"We
paint with the lights", says a guy who is at the front desk of the
Photography building at Paramount. That pretty sums up the job of the
Cinematographers, also called Directors of Photography. They work very close with the Art Department in order to previously know the colours and textures of what
they're going to illuminate on the set. Though the Director (and often the
Producers) has the last word, the cinematographer is one of the main keys of
the conception of the image. It is quite an spectacle to see dozens or even
hundreds of lights in the Stages, illuminating the sets for TV shows or epic
scenes for the movies. Some of them are very heavy lights and need 2
electricians just to riseit from the floor and put it on the place the
cinematographer determinates. The Hollywood studios are definitely the paradise
of every cinematographer. You may find here every sort of light or new camera
that has came to the market lately. But it is not just about the lights. The
other main key of Hollywood movies are the travelings on the shots (the camera
movement inside the set). The Director
uses them to have a different approach to the characters and to show the scene
in a very different way. The sub-department who takes care of this is the Grip.
From the Key Grip, the Best Boy, dolly grips, and other assistants, they put
the cameras in tiny carts (dollys) and cranes. Those things have little plates
where they can sit while the shot is taking place (for the camera operator, the
change of focus, and other asisstants).
Some of
those places can be seen i¡on this video. I personally love the shots showing the
colour filters for the lights:
