Chapter 8 The Production Process 299part of storytelling, sometimes extravagant or complex production values can
overwhelm weak characters and story. Basically, a motion picture with two
characters in a sparsely decorated room has low production value; a James
Bond fi lm with locations across the world, intricate stunts, many extras, and
an array of original gadgets seeks to show very high production values for a
great deal of its appeal.The Camera and Lighting Units
As you know from your own productions, it is useful to devise a visual approach
before shooting a motion picture. Th e creation of shot lists and storyboards
and scouting of locations for visual preparations can be vital to the success
of a motion picture. Th e person who is in charge of ensuring that the camera
will be used eff ectively to bring all of this to the screen is the cinematographer
or director of photography (DP). Cinematographers are among the fi rst people
to join a production and have a tremendous amount of responsibility during
all its stages. Th eir work is balanced between the artistic concerns of craft ing
light, movement, and framing, and the technical concerns of photography.
Th ey must also oversee a sizeable portion of the crew because everything
that has to do with photography is under their supervision.
As you learned in Chapter 4, a cinematographer must supervise the use
and creation of all the light that is on the scene and that enters the camera.
Th ey must select and properly use cameras, fi lm stocks or digital media,
lenses, fi lters, and a wide array of tools. Th e work can be done under diffi cult
conditions, whether in snow, under water, on sand, or on top of a mountain. As
Academy Award-winning DP Haskell Wexler explains, “My job is to help the
director translate in an artful way the drama as expressed in the script and by
the actors. Th is involves helping with framing, staging, lighting, and utilizing
all the mechanical devices necessary to make the images tell the story.”Figure 8-12 Actor Bill
Murray in front of the
unique set for The Life
Aquatic with Steve Zissou,
directed by Wes Anderson.
In Wes Anderson’s fi lms,
production values are
integral to the storytelling
and the development of
a fi nely detailed world for
the characters. (Courtesy
Touchstone/Photofest)Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).