BSA 234 (Cinematography) Week 17 : Reflection

I've been looking into professional cinematography more because I feel that we still can't light a scene properly, or at least that my own understanding is lacking. From what I can gather most cinematographers for movies use soft lighting, usually a soft box, they drop the fill light and do a three quarter or split lighting scheme for faces. These are all things that I had never thought of before looking them up now, I should have much earlier but hunger for this knowledge comes only now.

I think the reason for my sudden interest in making our films look professional is in part because of an animation Rodrigo showed off for his research project which to me looks like Pixar quality. If our films can look like Hollywood then we'd be much further ahead already.

This guys videos are great, especially for someone only just at the shallow end of the cinematography pool.

Of course I've also watched a lot of interviews with the DOP's themselves as well as dipped my toes into American Cinematographer. Needless to say there's a lot I still don't understand, but I am glad the desire to learn more about this field exists now.

I came to a profound realization that I think will change the way I approach my creative process:

It's not about matching Orson Welles or Fritz Lang, it's just about doing a better job than the next guy in line. Don't try to make Die Hard, just try make a better movie than Skyscraper starring Dwayne Johnson.

I've lately been thinking a lot about why I got into film in the first place, as well as how we as bachelors of film will attain a job after our tenure here at SIT and I think there is one answer to both of those questions.

This is important for me because the fact is I didn't actually make my drama project like I was supposed to and the reasoning behind that was mainly due to my own insecurities. I know it doesn't really matter what I make and it doesn't matter if it's bad, but in that context it's really hard to find the motivation to actually do it. This new way of thinking could inform me in future, its a solid logic and removes the creative pressures I place on myself as well as giving me enough reason to do what I have to.