being set in world war two, the shots are remarkably similar. If you look two soldiers are in exactly the same area of the frame. Both images capture the mood and horror of war perfectly. Considering the beach landing in 'Saving Private Ryan' is widely considered as being one of the best battle scenes of all time, 'War Horse' gives a sense of nostalgia from the piece and the coverage of the battle is both shaky and smooth, as in the camera shakes to give it a documentary feel but flows smoothly enough so as not to confuse the audience.

This award winning Cinematographer, has left a solid mark on hollywood cinema and his ability is something to be admired. His twenty year partnership with Spielberg, I believe is one of Hollywoods strongest partnerships behind the camera.

As much as Hollywood cinema is a spectacle to watch, I acknowledge that it is something I may not reach, and Hollywood itself, has a hard time putting out a constant stream of classics. I find solace in this, by looking at other forms of cinema including: Japanese, Korean, Swedish, Spanish and German. However, one stand out type of storytelling, originates from the British cinema. Due to the fact that I myself am British, I understand the languages more, and the stereotypical British humour that these films incorporate. This leads me to my next Cinematographer/DOP who has left his own stable on British and world cinema. His name is Brian Tufano.

BRIAN TUFANO
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005909/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Brian Tufano

Brian Tufano's resume spans nearly 50 years, having started out in small documentaries back in 1966. In that time period, he has worked on british classics such as: 'Billy Elliot' (2000), 'Quadrophenia' (1979), 'East Is East' (1999), 'Kidulthood' (2006), 'Adulthood' (2008), and 'Trainspotting' (1996).

Though not widely recognised in the world, I believe that this man has the most prolific resume in British cinema.

His use of cinematography is quite different to the polished images you see from Kaminski, with a more british independent feel, preferring not to use highly graded colour, instead keeping the shot as natural as possible with maybe a slight colour correction.

LARRY FONG
IMDB:http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0284583/?ref_=nv_sr_1