Cinematography for Directors. Jacqueline Frost

or 30 to 300 mm, or the like. There are many combinations but basically the zoom is one lens containing all focal length between its widest focal range and its maximum telephoto.

      ■ I generally prefer using primes mostly because I like the movies that I work on to have a kind of architecture that relates to those lenses. I’ve shot some movies with mostly just three sizes of lenses. The other thing is that I find if you have a prime on, nobody says, “Why don’t we zoom?” That eliminates that conversation.

      (John Lindley, ASC, Frost interview)

      ■ I like prime lenses, because once we find the frame that we like then that is what we are doing. With zooms the director typically wants to zoom in to get closer, and I would rather move the camera. Sure, it would be faster to just zoom, but then all the coverage will be with a long lens, which could be fine if that’s what you are going for. But I generally prefer to be close with the camera; the feeling of intimacy is very different with a 100 mm or a 40 mm that is close to the actors. It really feels like you are with them, invading their space with the camera a little. For the audience, it’s the difference between being voyeuristic and safe, looking at something or someone from a distance or being right there with them. That’s why primes work better for me because it forces me to move in for coverage.

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

      ■ There is a formal and rigid discipline that using prime lenses gives you. If you are doing a lot of handheld using primes you tend to know exactly what you are getting with the prime.

      (Michael Bonvillain, ASC Frost interview)

      ■ The prime lens makes you think about what kind of shot it is. Is it a 27 mm or a 50 mm? I want the audience to be here looking at this with a wide angle, or I want them to be here looking at the character’s face with a 50 mm, or I want them back here looking at the character’s face on a 200 mm — it’s aesthetically and emotionally a totally different effect. I think just by getting into the regime of changing lenses every time you change a shot, it makes you more aware of what you are doing, and it really doesn’t take any more time to change a lens; in fact, it takes less. And there you have it.

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

      ■ I used to think that primes were better because there is less glass that the light has to go through. But there are zoom lenses that have gotten so good that it doesn’t matter. I do like the convenience of changing things. I think, if I had my choice, I would want the zoom. I love what the zoom does, and I feel that it’s truly a tool of cinema. There is no zoom anywhere else. There is nothing that does what a zoom does. I love using it and I love the long, slow creeping kind of zoom. In the right moment, it could be the best way to describe a certain beat of the film. But I’m not a stickler to one or the other, nor am I stickler to any type of equipment. It’s like my attitude for lighting: If it’s the right for the job, I’ll use a whiskey glass as a lens.

      (Harris Savides, Frost interview)

      ■ Nic Roeg is the master of the zoom. For instance, in Walkabout, the zoom is used for great effect in the outback of Australia where nature is virtually breathing and he would zoom in and out and suddenly these rocks would appear to breathe, incredible to see, magical stuff. The zoom is coming back, and a lot of filmmakers are warming to it again. Of course in the ’70s everyone used it, but I think it has creative uses.

      (Seamus McGarvey, ASC, Frost interview)

      ■ I did all of Good Night, and Good Luck with zoom lenses, two cameras all the way through, two 11 mm–100 mm’s. It’s a matter of taste. But on Paul’s (Thomas Anderson) movies, I don’t think we ever used a zoom lens once.

      (Robert Elswit, ASC, Frost interview)

      ZOOM LENSES

      9. Zoom lens (Canon) up to 200 mm

      The zoom has a wide range of focal lengths, it can be a 20–300 mm, which means at its widest opening it is a 20 mm (wide-angle lens) and zoomed in it is 300 mm (telephoto lens) and every focal length in between. The size and weight of the zoom lens is much larger and heavier than the prime lens because of all the glass in the lens for the varying focal lengths. The camera can be placed a further distance from the subject and when zoomed in the subject while be isolated while also softening what is in focus in the background. This can create a slightly voyeuristic quality since the camera is farther away.

      10a-d. The Graduate (Zoom out to reveal her isolation)

      When the lens is zoomed in it tells the audience only to look at this subject because the background will be completely soft focus. The focus can shift with the zoom lens, racking focus from one subject to another. Using the zoom can be convenient if you are in a difficult-to-control situation and need to zoom into a tighter shot without changing out the lens, such as in a documentary film or when you are grabbing a shot on the fly.

      At a longer focal length the zoom lens can get the subject in a closer shot but at the same time it will compress and soften the background, isolating the subject so that they are all we see. These can be very aesthetically pleasing shots, almost like a portrait.

      The zoom lens was first used in films in of the late ’60s like Easy Rider for a very obvious effect. The zoom in was like the eye of the audience focusing in on what was being shot and zooming out was taking it away. In The Graduate, the zoom lens is effectively used to isolate Mrs. Robinson in the corner of the room after the affair with Benjamin ends and leaves her small and alone as it zooms out and he walks away.

      ■ I always use a zoom. If I think I know what the director wants out of a scene and the actors are giving it, I often zoom past one and into the other actor because I think he is coming on; I turn him into #1 by simply driving gently past the other guy. Then I’ve got to race back to the monitor and say, “I’m sorry. I just did a terrible thing. I got so carried away that I pressed the button,” and Anthony (Minghella) would get this wry grin on his face and say, “I loved it, let’s get his reverse now.” So all the little ideas, everything you talked about, come in little ways as you make the film. That’s what I love. If I can’t work with a director like that, I find I get more distant. I think, “Oh, what if?” But I can’t say that, because this director doesn’t want to shoot that way.

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

      ■ I do love working with zooms because they can speed things up a bit. With the Panavision Primo Zooms, I can’t tell the difference between a 40 mm on the zoom and a 40 mm prime; I just can’t see it. I’m sure some people scrutinize it on a collimator to see it falls off at the edge. But when you are watching a film you won’t see any difference. So I use zooms a lot, I like to use zooms on a tracking shot going right to left you can hide a zoom in there and use it for effect.

      (Seamus McGarvey, ASC, Frost interview)

      ■ I like zooms only for particular reasons, to me the effect of the zoom is if someone is focusing their attention on something, it’s like a point of view, narrowing in on something within a frame.

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

      There is a wide range of zoom lenses available for cinematographers to select from depending on the needs of the production. For example, the Zeiss 21–100 mm, or a 70–200 mm or 28–80 mm compact zoom. There is a 45–250 mm Arri