Chime In: Who is your fav DP for what movie?
- Thread starter jrod81
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Ryan Patrick O'Hara
Veteran
Some of my picks off the top of my head...
PS:Not sure if they all won awards, but they win my award
Bob Yeoman, The Life Aquatic
Emmanuel Lubezki, Meet Joe Black
Sheamus McGarvey, Atonement
Christopher Doyle, 2049
Jordon Cronenweth, Blade Runner
Conrad Hall, In Cold Blood & Road to Perdition
Ceasar Charlone, City of God
Ellen Kuras, Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind
Gregg Tolland, Citizen Kane
Nestor Almendros, Days of Heaven
Robert Surtees, The Graduate
Caleb Deschanel, The Natural
Vittorio Stararo, The Last Emperor
I'll pick one to dissect later.
PS:Not sure if they all won awards, but they win my award
Bob Yeoman, The Life Aquatic
Emmanuel Lubezki, Meet Joe Black
Sheamus McGarvey, Atonement
Christopher Doyle, 2049
Jordon Cronenweth, Blade Runner
Conrad Hall, In Cold Blood & Road to Perdition
Ceasar Charlone, City of God
Ellen Kuras, Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind
Gregg Tolland, Citizen Kane
Nestor Almendros, Days of Heaven
Robert Surtees, The Graduate
Caleb Deschanel, The Natural
Vittorio Stararo, The Last Emperor
I'll pick one to dissect later.
KyleProhaska
Veteran
Conrad L. Hall - Road to Perdition: This film is in my opinion the greatest cinematic achievement in the last decade, and one of my favorite films. Hall paints every single frame with master precision. The element of gold, black, and green fits the film very well. The film itself isn't fast paced and neither is the camera work. But the shots are so spectacular as is the story and emotional elements that it doesn't slow down the film. The film is shot very "old style" and it adds to the 30's theme of the film. Imagine one of the most brilliant black and white lit films you can think of, this is the color version...if you desaturated it...it would probably still be amazing.
Roger Deakins - The Shawshank Redemption: Staying within the same environment for 95% of a film can be mind splittingly boring. Deakins finds a way to keep everything interesting, and combined with the story, direction, and acting...gives me my favorite film of all time. The color pallete is very dry and bland, and there are dark shadows and pools of light throughout the film. All in all Deakins captured the lonliness and humanity of a prison, and aided to the films success. You felt trapped inside the prison with everyone else, like you couldn't leave. Choosing the aspect ratio they did (1.85) probably added to that as its more what your eye sees. There wasn't any special shots in the film necessarily, but maybe thats what made it feel so much more like something you were experiencing with everyone, and never watching.
Don Burgess - Cast Away: Tom Hanks gives the performance of his career (one of them), and it's just you and him for almost the entire duration of the film. Once again the camera work aids in the telling of the story in a way that brings the audience along. This film is LOADED with static shots, and Zemekis is known for using long elaborate takes to tell a story. In this case he does have a few. Things show up in frame at the proper beats, perfect precision here. The static or slow moving nature of almost the entire film ads to the lonliness of a man on an island and frankly some of the boredom that Hanks character feels. When Hanks sits down your at ground level with him, not high in a tree looking down. To my knowledge you leave Hanks point of view only a time or two, beyond that your always very close to him or seeing what he sees.
J. Michael Muro - Crash: This is another one of my favorite films. The color in the film is excellent. A mish-mash of everything, blue, green, white, red, yellow, etc. A very broad color pallette to show the mix of light in a big city. Light sources from all over the place with color temperatures that clash...it's great. They also shoot into the light a lot in this film. Into the sun, into a bright surface, into headlights, etc.
Janusz Kaminski - Saving Private Ryan: This film defined what a war film should really look like. The new war style that everyone uses now with a high shutter. Also the bland grey, light brown, blue, white...that's pretty much it. Everything is desaturated but still retains its detail and indentity. Blood isn't Hollywood red its black and red, a very dark red, and contrasted with all the light color in the film really makes the gore pop on screen. Also the shake cam concept really works here, your right in the battle with the guys, I love it. The camera is just another soldiers point of view, following the action as it goes. Also you NEVER see the enemy really, only in the ending. All other times they are heard or seen far off in the distance. It keeps you with the men your meant to focus on, and doesn't show what the enemy saw. This was important to me.
