All language subtitles for Cinematographer (DP)

another one of the most essentially

important people in a film set

is the cinematographer

this position is also called

the director of photography

or DP for short

or sometimes d op

outside of the United States

this is the person in charge of the look of the movie

and everything we see on screen

they direct the camera settings

the camera movement

the lighting

the way shots are framed

and anything else in front of the lens

you know if a wardrobe person

wants to put an actor in a certain shirt

the DP can veto that action

because it doesn't fit in the overall visual scheme

or because it doesn't look good on camera obviously

these choices are done in conjunction with the director

who has the final say over all creative choices

but the DP usually works with the director

in pre production

to plan the color scheme

and a visual style for the film

on the assurance

I had a phenomenal DP booked

and then 2 weeks before production started he quit

this DP was going to get his own gaffer

bring it with all his own gear

so when he quit

I had to stop all other pre production work

until we got those crew and gear issues worked out

so I reluctantly decided to be the DP on the assurance

I've been the DP for several films and corporate videos

so I felt confident that I could do it

and trying to bring someone in

at that really important position

at the last minute

and try to gel with them

that's just too risky for me

the relationship between director

and DP is just so critical

and there's frequently conflict there

because the DP wants things

to look as beautiful as possible

which is by far

the most time consuming aspect of film production

on amateur film sets

young DPS will often take way too much time

getting the shot absolutely perfect

regardless of how much that sets back production

or how insignificant the shot is

in terms of telling the overall story

by the time my DP quit

we had already created several shot lists

our wardrobe was almost finished

I'd already planned a visual style

so it felt too late to bring on a new DP

and start from scratch

but I also knew that I couldn't direct well

if I had to operate the camera

so I hired a local filmmaking wizard

to be my camera operator

which is common on bigger productions

that can afford a camera team this big

the DP will then watch the production through a monitor

so they can focus on everything that's happening

instead of worrying about camera settings

or moving the camera

any of that

this whole mess with the DP

ended up being one of the biggest challenges

I had on the assurance

I really missed not having another collaborator

on the visual aspects of the film

at the time that it took me

in pre production

to find a new gaffer and camera crew

and all that gear

it really took away a lot from the final production

several key members of my team even mentioned

how my being DP and director

had hurt the production a little bit

and they were right

move on we'll see

that's the problem

yeah is that weird

you need to be with the actors

but we also need your

you know approval on camera setup and yeah

we feel I feel

felt like yesterday

it was like that for that

and it takes way too much time

so in a perfect world

I would not have directed and been DP

I mean look at Barry

Sonnet Fell

he's a very successful Hollywood cinematographer

having been DP on huge movies

like Raising Arizona

when Harry Met Sally Misery

and Barry later became a director

but even when he directed huge movies

like men in black

or The Addams Family

he still hired another person to be the DP

although some people

like Rodriguez

have done an excellent job

doing both roles simultaneously

most of the time

you want these roles to be filled by two

different people