Cinematographer versus Photographer

[roxics]

 

[alaskacameradude]

Dude = Idiot.

Also shows an ego centricity that demonstrates an inability to bond with director, talent and story.

Dudes are never good DOPs.

Harsh. Just harsh......

 

[rob norton]

Re stills and hot lights, doesn't Gregory crewdson use large HMIs and sell his prints for $100k?

 

[Razz16mm]

You have dreadful timing because just yesterday I learned that Annie Leibowitz is in town to shoot a Vogue spread and she rented hot lights ( HMI's ) from the local rental house. Not sh*tting you.

Annie Liebowitz shoots a lot of fashion spreads with Red cameras.

 

[Agafilm]

I've said it before, I think the U.K. term, 'Lighting Camerman', best describes what most of us do, most of the time.

Sure, but do you expect everyone to be able to do a passable British accent when they say it? Because otherwise it just sounds ridiculous.

 

[CharlesPapert]

Re stills and hot lights, doesn't Gregory crewdson use large HMIs and sell his prints for $100k?

Yes he does, and I am a huge fan.

 

[DLD]

... There have long been message board discussions about the differences between a Cinematographer and a Director of Photography. I had always heard used them interchangeably. The closest distinction I can see is that cinematography describes the craft, and DP is the job title ...

This kind of ends the tread right here (for me, personally).

 

[puredrifting]

So I guess referring to myself as "Camera Monkey" or "Human Tripod" is right out? Dammit, going to have to get new business cards...

 

[combatentropy]

'Lighting Camerman'

do you expect everyone to be able to do a passable British accent when they say it?

If you're French, you could call yourself a videocamarade (or Russian, videocomrade).

By the way, in Mother Russia, the picture takes you.

 

[DLD]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinematographer

the German language page - https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kameramann (there's also a more modern Bild de regisseur or abbreviated Bild de regie). For TV, it's Fernsehkameramann (Kamerafrau).

In Spanish - Director de Fotografia.

In French, it can be https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directeur_de_la_photographie and/or "chef operateur".

in Russian - https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Оператор-постановщик - Оператор-постановщик (hard to translate directly ... the best I can do is "executive camera operator") and they also use Кинооператор (cinema camera operator).

The rest are derivative of English, French and/or German. In non-English usage, the term "regisseur" is often used for the director.

 

[morgan_moore]

Dude. Late 19th century (denoting a dandy) Oxford English.

Beard man with Alexa (with no battery or focus unit) is perfect

==

Crewdson is an Artist really, Leibowitz is just herself, mainly using Profoto flash although she is seen with the metz hammerhead in the early years (when she did some great purist photojournalism) and known to pull in a full movie lighting rig on occasion.

I love both their work.

Both I am sure have a broad talent set in understanding light tools and choose the lighting fixtures appropriate to their artistic vision. Joe Average stills photographer who does not use flash is, as I said above, often an incompetent pretender. Learning the power of strobes in the digital era is trivial. Doing it on slide with a meter was a little more demanding.

Incidentally one of my favourite techniques short, droplet freezing, flash mixed with long ambient exposure was nicked from Annie.. the technique only works with strobe.


2006? Hasselblad H1, Sinar Digiback, 25ISO, Elinchrom Studio Flash, photographer SMM, client Fourth Element divewear.

 

[Noel Evans]

The first three years or so that I was working as a DP (as in, being hired to light and shoot motion work and oversee a crew of varying size) I insisted on calling myself a Lighting Cameraman because I felt that I was too young and not worthy yet of the title of DP. Different times, now that high school students feel comfortable adopting the term!

This is what I called myself up until 2008. Once 2008 hit, I changed pretty quickly. It was after a discussion whereby I was advised by a producer they could hire John Doe (John Doe as it turns out had just graduated) for half the price and he was a cinematographer. Why pay more for a lighting / camera op. Dumb producer I know, but it happened.

 

[JPNola]

I recently encountered a DP who goes by "Cine-ographer".

 

[dmitrizigany]

Yeah, biggest problem now when it's so easy to self publish on YouTube/Vimeo etc is that people add the title they want to be, not what they really are.
Running around with a DSLR, shaky footage that only occasionally is in focus because they have too shallow depth of field, don't light, etc etc and they call themselves Cinematographers... so do titles even mean anything at all anymore?

 

[combatentropy]

Running around with a DSLR, shaky footage that only occasionally is in focus

Sadly, I think even Hollywood is hiring these kids. Have you seen The Bourne Supremacy?

 

[dmitrizigany]

Sadly, I think even Hollywood is hiring these kids. Have you seen The Bourne Supremacy?

Nope, never saw them... and sounds like I shouldn't
I did see something on (I believe) BBC iPlayer recently that I had to turn off because it was so shaky I couldn't watch it...
yeah, it's worrying as people are getting used to it so it's almost expected to look like that... horrible.