wow. very inspiring. Thank you for the opportunity to see how Robert Yeoman works and thinks and what inspires him... love the Mary Ellen Mark book there.. shows how much good photography can inspire the filmmakers.
Thank you for sharing the perspective of such an interesting creator. Also, could someone be kind enough to explain how cinematographers/DPs work with directors? I am just a casual and not schooled fan of film, so I am curious about the two roles relationship. Is it a partnership that has the director with final say? Do they have equal opportunity to add interpretation of the story during the storyboarding period of pre-production?
The cinematographer's work varies from director to director. Some of them prefer to have control over camera angles, position and framing while they let the cinematographer work only on lighting schemes and things of that sort (with a previously given cinematography proposal document); other directors, who are more confident of their DP's way of thinking, share their visual intentions with them and they both work together to reach a final look and feel to the movie that lies between what they both like and feel confident about. the cinematographer might suggest camera angles, position, and intention, but its the director who has the final saying on that sort of matter. What a cinematographer always does, no matter the director, is to design lighting schemes that compliment the movie, test cameras, lenses and light sources to find which fit more conveniently the filming of the movie. For example, if you have a director who is keen to night sequence shots with low depth of field, your DP needs to cast the equipment and see which works best for him in such conditions. The DP needs to know how to hide the lights, rent a camera that is not too heavy, a lens with a very low T-stop number, and any sort of rig to stabilize the shot (for that situation in particular). I hope you understand a little bit better the relationship between the director and the DP. Sorry for my bad english, it isn't my first language.
If the dynamic between the director and cinematographer is great then there will never be a need for a final say, both will respect and value the others opinion.
I just love the fact that the way Robert Yeoman lights his films are so natural that it just seems like there were no use of lights at all. Loved this video!
