164 Moving Images: Making Movies, Understanding Media

Hiro Narita

Close-Up

Q

How did you begin working in movies?

A

I went to art school and at the time I wasn’t thinking of getting into

fi lm. For the fi rst ten years I worked as a graphic designer, and then by

chance I got involved in helping fi lmmakers design movie posters and

so forth. And then that led to, “Can you take some stills?” And then to,

“Are you interested in shooting a documentary for me?” In fact, I was

almost 30 when I made the shift into cinematography. And it was not

easy to make a living, just proclaiming yourself a cinematographer.

I learned a lot from old master gaff ers. Th ey really taught me. I knew

what looked beautiful to my eyes, but I didn’t know how to get it. So the

old lighting masters would say, “If you use a 5K here and diff use it, this

is the kind of quality you get.” I learned most of my trade on the job.

Q

How did you move on from those initial steps and what lessons did

you learn?

A

I started to do some corporate slide shows, and that led to corporate

identity fi lms, and that led to more legitimate documentary fi lms – not

selling products, but selling personalities or ideas, telling stories or

capturing emotions with moving images. Th at really was fascinating

to me. I had to catch up with the technology, of course – I was always

a few years behind the technology. But if you have the desire to tell

visual stories, the equipment is just a tool. I was constantly learning.

I think it’s the human story that I wanted to tell. I was asked to fi lm a

documentary on children with leukemia. Just to see these young kids

telling their experiences to the camera – brave souls, you know – just

to see those images of people was much more fascinating to me than

shooting beautiful shoes or plastic-piping. Th ough to sell that, I’m sure

it takes a talented advertising mind and some people are really great

at it.

Behind the Scenes with Cinematographer

Cinematographer Hiro

Narita, whose extensive

credits include Never Cry

Wolf; Honey, I Shrunk the

Kids; Star Trek VI; The

Rocketeer; James and

the Giant Peach; and

the pilot for The Gilmore

Girls. (Courtesy of Hiro

Narita)

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