Lazy Cinematography?

I would dare to say that most of these no light (and, btw, flashes totally count as lights) photography sessions I'm reading about probably look like they are no light photography sessions.

I have some budding photographers on my Facebook and Twitter feeds who don't use lighting and it's very "blah".
 
Unless the stars totally align for you, unlit images are flat... thus they look blah.... thus they are boring. Sometimes you get lucky with available light, most times not.
 
People who are getting into cinematography and aren't interested in learning how to light or shoot are interested in the ego trip of the credit. These people think the camera makes the movie and not a person's hard work and skill. Natural light will give you what you are looking for when you are actually looking for it. People have to realize, especially here, that the job of the DP isn't a guy with a camera. It's the person responsible for the visual of a movie and using it to tell the story. You have enhance the story visually much the same way the composer enhances it with the music. The lighting, movement, framing all help this and all must be strongly considered before shooting. I know too many people that read the script and light to get a good exposure and think that's the end of it. It's not. You don't need lights to learn cinematography, you need to learn why and where a light goes... with out that you are dead in the water.
Getting lucky is a small part of it. No one "lucked" in the Local 600 or ASC. Learn your craft.
 
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I'm new here so bear with me.

But I agree that the role of the Cinematographer has changed drastically since the advent of digital cameras. One thing I am noticing is that now producers and everyone else on set tend you look over at the monitors and give their opinions on how the shot should be lit. During the days of film, the DP was really the only one that knew how the light was going to be in the end, and when they went in to watch the dallies, the DP would sit back knowing what to expect, and the Director and Producer would let a sign of relief out as they can officially call that scene a wrap. This created a trust relationship between the DP and Director. But now, on many sets, especially the bigger sets, the DP became just another supervisor, overlooking the camera/lighting department. Unless of course you're a big name DP and people hire you because of your name. As for everyone else, we have to deal with all the other "professionals" telling us what they think. If only close minded people came with closed mouths, things would have been a whole bunch better.

I would also highly recommend everyone to watch the documentary SIDE BY SIDE, which follows film and digital and tries to find the answer in regards to whether or not film is really dying out. Looking forward to talking to you on these forums.
 
While I get a certain amount of what ssvet describes (fortunately not too much--hopefully it's because I'm delivering what the chairs in video village are looking for), I will say that I'm distressed by being excluded from the color correction process more. I'll take certain shortcuts on set because I know a wall can be power-windowed, but then I end up not having a voice in the DI for one reason or another so it doesn't get done. That's particularly frustrating.
 
CharlesPapert said:
I'll take certain shortcuts on set because I know a wall can be power-windowed, but then I end up not having a voice in the DI for one reason or another so it doesn't get done. That's particularly frustrating.
Click to expand...

This is very telling about the process of where it is going.

I did a blog on luts here http://www.dslr4real.tv/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=108&Itemid=1

And I also been playing with the BMC camera files http://www.sammorganmoore.com/backlot/the-file-that-can-go-a-mile

The potential for the look to be brilliant, or wildly mistreaded in post is huge and getting bigger!

S
 
I'm a minimalist, & strive to use as little gear as practical in order to remain as flexible as possible.

But an understanding of light underlines all. If found light is perfect, & it can be maintained long enough to complete the scene, then I'll go with it. Other times I've used 200k watts of articificial sources to simulate simple North Light.

While all of us hope we're hired for our vision, major responsibilities of any DP is running their crew, & delivering on-time with the resources allocated. If one cannot handle these then their career will likely suffer.
 
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