The BEST Cinematography Advice From Roger Deakins (His Philosophy of Cinematography)
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- Опубликовано: 13 июн 2024
- In today’s cinematographer's insight, learn from the legendary Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC, CBE, as he discusses his philosophy in cinematography. Arguably known as one of the greatest cinematographers alive today, he shares some incredible insight!
Let us know what your favourite point was in the comments below. Enjoy!
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TIMESTAMPS⏰
00:00 Intro
00:40 Cinematography is not about creating beautiful shots
02:17 It’s not about the technology
04:19 Have a REASON to move the camera
06:37 Have a style that suits the project
07:19 Create a sense of reality with the light
12:15 PLAN as much as you can, but be ready to ADAPT
14:24 Think about how you want the audience to feel
16:19 Consider why and where you’re placing the camera
SOURCES ✔
Roger Deakins Interviews:
apple.co/3oVOsy7
• DP/30: Sicario, Roger ...
• DP/30: True Grit, cine...
• Roger Deakins on Blade...
• 2-Hour Interview with ...
• The Filmmaker's View: ...
• Into the Woods, Inters...
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Thanks for the recommendations guys, please keep them coming and we'll do our best to cover your favourite cinematographer! Also what was your favourite tip from Roger?
@@jarlathmckernan8919 That's been my favourite quote for many years :)
I think having a reason to move the camera!
One thing i like the most is that Deakins always says that the tech doesn´t matters so u can do amazing jobs with low equipment value because whats really matter is the lighting and the menssage of the scene. Bye the way i love your channel!
U can also do about Chivo and Rachel Morrison :)
@@guilhermeisidoro8045 Thank you! They are definitely on the list :)
Great Channel!!!
Roger Deakins: Cinematography should not stand out
All of Roger Deakins' works: Allow me to introduce myself
Haha can't help that he creates beautiful images!
So true
It doesn't stand out... its outstanding 😉
@@WhiteWolf496 This is a brilliant observation that sounds pedantic at first, but really isn't. All of his best work look amazing even out of context, but it never steals the attention away from the character or scene when you're watching the movie, in fact it usually enhances it, by a lot.
Yeah, he kind of failed spectacularly on that department, I could frame each one of his shots or watch all the movies he’s done on mute and still be captivated in the story by the visuals alone.
Roger Deakins: “Cinematography should not stand out.”
Roger Deakins’ entire career: “Yeah, about that.”
He said originally that it wasn't about creating beautiful shots but that soon changed as years later we see the Blade Runner sequel which is packed with beautiful shots; photography that very much draws attention to itself not that I mind as cinematography should stand out as should a film score, as should production design, as should performances, as should everything. When we think of Jaws we don't just see a shark - we hear John William's music which is as powerful if not more so than the visual. We see The Wizard Of Oz and we see that extraordinary colour and photography; it stands out; what sort of a memory would we have of the film if it didn't? The story? I don't think so! When we see Robert Yeoman's photography in Wes Anderson's films - it stands out and nothing that any other cinematographer has done comes close. Linus Sandgren's evening photography featured in all of the films he's worked on and is second to none. All these examples draw us into the films. Some films are about reality but most films take us away from reality and that's part of the escapism that audiences crave though I 'm not keen on his hues! White skies become cream skies; there's often green or blue tinges which is now effecting most cinematographers work. When we remember Roger's work we only see stand out shots; stand out cinematography so again there appears to be contractions.
1. Cinematography is not about creating beautiful shots.
2. It's not about the technology.
3. Have a REASON to move the camera.
4. Have a style that suits the project.
5. Create a sense of reality with the light.
6. PLAN as much as you can but be ready to ADAPT.
7. Think about how you want the audience to feel.
8. Consider why and where you're placing the camera.
Deakins is not only a great cinematographer, but is wonderfully articulate about the subject and his part in it.
