Script:

The Evaluation and Advancements in

Cinematography


Narrator:
Cinematography, is in basic terms the way in which a
scene is shot. It’s shot by the cinematographer, the
eyes of the viewer, the single most important person
for the viewer.
What has happened to cinematography, where did it
begin and how has it changed over time. What films
changed the we look at cinematography, who helped to
move the industry forwards from the beginning, to its
on going advancements now. What technologies do we
still use today and why. How has technology moved on
and what advancements have been made, are the
advancements in the way we use the cameras or what’s
in them, or is it both? Video Camera’s have moved on
so much since the beginning from, film to video then
digital, with modern camera and most phones nowadays
having video, even in 4k on some!

History:
Film and cinematography is something that has grown
together over time. Film began with the invention of
the kinetograph, Patented in 1889 by British inventor
William friese Greene, under the direction of Thomas
Alva Edison. This camera was the first film specific
film camera and wasn’t just a series of still frames
stitched together, though in a way it was. The first
film ever made on the kinetograph was called The
Monkeyshines, made in 1890, it was the first film to
have a proper moving picture, though it was out of
focus and you can’t see what the subject actually is,
it shines, out of focus, but it doesn’t look human,
hense the name The Monkeyshines.

Early films that were made, were mostly of theatre

shows that people would normally go and watch. This
would be costly unless you sat at the back, where you
would struggle to see, this is what gave George
Melies an idea in 1902, as he became the first
director of a film to move the camera forward and
backwards in-between shots. This is something that
viewers today would never notice. For the time this
was very innovative, and was never done. Being able
to move the camera allow the viewer watching to see
all of the action on stage as it unfolds, this meant
that didn’t matter where they sat in the theatre,
they could see the show from anywhere and understand
what’s going on.

Sound entered Hollywood in 1927, along came The Jazz

Singer, the film was innovative, and became an
instant hit with viewers at the time, as the film
invited more of the senses to see and now hear the
movie. From sound there came colour and in 1939, the
classic film The Wizard of Oz was released for viewer
across the globe. Though no the first film to use
colour in Hollywood it was the first film to really
use it to its full advantage. You could say that the
film was the first of it’s kind to sprinkle its
Hollywood magic on the audience, really trying to
convince you that this magical world of Oz really
does exist, Changing from black and white to colour
when Dorothy (played by Judie Garland) moves from the
real world, to the land of OZ which is in colour.
This is done to represent the what the real world was
like at the time and what the real world could be
like, but also to show the difference between the two
places.

1941, Citizen Kane, what is known to be the best film

ever made was released. Directed by Orson Welles the
114 minute film was the longest at the time. The film
uses multiple different innovative techniques, such
as deep focus and rear projection, extreme close-ups
were also used to create dramatic effect. The reason
these effects are so dramatic and so vibrant is
 because Welles being the first to shoot a movie of
this kind, he was learning each type of shot as the
filming progressed. In doing these different camera
movements and making these advancements in
cinematography, Welles was able to connect the
viewers emotion with the different types of shots on
screen, helping the viewer engage in the films
conversation. With this film Welles set a new
standard for film making, this is shown in the
majority of films that we see to date.

The 1969 version of Laurence of Arabia, is known to

be the film that used the widescreen, (3:1 aspect
ratio), it is one of the first motion picture films,
to really use the widescreen to its full potential.
Director David lean wanted, to put real emphasis on
the vastness of the desert. Many people who may know
the dearest would call it vast or empty, and they
would never call it coloured or full with life as
there is nothing around, the land is bald and Barron,
and Lean really wanted to Focus in on this, this
feeling of emptiness, this is shown in several shots
throughout the movie.

Moving along came, Star Wars, made in 1977 the

American epic sci-fi film, written and directed by
George Lucas. The film was critically acclaim for it
groundbreaking visual effects, as the film had a lot
of scenes which required green screening or CGI
effects, to enable the film to reach its full
potential. This is done most notably when the war
ships go into battle, with the empire fighting the
resistance. During these scene we see laser beams
flying across space damaging the enemy ship, these
scene were able to be done thanks to big leaps in the
field of CGI and clever models that became the ships.

In 2017 we saw the release of the much anticipated

musically themed film baby driver. This film was
innovative and clever in a different, way though it
 still effects the cinematography. The music used
throughout the film was pre-selected before the film
was shot, meaning that the director could make almost
every cut in a scene change to the beat, or
transition to something still related to the subject
without having to make significant scene. This was
what made baby driver as you know, the movie that was
cut to the beat, but what about when the music is
stopped, the movie now has nothing to cut, and no
change in scene, this is showing the audience that
something is wrong and things aren’t running
smoothly. Doing this helps to keep the audience
engaged and interested in what is going on in the
movie. If the movie always cut to the beat, it would
end up being too repetitive for the audience.

