Fremtiden for Filmfotografi

ASC President Richardo Crudo har et innlegg om hva han mener fremtiden bringer.  Den digitale revolusjonen statet for lenge siden men filmbransjens arbeidsforhold samt teknikken  forandres fortsatt i hurtig tempo.

All right, everyone, it’s quiz time. Looking at the Oscar-winning features Avatar, Hugo, Life of Pi and Gravity, can you tell me how much of each was photographed traditionally and how much was originated through computer software?

Don’t be so hard on yourself when you can’t come up with the answers. Contrary to what many think, it’s impossible to determine unless you were directly involved with each step of these productions. Therein lies the crux of another boring and unnecessary debate that’s already wearing thin, just like the film vs. digital dustup.

Every awards season, the ASC is swarmed by people from all segments of the industry who want to know when the Society will create a new awards category to recognize hybrids, motion pictures that feature a prominent mix of live-action photography and CGI. We currently have a committee hard at work on deconstructing the issue, but I have set them to this task with a great sense of unease. They are some of the best people in the world at what they do, and still I wonder whether the rules they might develop to judge such an award will stand up to honest scrutiny.

It is easy to recognize the elaborate effects work in some pictures, but what about the titles mentioned in my quiz? Their artful images are strong testimonies to the talents of the cinematographers and visual-effects teams, but at the same time, they offer no clue as to how we can delineate the contributions each has made. Another dilemma is presented by the performance-driven dramas and modestly budgeted films that do not appear to be candidates for extensive image manipulation, but actually are. More and more, digital effects are being used in such films to augment an actor’s appearance, alter wardrobe or production design, or create a familiar environment that is actually just a greenscreen backing. The Wolf of Wall Street, The Social Network, The Hours and Charlie Wilson’s War all fall into this category, and they are excellent reminders of just how unsure the footing in this arena can be.

And even if we could differentiate the real from the virtual, what sort of ratio should determine which projects fall into this new awards category? 70-30? 60-40? 501/2-491/2?

Once again, it’s an impossible call. We should stop wasting our time worrying about it. Instead, we should do all we can to encourage the approach taken by cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC, and director Alfonso Cuarón on their amazing film Gravity. As the winner of the ASC Award in the theatrical-release category and Academy Awards for both cinematography and visual effects, it stands as a glowing ideal of how we need to move into the future. Though it marked an intense collaboration among a variety of creative minds and employed a wave of innovative technology, there is no question that Lubezki’s hand shaped every frame of the movie, regardless of whether the material was originated traditionally or through CGI. This notion — that a single pair of eyes governs the overall look — is the only one that makes sense. It is also the only way to guarantee that the director will get a consistent, unified realization of what he or she feels the film should look like.

If the history of cinematography has proven anything, it’s not only that our world is one of steady change, but also that we are adaptable artists who are always embracing the new. Over the past year or two, certain self-interested individuals have been trying to redefine our job title and description to cover the myriad aspects of the hybrid model. That’s just nonsense. Everything it entails has fallen under our exclusive purview as authors of the image since the very beginning, and that will continue to be true no matter where the technology takes us.

This is a most exciting time to be a cinematographer. Let’s all remember that our influence counts, and it counts even more when we use it.

Siste innlegg
378173821_844528207553218_303912505062559560_n
Nordic/Docs arrangeres i Fredrikstad denne uka. Dette er ellevte utgaven av den internasjonale dokumentarfilmfestivalen. Foreningen Norske Filmfotografer har i mange (..)
Tidligere studenter ved Den norske filmskolen. Foto: Kjell Vassdal FNF
Foreningen norske filmfotografer (FNF) har grundig behandlet rapporten, datert 9. juni 2023, ført i pennen av Eli Bø, Dekan ved (..)
Budbreingeren_Bilde_Liggende_OPFF logo
Pål Sletaunes prisvinnende debutfilm «Budbringeren» vises 1 .september kl 18.00 på Vega kino, under filmfestivalen Oslo Pix. Etter filmen blir det (..)
4487_E_0001C006_221202_143949_a1C_highlight_fix044874487
In December 2022 FNF did a camera test on the new ARRI Alexa 35 camera. We compared ARRIs latest camera (..)
358117636_983007202875594_4234916624095989999_n
Den norske filmskolen, i samarbeid med Xvision, tilbyr i høst et praktisk kurs innen virtuell produksjon rettet mot profesjonelle filmfotografer (..)
BILDE ROLV HÅAN
Gratulerer med 75-årsdagen Rolv Håan! Rolv har vært styreleder i Foreningen Norske Filmfotografer i to omganger. Han har også vært (..)
Paul René Roestad FNF fotografert på Storyline Studios i forbindelse med ODCC 2023.
Gratulerer med 75-årsdagen Paul René Roestad! Paul René er styreleder i Foreningen Norske Filmfotografer og primus motor bak både Oslo (..)
Bildekavalkade ODCC 2023
Vår svenske venn Lars Pettersson har laget denne bildekavalkaden fra Oslo Digital Cinema Conference 2023. Bildene er tatt av Lars (..)
DSCF5265
Oslo Digital Cinema Conference gikk av stabelen forrige helg. Det var ganske bra besøk til tross for det pene sommerværet (..)
DSCF4775
Onsdag 7. mars arrangerte FNF overraskelsesfest for Patrik Säfström hos Olga Rental. Filmfotografen flytter til Japan 1. august. Gjennom god (..)
the-mandalorian-greig-fraser-image
  Vi er meget glade for at Greig Fraser kommer til Oslo for å holde en mesterklasse samt Q&A med (..)
P1040886
Fredag 16. til søndag 18. juni arrangeres Oslo Digital Cinema Conference for åttende gang. ODCC er et samarbeid mellom FNF, (..)