The best
ruclips.net/video/E10AB1tq80g/видео.html
Its British accent innit ;)
Not only is he articulate and effective verbally, but I love his physical mannerisms and gesticulations. He has a bubbly restless hands that I feel make me listen to his words so much more like he’s conducting orchestra. Watch the DOP’s roundtable from 2017 in THR’s channel to see what I mean
I love it when he's in an interview saying, "I wouldn't light it like this" or "I wouldn't be shooting from way over there with a long lens." I know he's not criticizing, but imagine how the crew on those shoots is feeling haha.
Haha yeah he's just brutally honest which is super refreshing. The DPs I'm sure felt a little bit bad lol
lol. when you're so good, you practically know all the bad things noobs do when their shooting you.
He did compliment the setup right before he said that, in defense of the crew.
You’re right. He’s not criticizing. He’s teaching. Someone who wants to get better will listen and learn from his experience.
@@AlterCineYT it’s personally preference tho. It’s not bad.
His shots do show his personality well - he’s humble. This doesn’t mean his shots are boring, hell no - quite the opposite. But he lets the story breathe and characters do their thing. He provides a backdrop that doesn’t clash or fight for primacy.
Exactly
I really love that one shot in 1917.
omg the layers this comment has!!!
@@consistencymaster 2 ?
I love how he plays down just how good he is and always happy to share great advice and experience. You kind of get the impression that even his 'worst' work would still be superb.
Some guy : I really love that shot. Deakins: oh dear, that's not good, they should like the film as a whole. +creates movie that is almost entirely one shot. There, compliment away.
Haha!
That was a good shot
One of my favorite movies. I never thought about the popcorn on the floor as constellations. Amazing symbolism !!
Rodger Deakins is so good, the best compliment a DP could receive is taken as an indirect criticism. What an absolute legend, I hope him and Christopher Nolan collab one day :(
This man has a lot of discipline.
I really like his point about not taking away the spotlight from the script, and not being obsessed with making everything pretty.
Thus is a great lesson for all the gimbal and fpv youtube kids who need rollercoaster shots in every video.
Sir. Rogers D. Philosophy on Cinematography is everything..
His emphasis on the audience being engaged as opposed to breaking down the shot speaks words. But common Roger, take a compliment here and there will ya
As a photographer, not cinematographer, I found his advices about creative thinking very useful for photographers. Will share this to my friends phot dogs... 😉
Awesome that photographers can relate to this :)
@@AlterCineYT They can cause we're in the same business, trying to catch the moment and play with light... Almost the same. Never forget that Stanley Kubrick started as photographer and he was really good one!
photography and cinematography are basically the same, cinematographers take photos as there colour palet or look their going for. and Photographers use movies or location for great photos.
Well, cinematography is fast moving photography so...
@@AlterCineYT I started with Photography that helped me understand the fundamentals of cinematography it’s all the same thing but where cinematography differs from photography is that cinematographers primary use is Cine lens where as of course photographers use still lens f stop (photography) and t stops (Cine) are different f stop is all in the camera and also on still lens majority have manual focus and auto focus switch the Cine lens doesn’t where t stop comes into play which means “transmission” the DP has complete control on how much light enters the lens for the camera sensor
"I love that shot" is something I've said about every single film shot by Deakins. Don't worry man, I LOVE THAT SHOT, and it gets me excited about cinema and filmmaking. And that means everything to me. I'm honestly so thankful that his work doesn't just simply disappear into the storytelling, that the images he has created truly stand out.
One of the few speakers on the subject that I have listened to, who puts the human side of the storytelling, light etc. before any specific technique. Lovely, actually. :)
"Create a sense of reality with the light" is a brilliant suggestion. He's not saying create reality itself. He's speaking to a reality that supports the story of that project. I'm always immersed in a movie that is shot by Deakins, because of this very idea of reality created with the light. As an artist and filmmaker, I'm a very visual person. So, often times, I'll look back at a movie and think about how it was shot. But, while I'm watching it, I don't want to be distracted by camera movement, etc. If it suits the story, I'll remain interested.
