Watch the video:
1 Gordon Willis
From Gordon Willis:
Master the dynamic range of your sensor so you have complete control from black to white.
Gordon Willis was such a perfectionist he used to expose film in a way no lab could change anything without ruining the shot.
This kept creative geniuses from changing colors or contrast later. He shot it one way, and that was the perfect way. You can’t have that kind of confidence if you don’t master exposure.
How do you do this? You need to understand where the middle grey point is for your camera. And you need to know how many stops of latitude you have above and below that. How many stops before it clips, and how many stops before it goes completely black. Good camera companies publish this data, and for the rest, you can find out on your own with a simple test.
This information will tell you how much you can underexpose or overexpose a shot and get away with it, and how it will look in the end. The closer you get to your vision in camera, the cheaper it is. Big films have budgets for color grading and fixing mistakes, low budget filmmakers don’t, or at least they seriously overestimate their abilities or underestimate the time and costs involved.
2 Nester Almendros
From Nestor Almendros:
Use natural light to your advantage.
I’ve shown you in another video how you can expose and get great shots at any time during the day, with no lights. Check this out:
You need to learn to position the camera according to where the sun is. It’s a skill that will help you get good shots no matter what nature throws at you.
Not everyone has the budget to shoot only at golden hour, though if you have that luxury you should take maximum advantage of it. Knowing the limits and capabilities of natural light will help you create beautiful images when others can’t.
This also helps in interior scenes, where the ability to work with practical light fixtures, which are lights already in the scene, is a tremendous advantage.
How do you get better at this? For one, watch my videos, maybe buy my guide to lighting for film, because I show how to achieve great effects with cheap lighting gear and even DIY gear. If you can’t create good cinematic footage with cheap light, you can’t do it with expensive lights as well. Sounds weird, but it’s simple, really. If you can’t draw with a pencil on paper, a paintbrush and expensive oil paints won’t help you.
3 Sven Nykvist
From Sven Nykvist:
Learn to light by eye.
Sure you have monitors and viewfinders, but cinematographers created gorgeous imagery over a century of filmmaking without a monitor. The viewfinder they had didn’t even tell them whether a shot was exposed correctly.
They had to see it in their head, and use their eyes to judge. Light meters aided them somewhat, but you can’t get creative and completely master light without having the ability to see and light by eye.
Too many people rely on their monitors today. The first thing they do is switch on the camera and look at the back LCD. Stop doing that. Look at the scene with your eyes, and try to visualize the lighting and exposure. If you don’t train yourself, you’ll never get far. There’ll always be a wall you can’t cross. It will just frustrate you.
Learning to light by eye helps you to study any location and find ways to solve practical lighting problems.
4 Christopher Doyle
From Christopher Doyle:
Experiment!
Christopher Doyle tried all kinds of crazy things in his cinematography. By the way, all of these cinematographers are covered extensively in my understanding cinematography series, only available to wolfcrow lifetime members, I’ll link to it below. Check it out if you are serious about becoming better at cinematography.
Doyle tried dragging the shutter, Slow motion, Moving the camera rhythmically, Moving the camera arbitrarily, Flashing lights, Using color filters, Switching off the camera during a take (or blackening it out, I’m not totally sure), Extreme wide angle compositions, even for close ups.
You don’t really learn without pushing the envelope and trying things out. You shouldn’t take anybody’s word on the rules of filmmaking. They are just starting points or guide posts for you to explore. Rules are not the end of the road.
5 Vittorio Storaro
From Vittorio Storaro:
Use color to your advantage.
Understanding color theory and design is fundamental to understanding good image quality. If you don’t know what a beautiful frame is, how are you ever going to create it?
I suggest you read books on color theory and art. Don’t just skim them, and don’t be content with a google search or a wikipedia entry. Force yourself to use color in creative and interesting ways. It’s painful. Getting better at anything is painful. Didn’t they teach you that in school? Of course not.
Storaro has his own color language. He uses color consciously and with full intent, It’s part of his unique visual signature. You can decide how far you want to take it, and you won’t know how far is far enough until you start applying color theory and taking it seriously.
6 Robert Yeoman
From Robert Yeoman:
Use Chinese or paper lanterns creatively.
It’s one of the most versatile super low budget lighting tools known to cinematographers. Paper, a bulb, and a rod to hold it. Or a ceiling fan or hook to dangle it from. Doesn’t get any cheaper than this.
I’ve got a video on using chinese lanterns you should check out:
It’s not rocket science, and it instantly adds value to your shot. Light is light. It doesn’t matter how cheap or expensive it is. A great artist can make something beautiful with just a pencil, or even sand at the beach. Stop making excuses about what you don’t have and start making art with what you do have.
I suggest you buy a couple of chinese lanterns and bulbs and light simple scenes. It doesn’t have to be too elaborate, and my free lighting videos should be more than enough to help you get started. I’m sure there are countless videos on YouTube as well. Try different kinds of scenes and have fun. Ask for feedback, but not from me. This video is my feedback.
7 Raoul Coutard
Inspired by Raoul Coutard:
It’s never too late to learn cinematography.
Raoul Coutard started when he was 35 years old. He had a fair bit of training as a documentary photographer, so lighting is something he still had to figure out. He did that, step by step, on a low budget. He came up with lighting techniques to save time and allow directors to shoot with freedom in real locations on tight budgets. Learn to do that and you’ll never be out of work.
As for me, I started learning cinematography when I was 32. About a decade ago to this lousy year. I started out as a director, and it took me a fair amount of time to get used to things. Nothing teaches you like experience.
It takes time, you need the eye and the skills, and they develop simultaneously, with practice and theoretical learning. Keep shooting projects, and learn art on the side. I think art is what gives you the edge, because the skills are easy. Visualizing the shot and creating a scene is like painting. It’s a lot more than cameras, light meters and CRIs. Obsess over the art and not on the tools. One day you’ll be proud of yourself.
If you really want to learn lighting, the best time to start is now. It’s never tomorrow or the day after. It’s always now.
