What are all the things a DP does?

J

JJ Alexander

Active member
I have read many times how the DP has been a huge help to the director in not only lighting and all things related to the look of the film but also shot angles, good cutting points, composition of shots etc., etc.

In the special feature dir. commentary of 'American Beauty" Sam Mendes gives great credit to Conrad Hall for his variety of help as the cinematographer.

So, what is the job description?
 
I'm not sure about some of those tasks, many of them fall to art directors and assistants. The title was Responsibilities of the Cinematographer, but is that the same as a DP or not?
 
Capt Quirk said:
I'm not sure about some of those tasks, many of them fall to art directors and assistants. The title was Responsibilities of the Cinematographer, but is that the same as a DP or not?
Click to expand...

I thought DP and Cinematographer ware the same???
 
Well, depends on who you ask, but yes... a cinematographer is the same thing as a DP. Some cinematographers take offense at the title of 'Director or Photography' for some reason...
 
Well what would really solve it is to hire two people who call themselves DP's for your shoot. Put name tags on everybody, call one of em a Cinematographer and one of them Director of Photography. Whoever lives is now your DP.
 
Ideally it would be great if the DP "directed" every visual aspect except the action and the dialogue.

Because then you have your director completely focused in his bubble with the actors' performance. And all his aesthetic choices were already delegated in preprod.
 
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