I think a lot of newer cinematographers are hooked on handheld shots. They think it's "cinematic". What I've learned is that it's cinematic if it supports the story. Not because it looks like a cool or pretty shot. I've seen too many TV shows and movies where the camera is constantly floating around. Which, personally, takes me completely out of the film and the story, because I'm constantly being reminded that I'm watching a movie.
Deakins mentions how in dramatic scenes you don't want a lot of camera movement because you want to focus on what the character is experiencing. Think about how you interact in real life. If you're having an emotional or intense conversation with someone, is your head floating around. No. You're usually sitting still and focusing on the other person. That same should hold true for the camera.
Thank you for this series on cinematographers. It's fascinating to see how they approach filming from a philosophical point of view instead of a technical one.
Agree completely! The whole gimbal movement lately (although fantastic tool that can be right for the project) has people moving the camera all the time without any motivation to the movement. Sometimes it's much more effective to just stay still and let the story unfold!
@@AlterCineYT Exactly. A director friend of mine has said that sometimes when she's watching a film and she notices the camera is constantly moving, she'll say to herself, "Get a fricken tripod."
Look at the great films of past and present. You'll see very little camera movement, unless the characters are moving in large steps around the environment. Or unless it's a fight, action or combat scene.
@@AllThingsFilm1 LOL I understand her completely. When I see that, I'm always saying "Why are you constantly sliding back and forth for no reason??"
I have a lot of time and respect for Roger Deakins. I agree with his philosophy. In my films I want the characters and their story to be the focal point and the cinematography, sound, music etc to compliment and enrich, but not to be so obvious and therefore distracting.
this guy thinks exactly like me when it comes to filmmaking.. wow... we're jus passionate about telling great stories and a nice, simple way.
He’s such a true master, he makes something so complicated and hard become so simplified and easy. He’s one of the best for a reason, awesome video!
Couldn't agree more. Glad you enjoyed it!
Standing out successfully is called "having style"
He is very humble in the way he speaks about himself
Some words there to heed for all new gimbal users. And I include myself there. Quite often a tripod is all you need.
100%
He's literally the definition of an "open minded" person, and with that; to me, should be what all cinematographers to be, going into every new project, without bias, and with a full, open mind, about the movie itself.. good stuff
Loved this video. I have come to realise that I was starting to lose my passion in cinematography over the years to wanting to succeed in business and create a successful production company. I stoped being a student and stopped learning and slowly I started losing my passion. Hearing this helped ignite that spark again. To become a student again and work on my craft.
I always admired Rogers work and he nails it in the head when he says everything needs a purpose, a camera move or lighting setup. It needs to support the story and the overall vision. In a world of RUclips taught filmmakers Random lights that have no meaning but making an image “pop” , gimbals being used for shots that dont need a camera move just because it “looks cool” and people using RGB lighting in scenes that don’t make sense. All in the name of filming something cool and not driving the story in a real way. Thanks for the reminder of what great cinematography should be!
I could listen to this all day. Really grabbing a few lights, that you got and test out what he just said helps so much. I was able to create some pretty shots in my basement, after i watched many videos of Roger Deakins, talking cinematography and really tried to emulate what he said. But that where exciting light scenarios that i created, but what the true strength of Deakins really is, is that he can make a boring place like an office (in the movie "Sicario") look incredibly stunning and that is something people who are interested in cinematography should do more. Just search a boring ass location and try to get stunning shots of that place. That way - in my humble opinion - you really get a sense of what great composition and lighting is all about.
Best cinematography advice i've ever heard. The philosophy is so strong
Agreed :)
Very true ! I’ve learned a lot !
One of my favorites DP of all time.
Roger is very intelligent,
He has very strong vision for himself and for audience.
Thank you for creating this channel. I always listen to these interviews but it’s really nice to have them in a sort of category so we can better understand point by point what their philosophy of filming is.
Glad you enjoyed this! Thanks for the feedback, great to hear that it's useful
What a cool, enthusiastic, humble guy. You can feel it.
Awesome. All the best to Roger.
