Cinematographer (1949)

[Music] this is the most important piece of equipment in Motion Pictures the camera one of the most intricate and sensitive of all its function is to transform lifeless film flowing through it at the rate of 20 F or 90 ft a minute into the moving image which you ultimately see on the screen Artistry and Effectiveness is due entirely to the great native and scientific abilities of one man he of screen actors and actresses and one on whom producers and R to crystallize on film all of their own Artistry and talent this is the man the Director of Photography the motion picture cameraman his importance and influence are felt from the moment a motion picture begins to take shape until it is completed it is on the B what his camera can and cannot do that screenplay it is with an eye to what is expensive to photograph and what is not that budgets and breakdowns are prepared it is with a sound conception of how they will look before the critical eye of his camera that costumes are designed and makeup is applied he checks the dressing of sets and on through a long list of other production operations on the cinematographer then rests the responsibility of integrating and translating to film all the many and varied tangibles and intangibles which go into the making of every motion picture it is a responsibility for which he is well qualified his background is one of much study training and experience he has served a long and thorough apprenticeship in All Phases of cinematography a progressive apprenticeship which took him through many stages as an assistant cameraman and later as an operating cameraman all long before he reached his present status as a Director of Photography ASC the letters identify him as a member of the American Society of cinematographers just as in Britain VC designates a member of the British Society of cinematographers of necessity he has mastered the many tools of a complex and demanding Arc cameras a wide range of many kinds which vary in scope limitations and operation camera lenses and filters each with special characteristics all designed for specific uses camera equipment a mechanized Army of it giving movement speed and flexibility to camera work lights and lighting equipment large and small each item designed for a particular purpose of necessity to he has become an engineer and a scholar in his field for his work Embraces skills and knowledge in many branches of science learning it is as an artist however that the Director of Photography is known and his ability rated all of his training and Technical proficiency mean little unless he can apply what he knows in terms of creative Artistry he must have a feeling for design and Beauty as well as engineering his sense of feel must be sound because his creativeness depends wholly on his Mastery of the intangibles of art on the set where he brings that Mastery into play he organizes the Thousand in1 separate elements of his Artistry into a unified and effective hole to do so he supervises the workings of a well integrated team of craftsmen who work closely with him to bring to the screen the high art of cinematography light is his medium the only one in which he works and he orders it to his liking he works with light in much the same way that a sculptor Works using it to mold each scene so that it will photograph on film as he sees it in his creative Mind's Eye using enough light in a shot like this to supply current for a city the size of Muny Indiana or Hoboken New Jersey or a game using so little light that a candle is brilliant by comparison the camera Remains the Same but by changing his lighting the cinematographer creates almost unlimited variations in mood and character on the screen lighting for romance very d [Music] lighting for drama [Music] [Applause] lighting for comedy what's the matter with you everybody here lik everybody here [Music] lik and there's a few like top chck Li and there's a few like top Li [Music] this is the tangible result of the cinematographers work images on film 150,000 of them in the average featurelength Motion Picture Tiny still pictures one after another on a Celluloid ribbon a mile and a half long the goal of his every effort is to make each one of them Flawless perfect technically and perfect artistically it is a goal which he very often attains not only on assignments where he can rigidly control all photographic factors but also on many others where he [Music] cannot the scenes you see here indicate some of the problems he faces and show both the variety of such assignments and his uniformly excellent handling of them on the [Music] way way [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] w m [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] wherever he works whatever his assignment the cinematographer the Director of Photography has but one purpose to add to your movieo pleasure by giving you what you you want to see top entertainment in pictures [Music]