Here are some popular definitions of cinematography.
They all seem to agree it’s an art, and
it has something to do with photography.
They are good enough definitions, but pedantic.
It’s one thing to read words and figure
out the meaning, and yet another to understand
it from a level of experience.
I’m Sareesh Sudhakaran and in this video
I wanted to share my perspective on cinematography,
how it has evolved for me, and what it feels
like to practice cinematography. Having made
more than 30 videos on great cinematographers
has also helped me gain perspective on what
is considered great cinematography, timeless
cinematography, one that inspires awe.
A cinematographer is someone who practices
cinematography. How is he or she different
from a regular person? Both can appreciate
a good image, but only one can create it from
a blank slate.
You start with nothing, darkness. A subject
walks in. She is interesting, you want to
know more about her.
She might smile or be moody, or be dancing
or just being, and you want a closer look.
You pick a position, it’s your position.
Your point of view. She moves, and you move
with her. You follow, you are drawn in, and
you realize you can’t escape her world.
It’s the same story. Her story is now your
story.
You must tell this story. You want everyone
to know her emotions, her life, her truth.
You realize you can hide or show some features.
As she moves in and out of the light her different
aspects reveal themselves, - her body, her
emotions, her actions, her reactions - you
realize you have the power to shape the story
through light and darkness. It’s all in
your hands. Turn away, or show...hide or reveal...fixate
on a smile, or terrify with a frown.
The kind of light you add makes a difference.
Hard light, soft light, butterfly light, under
light, these are like musical notes that everyone
can play, but the music you make with them
is uniquely you. As you paint her picture
you forget who is painting. Is she making
you move, or are you making her shine? It
doesn’t matter, the very fact of thinking
breaks the spell, breaks the magic.
Then the colors. Black or white, saturated
or desaturated, pastel or stark, the colors
change their moods with your light. Your light
is strong, powerful, with meaning. Or soft,
subtle, with caring. If you don’t give it
meaning it will take a meaning of its own.
You can’t have that. This is your story.
Yeah I know it’s her story, but told by
you. This one is personal.
How do you tell the world this woman’s story?
You want to capture it, the essence, no, you
want to capture it all. You can use film or
digital, virtual reality or 3D, a mobile phone
or an IMAX camera, live action or animation.
The tools are overwhelming, the answer to
picking them lies with you. How do you know
you have the right tool? Simple. As you look
through it, it will vanish, and you will be
left alone with your story.
The mechanism of capture isn’t important.
Time and technology is changing, the medium
is fluid, and so are you – the light won’t
stop moving, the stories will continue, only
you can stop, only you can give up. If you
want to keep telling stories, you must focus
on the light, not your eyes.
Light has no sex or race. What you show shows
you.
This is what I feel when I’m practicing
cinematography nowadays. For me, cinematography
is the art of capturing moving light.
I must capture it when I have the chance,
because it will be gone tomorrow. In many
ways I am a historian. A very biased historian
of art, because it is my own. You will do
it differently. They will do it differently,
but only I can tell my own story.
The medium keeps changing, sometimes I can’t
afford what you can afford, sometimes you
can’t have what I have. But we all have
light. As much as we want. It is our birthright.
The only constant I have is light. It helps
me see, and it helps me show. What I show
shows me.
The art of capturing moving light, where moving
means moving pictures, where moving means
emotionally moving, and where moving means
the freedom to move your perspective in space
and time, through whatever medium you have
available.
I haven’t discovered anything new, by the
way. After all, photography is photo or light,
plus drawing - the practice of drawing with
light.
And so cinematography is the art of capturing
moving light.
That’s all I know about cinematography.
Shine some light on the like button, and focus
your cameras on the subscribe button – because
there’s lots of good stories coming your
way soon.