Experts/critics:
In any field that requires knowledge, you have people
that are regarded as experts, you also have people
who analyse and are critical of this subject. It is
just the same for films/movies.

At this point you may be thinking, I have told you

all of this information on cinematography but what is
it, why is it important? Well cinematography, is what
sets the overall look and mood of a films visual
story, it is how a film connects with its audience,
as it is their only view into the movie universe.
Every single shot that appears on screen, becomes
apart of the mise-en-scene enhancing the story within
a film and engaging the audience further. So it's the
cinematographers responsibility to ensure that every
shot seals the audience perception of the situation
and controls the emotion so that they are engaged and
further understands what is going on. Filmmakers will
often spend large portions of their budget on
cinematography to help ensure that the film that they
are creating will look its best.
 Cinematographer Conrad Hall puts a cinematographers
job in to words when he said “Cinematography is
infinite in its possibilities… More so than music or
language.” Describing Cinematography a Language, and
expanding the knowledge of people who can both see
and listen. Hall is trying to tell people that
through cinematography, you connect with more people.
It is easier to communicate with people through
facial expressions and different scenes, from a
screen. This makes cinematography easier for every
person to understand no matter what language they
speak.

Significant pieces of work:

In 1958 the film Vertigo directed by Alfred Hitchcock
was released. The Film is a classic and is seen as
one of best movies of all time. The cinematography
within is ground breaking, considered game changing
by many, similar to the earlier film Citizen Kane
which I have already spoken about. Despite this when
the film first came out it bombed, just about making
it money back. The colour, composition, and even
movements like the dolly zoom all were used to
perfection within the movie.

Vertigo is an adaptation of the French novel D’entres

les morts (From Among the Dead). Hitchcock originally
wanted to remove some of the scenes from the book,
the letter scene imparticular as he thought that it
didn’t add anything to the film, however this caused
lots of controversy between him and his close working
circle, this included his bosses.

Hitchcock popularised the Dolly zoom in this film,

leading to the technique, being called "the Vertigo
effect". This "dolly-out/zoom-in" method involves the
camera physically moving away from a subject whilst
simultaneously zooming in (a similar effect can be
achieved in reverse), so that the subject retains its
size in the frame, but the background's perspective
 changes. Hitchcock used the effect to emphasise on
Scottie’s disorientation and fear, when looking down
the tower. The effect has been later adapted to be
used for different intense situation helping to
portraying emotional trauma.

And now The Matrix. The 1999 cult classic, developed

a mass of keen followers who really love the trilogy.
The first film of the the three, The Matrix, was
really the first of its kind, using lots of different
camera angles and was the first film to have so many
cameras to film one shot. Using, new CGI technology,
they invented a new camera technique, called bullet
time. Bullet time is in essence a slow motion shot
and trail to a bullet which allows you watch the
bullet as it travels through the air towards its
target. This technique has been used in many
different films to date and was very advanced for the
time.

The film relies on a heavy amount of CGI to help

create this idea of an alternate, or a simulated
world (the world as we know it) and the world of our
dystopian future in which, cybernetics hold control
and only humans who have been “saved” or “woken up”
can access either world, otherwise they are stuck in
a simulation. During the scene where they are in the
“real world” or the future dystopian world, they live
on a ship and move under the earths surface, all
scenes showing this have an element of CGI.

1917 was a collaboration of sam Mendes’s clever and

factual direct and Roger Deakins genius technology.
The cinematography was based on a one shot process.
Right on the first page of the script for “1917,”
director Sam Mendes announced his cinematic
intentions: “The following script takes place in real
time, and – with the exception of one moment – is
written and designed to be shot in one single
continuous take.”
This means that the cinematographers shot as much of
each scene as they could in one shot, without cuts
and edits. For Deakins and Mendes, the look of the
film they were aiming for came down to a couple
portrait photographs of soldiers from WWI they had
found doing research. Using almost exclusively a 40mm
lens, the LF camera, Deakins was able to closely
replicate similar characteristics.

Conclusion
Cinematography is a language, a language that evolves
overtime. It has in a way changed the way people view
each other, it’s had influences on people and make’s
them think about who they are. Subtle changes in the
way a cinematographer moves a camera, can change the
way a viewer percepts the programme or film, and
change the film entirely.