Wally Pfister has had a tremendous career in cinematography, and has recently transitioned to being a director. I go through some of his cinematography lighting and camera techniques to help you understand his unique style.
Just to be clear: Wally Pfister changes his style to suit the movies he shoots. The goal of this video and article is to drum up enthusiasm and a yearning to learn more.
Warning: I do not claim this knowledge is 100% accurate. Just think of it as an endorsement of his work. If you want accuracy, look someplace else.
How he lights faces
Wally Pfister prefers to call his style naturalistic. I don’t agree with the terminology, because even though his shots look unlit to the general audience (any good cinematographer should be able to do so), they don’t look unlit to the trained cinematographer’s eye. There are other cinematographers with more naturalistic styles, and sometimes it’s hard to tell whether it was lit at all.
In any case, the bottom line is both Nolan and Pfister did try to achieve as natural a look as possible, so it’s not important to get bogged down in semantics.
When he lights faces, he tends to the three-fourth lighting style and side light. When his actors are in silhouette, he also occasionally uses an edge light that’s about a stop or two higher than key.
Nolan prefers to have the freedom to move around on set, so this allows Pfister the choice of any lighting fixture, and he always tries to light a scene as if there’s only one major source.
Cameras, formats and lenses
He is a staunch supporter of film, and shoots most of his work on 35mm anamorphic, specifically Panavision. He uses Panavision C, E or G lenses.
Recently he has also shot a lot of IMAX work, and has had rehoused Hasselblad and Mamiya lenses for the same.
When not shooting for Nolan, he has also shot on 1.85:1, so he’s a flexible cinematographer who works hard to adhere to the director’s vision.
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