He is so grounded and humble. When he says he cares more about immersing the audience into the world, into the story.
If you could sum up all his works in one word : Breathtaking. His movies are such a visual treat !!
one who knows his craft. I was very impressed and i agreed his statement "I think it's good when people say what a great film and not how good the scene was"👩🚀🚀
thank you for making this. loved every second
geez can you image having the job of lighting Roger deakins for an interview?
😂
Man when he corrected the interviewer about his framing and choice of lens...imagine the humiliation🤣
@@davetinoco im watching around the 17 minute mark and i had to watch the comment about it.
This was great, thanks for putting it together!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Move the camera when the subject moves. This was informing
A 19 mins masterclass in cinematography. Awesome amd thank you.
Thank you so much for sharing. This video makes me believe in my work and my perception about cinematography that you use the camera to tell a story in such a way to draw the audience attention.
Glad you enjoyed it! Only you can tell your story, the world is waiting :)
What a Legend this guy is!! Great things to put into perspective for every Filmmaker or aspiring Filmmaker!
I am so glad I found your channel! You've got a great style of content. Keep them coming! I'd love to see a video about editors :D
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed this, we'll look into editors as well in the future :)
so amazing that Deakins looks for inspiration in stills photographs - I am into photography and frequently look for inspiration in cinematography :)
Sir Roger Deakins works is amazing
"it's not about the technology" I loved hearing that. I know of it but as he said he just goes through one ear and out the other. I try not to dwell on the specifics, and always thought should I know more, but hearing that from him mad me glad.
I wish all cinematographers would listen to this advice. There is to much non-sense camera movement and seems like it’s a trend now, move the camera from side to side on a dolly or gimbal, so common and so non-sense. It’s hard to find a great cinematographer these days that are really focusing on belt the story with visuals instead of creating a bunch of pretty shots. This advice is Gold, pure Gold!!!
Your channel is amazing, dope content !!!!
Thank you very much! Appreciate it :)
Great video! I agree with Deakins here, cinematography has times to be invisible and other times be jaw dropping, but the end goal should be in service of the themes/message, feeling, script, and blocking of a scene, and not the other way around
Thank you for this!
Its so weird seeing those older videos of Roger
Great stuff - thanks for putting this together!
Glad it was helpful!
Thank u for posting this
Amazing. Thank U.
Simply amazing!
love this guy
Uau! Thank You Roger. That was a lesson I needed to hear.
Thank you! More of this please :))
Glad you enjoyed it, much more to come :)
Dude every movie I watch I look for the shots the first time. The second viewing is when I pay more attention to the story.
Thanks for this video! It’s so important and useful for young filmmakers.
Really glad to hear it was useful! Thanks for watching
He mentioned not having a multitude of colored lights for no reason, I was glad to hear him say it. I was watching some short films on youtube a few months ago and couldn't place why the shot felt amateurish. Something looked off, but the composition was nice, everything looked fine, and then I realized that for no reason at all there were red, yellow, and blue lights all over the place in the apartment. It's annoying when the shot would look amazing but the key light is red or an unnatural color. I also really love how he doesn't care about having all this gear or that, it's refreshing.
Interesting perspective about the lighting , i see a lot of coloured lights in music videos , looks like a stylistic choice rather than to enhance the narrative.
@@jv8studios I think it can be cool in music videos.
At 6:40 with a single Comment he crushed the hopes and dreams of the interviewer!!! LOL!!!
Roger is a real person with great talents, great people are humble and don’t claim credit as they know it’s just not them and a greater source, tats what keeps the craft alive
I remember watching The Assassination of Jesse James and i said to myself "Is this ANOTHER Roger Deakins spectacle?" and of course it was. His horizons. The way he fills the frame with lateral lines. Clean, yet dirty. Hes the best. John Ford is his only better.
Happy birthday legend 🙌
As a person with dreams of creating great films in future am thankful that I came across this video its so educative. Thank you Alter Cine
What a genius. The best to learn from.
