Cinematography for Directors. Jacqueline Frost

bomb went off in Oklahoma City and I saw one of those weekly news magazines by the checkout, and there was a picture of a firefighter holding a baby that had been in the building. Fifteen years later I could still draw that picture. So I don’t really want to put certain images in my head if I can avoid it, because they don’t go away very quickly for me. I don’t particularly want to be a purveyor of that type of thing to other people either.

      (John Lindley, ASC, Frost interview)

      When the cinematographer has agreed to bring your cinematic vision to life, it means she or he related to some aspect of the script and felt that they could visually enhance your project. Understanding that you are both coming from the same place thematically, the cinematographer can start to articulate visual ideas to you and begin a dialogue on how to interpret the script into images. If you have not worked with this cinematographer before, getting to know each other happens in preproduction. They may want to visit locations with you, shot list or storyboard with you, talk about visual references and color palette, or just sit down and chat about the movie with you. It is helpful to establish a bond or connection prior to production.

      ■ My process is I read the script and from that ideas are generated, but I try not to fall in love with my ideas, just get some basic concepts. I try not to think of it technically at all; I try to just imagine it as a movie or read it as a novel and just go for the trip. Then I meet with the director and try not to have locked in concepts. On the second read I jot down ideas or things that come up at that moment, and since I’ve already spoken with the director, I have a sense of where we want to go (visually). After that I’ll be thinking of visual references.

      (Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, Frost interview, July 2007)

      ■ I’m usually pretty adamant about making sure that I have time with the director, at least four days if they are really busy, to try to sit down by ourselves. I like to take them away someplace if I can, so we spend four days together thinking and living the script. Going through the script first in a very general way to understand the arc of the script and characters and generally what the director wants to say. Then we do a very detailed perusal of the script scene by scene. That’s my opportunity to ask the director questions in confidence, to ask, “Well, what do you want to say with this? What is the essence of this scene? Why are we here at this location and what is the meaning of it?” Because that tells me how to shoot it and what the director wants to say. Part of the time spent together is to get into their mind’s eye to try and understand where they were when they wrote the script or how they want to interpret the script if they were not the writer. It’s my job at that point to home in on the director’s vision and to expand it into a way we can shoot it to capture the heart of the scene.

      (Ellen Kuras, ASC, Frost interview)

      7. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (photographed by Ellen Kuras, ASC)

      ■ I usually break it down into what I think it would take to do each section and relate it to the schedule. The first thing is to have conversations with the director to get the look, feel, and nature of the film, that’s the first thing. But then you go back to the script and break the thing down and look at the major sequences, the major locations, and just think how each can be best achieved. That’s true even if it’s a simple script, like the last one I did with Sam (Mendes). Most of it was set in one suburban house, so you look at the location and think, “How could I achieve that?” Every film you do is a compromise. You just can’t ever get everything in your head on that page visually; it just doesn’t happen. It’s kind of like you have to have a plan of attack. You really have to break it down and decide what is really important. Where do you really want to concentrate the most effort? It varies with every script. Discussions with the director are important, but you can only talk about the script for so long; you have to be on location, you have to look at sets or plans or drawings or whatever and start visualizing, working with something specific.

      (Roger Deakins, ASC, Frost interview, November 2007)

      8. Revolutionary Road (photographed by Roger Deakins, ASC)

      Preproduction is the time of discussions, planning, and sharing ideas and concepts. It is also the time to consider the realities of what the final outcome might be. During preproduction part of a cinematographers’ duties are many.

      ■ Discuss all aspects of script and director’s approach to picture in preliminary talks with director, analyze script as a whole, analyze story structure, analyze characters, and devise style and visual approach.

      (American Cinematographer, January 2003, 110)

      ■ Once I’ve read the script and decided to do it, all the negotiations are done and I’m on it, then I start to break it down with ideas I might have. But I still don’t know what’s coming with the director or the production designer, what they’ve organized. So, I make my own notes generally, and I get a little bit continuity critical, and I’ll go through the script and break down each day. I like to know where one day finishes and the next begins. Because I have found that on the script a day can last 48 hours, and so I think maybe we could have a cut and then go back … and what if that scene was dusk for night, and then we went into day on the next one? It creates a nice rhythm of light and breaks up a long visual day on the screen. But I am loyal to the 1st AD’s schedule; I don’t want to muck that up, but I’ve got to organize it in preproduction. In my mind, the only way to make things look reasonably good is to figure out 95% of the problems before you get there. That way, 5% of the problems can be absorbed rather quickly and easily on set.

      (John Seale, ASC, Frost interview, October 2007)

      The enthusiastic cinematographer will be anxious to discuss ideas with the director and the production designer during the early stages of preproduction. She or he may start shooting tests once they have seen the locations and some of the costumes. In the same way the writer (who may also be the director) envisioned the script while writing it, the cinematographer will transform the emotions, words, and descriptions into images that visually punctuate the story. If the film is a drama, the cinematographer may create a quality of light that is dark and shadowy. If the film is science fiction, they may envision a desaturated color palette and the use of wide-angle lenses. If it is a romantic comedy, they may use a glossy high-key look with soft, practical light illuminating the scene. All of these visual references communicate to the audience and elicit emotional responses, whether anxiety, fear, empathy, or laughter.

      The cinematographer will read the script initially for content and a basic overall impression; then again for visuals, images, specific shots, and movement; and then another time to consider the color palette and an overall look of the film that visually translates the emotions of the story to the screen. They may sketch out some of their own storyboard ideas or basic blocking.

      9. The Assassination of Jesse James (Photographed by Roger Deakins, ASC)

      ■ Joel and Ethan (Coen) do a first pass on the storyboards by themselves, and I’ve worked with a few directors on the storyboards together. I like to be involved, actually, but it depends on the director. (When) I worked with Andrew Dominik on Jesse James, we storyboarded a number of sequences, and during preproduction he would sit in the office and we would go through the sequences and do rough storyboards. It’s up to the director how they like working … but I like to be immersed in the project as much as possible before I start shooting, because I think that saves time on the set. I like to be in sync with the director. That’s why it’s nice working with the same director more than once, because you’ve already built up some sort of relationship, you don’t need to get under their skin as much, you already know where they are coming from, so it makes it a lot easier.

      (Roger Deakins, ASC, Frost interview, November 2007)

      An established cinematographer may like the idea