There are so many more but I don't have the energy to write up a lot on them all. Great selections guys, really good stuff.
Roger Deakins - The Shawshank Redemption: Staying within the same environment for 95% of a film can be mind splittingly boring. Deakins finds a way to keep everything interesting, and combined with the story, direction, and acting...gives me my favorite film of all time. The color pallete is very dry and bland, and there are dark shadows and pools of light throughout the film. All in all Deakins captured the lonliness and humanity of a prison, and aided to the films success. You felt trapped inside the prison with everyone else, like you couldn't leave. Choosing the aspect ratio they did (1.85) probably added to that as its more what your eye sees. There wasn't any special shots in the film necessarily, but maybe thats what made it feel so much more like something you were experiencing with everyone, and never watching.
Don Burgess - Cast Away: Tom Hanks gives the performance of his career (one of them), and it's just you and him for almost the entire duration of the film. Once again the camera work aids in the telling of the story in a way that brings the audience along. This film is LOADED with static shots, and Zemekis is known for using long elaborate takes to tell a story. In this case he does have a few. Things show up in frame at the proper beats, perfect precision here. The static or slow moving nature of almost the entire film ads to the lonliness of a man on an island and frankly some of the boredom that Hanks character feels. When Hanks sits down your at ground level with him, not high in a tree looking down. To my knowledge you leave Hanks point of view only a time or two, beyond that your always very close to him or seeing what he sees.
J. Michael Muro - Crash: This is another one of my favorite films. The color in the film is excellent. A mish-mash of everything, blue, green, white, red, yellow, etc. A very broad color pallette to show the mix of light in a big city. Light sources from all over the place with color temperatures that clash...it's great. They also shoot into the light a lot in this film. Into the sun, into a bright surface, into headlights, etc.
Janusz Kaminski - Saving Private Ryan: This film defined what a war film should really look like. The new war style that everyone uses now with a high shutter. Also the bland grey, light brown, blue, white...that's pretty much it. Everything is desaturated but still retains its detail and indentity. Blood isn't Hollywood red its black and red, a very dark red, and contrasted with all the light color in the film really makes the gore pop on screen. Also the shake cam concept really works here, your right in the battle with the guys, I love it. The camera is just another soldiers point of view, following the action as it goes. Also you NEVER see the enemy really, only in the ending. All other times they are heard or seen far off in the distance. It keeps you with the men your meant to focus on, and doesn't show what the enemy saw. This was important to me.
There are so many more but I don't have the energy to write up a lot on them all. Great selections guys, really good stuff.
Last edited:
CovenantPictures
Active member
Janusz Kaminski - Schindler's List, hands down. Breathtakingly beautiful modern black and white piece. The visuals serve the story hauntingly. Wonderful work with shadows, camera moves, choice of lens, angles, ect. Brilliant.
Blaine
Mr. Hollywood
In addition to all those already listed I think Dante Spinotti did a great job with The Last of the Mohicans. It is one of the most beautifully shot movies I've seen. He also did a damned good job on L.A. Confidential.
ryanweiss89
Active member
Deakins - Barton Fink
Michael B. McGee
Well-known member
i like what burum did in Rumble Fish and Carlito's Way. Willis: Godfathers, Interiors, Manhattan, Klute. Storaro: Last Tango, The Conformist, Apocalypse Now. Chapman: Raging Bull, Taxi Driver. Khondji: Seven, City of Lost Children. Papamichael: Million Dollar Hotel. Rotunno: Carnal Knowledge. Toll: Thin Red Line, Braveheart, Legends of the Fall. Seale: Talented Mr. Ripley. Bartkowiak: The Verdict. Pratt: 12 Monkeys. Accord: Lost in Translation, Buffalo '66. Alonzo: Chinatown. Surtees: Lenny. Watkin: Out of Africa. Yeoman: CQ, Rushmore. Lubezki: Assasination of Richard Nixon, Ali, Y tu mama Tambien. Zsigmond: Deer Hunter, McCabe & Mrs. Miller. Gautier: Motorcycle Diaries, Into the Wild. Prieto: 21 Grams, Amores Perros. Delhomme: The Proposition. Kaminski: Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Munich.
Ryan Patrick O'Hara
Veteran
Going to second that one!