Great watch.
5:13 - Rodney Dangerfield's face is mine whenever I see a Roger Deakin's film.
Seems like the main idea is that we have to make the viewer get involved in the story and feel something. the camera is used to emulate the experience of being there and the lighting , lens choices and shots that you put in front of the camera all need to be focused on the idea of not just what someone would be seeing if they were in the scene but how they would be seeing it.
Was already thinking about how nervous I would be setting up lights to interview Deakins 😂
Thanks for the great video.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Deakin's philosophy is not knowing to have to fix the car, but know how to race the car...if you're a racecar driver.
greatest cinematographer of all time!!
He has great talent and vision
A great informative video.
He so underplays it!
Within the first 30 seconds I was given enough insights from the master to SMASH that like button!
❤️❤️❤️
Hoping to be like him one day!
Gold words. And take him serious. It’s not about technique or lenses or… it’s about the feeling you create
Roger is amazing person.
I think its a real pleasure to work with him-it is one of the key why he works in hi-end AAA+ level movies and films. Despite being cinematography master, of corse.
I guess Roger is great guy to watch movie/film and have a glass of beer/coffee to talk about afterwards. This is also the idea every filmmaker and DP should consider and endure a thought after this video.
Thanks to AlterCine for bringing great philosophyof a great guy into 18:36 :))))
Glad you enjoyed this!!
Blown away, that's all I can say.
Brilliant video. Deakins is an incredibly interesting guy to listen to, he makes it sound so chill when in reality cinematography has so many factors it can be difficult to think of them all on set sometimes. I loved what he said about how it always feels like you're still learning and doing stuff for the first time. I've always found the difference between reality and a feeling of reality a fascinating discussion as well. Thank you for these great clips.
Glad you enjoyed this!
@@AlterCineYT Yeah I subscribed, your channel should grow easily if you keep putting these out. I'll keep watching, that's for sure!
@@Tribrachidiumheraldicum Thanks! We're a team of professionals in the industry and we're planning on shooting a whole bunch of cinematography related content, which is coming shortly. Stay tuned!
@@AlterCineYT Great! I've made short films myself and took film classes in high school as well as went to technical college for Television Production, so I find this stuff really interesting and helpful. Keep 'em coming!
@@Tribrachidiumheraldicum Cool! What happened? Did you end up not going into the industry?
Great❤
I need the same to-the-point, meaningful stuff that Roger Deakins puts forth.🙂
"and there's time to stay back and..." yep, fab, really fair point were it not that deakins 'staying back and letting the audience observe the space' is often times more prominently beautiful than the best work of a good number of jobbing DoPs. i love the man, but even his 'phoning it in' setting is sublime.
Wow fantastic........
Great!
Imagine setting up the camera lights infront of Roger to interview him XD
The section of him talking about technology is interesting for me personally. I have some experience doing wedding videography - so sort of similar to what he says about his documentary roots in terms of lighting etc - and I have to say, going into shorts, there are DoP's who are way too invested in the technical aspects of cinematography. Even very well regarded ones fall into this trap (one of the most excruciating experiences of my life was listening to one of the DoP's of a very well know Netflix show going into great detail about the inner workings of Red Epic cameras at a Cinematography Festival discussion).
geez,,Mr.Deakins has made some great movies...
Great video =)
Thank you!
He looks and sounds like a boomer rock star. Even the minimalist "I don't need pedals, just a volume knob" vibe is there.
MASTER
6:47. That poor interview DP must have felt that 😂.
ouuuuch! haha
I don’t agree with the first part, but this video is great
Deakins is very articulate about his craft. Very clear that cinematography should not be showy, but be part of a piece. This is why I find it so strange that he made a movie that people only remember because of a cinematography gimmick. Seems to fly in the face of his oft repeated advice here.
Stanley Kubrick. Barry Lyndon. Brilliant everything.
Not sure so get that from all his work but I do see it better now. Great philosophy, it’s about the movie not the image alone. Don’t show off but blend in.