Cinematographers (Directors of Photography)

[Rocketman]

Maybe an obscure and nerdy thread, but let's give it a shot.

I've always been a movie buff since I was very little, but never really appreciated the art of lighting and camera operating, so I decided to do my own research and determine who these people are and what they do, and I based it on some of my favorite movies of all-time.

So, for those wanting a checklist (or a reference sheet) of popular cinematographers AND what they've worked on, here's a Starter List of 23. You'll notice that a lot of them tend to work with the same directors repeatedly.

NOTE: These films do not represent the entire body of work for some of these cinematographers, since a lot of them started out with obscure foreign films, or late-night softcore porn flicks for Cinemax. In other words, these are among the highlights of their popular/mainstream work that you've probably heard of.

Also, plenty of people are not included. Feel free to add your own.

Cinematography (from Greek: kinema - κίνημα "movement" and graphein - γράφειν "to record") is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography. Many additional technical difficulties and creative possibilities arise when the camera and elements of the scene may be in motion.

Wally Pfister:

Spoiler

The Hi-Line (1999)
Memento (2000)
Scotland, Pa. (2001)
Rustin (2001)
Insomnia (2002)
Laurel Canyon (2002)
The Italian Job (2003)
Batman Begins (2005)
Slow Burn (2005)
The Prestige (2006)
The Dark Knight (2008)
Inception (2010)
Moneyball (2011)
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Janusz Kaminski:

Spoiler

Schindler's List (1993)
Jerry Maguire (1996)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Amistad (1997)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001)
Minority Report (2002)
Catch Me If You Can (2002)
The Terminal (2004)
War of the Worlds (2005)
Munich (2005)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
Funny People (2009)
How Do You Know (2010)
War Horse (2011)
Lincoln (2012)

Roger Deakins:

Spoiler

Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Fargo (1996)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
The Village (2004)
No Country for Old Men (2007)
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
Doubt (2008)
The Reader (2008)
Revolutionary Road (2008)
Bond 23 (2012)

Harris Savides:

Spoiler

The Game (1997)
Finding Forrester (2000)
Gerry (2002)
Elephant (2003)
Birth (2004)
Zodiac (2007)
Milk (2008)
Restless (2011)

Robert Elswit:

Spoiler

The River Wild (1994)
Sydney (1996)
Boogie Nights (1997)
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
8MM (1999)
Magnolia (1999)
Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)
Syriana (2005)
Michael Clayton (2007)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)
Salt (2010)
The Town (2010)
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

Jeff Cronenweth:

Spoiler

Fight Club (1999)
One Hour Photo (2002)
The Social Network (2010)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Darius Khondji:

Spoiler

Se7en (1995)
Alien: Resurrection (1997)
The Beach (2000)
Panic Room (2002)
Funny Games (2007)
The Ruins (2008)

Matthew Libatique:

Spoiler

Pi (1998)
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Tigerland (2000)
Phone Booth (2002)
Gothika (2003)
Inside Man (2006)
The Fountain (2006)
Iron Man (2008)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Black Swan (2010)
Cowboys & Aliens (2011)

Dante Spinotti:

Spoiler

The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
Nell (1994)
The Quick and the Dead (1995)
Heat (1995)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
The Insider (1999)
Red Dragon (2002)
After the Sunset (2004)
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Public Enemies (2009)

John Toll:

Spoiler

The Thin Red Line (1998)
Vanilla Sky (2001)
Gone Baby Gone (2007)

David Tattersall:

Spoiler

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
The Green Mile (1999)
The Majestic (2001)
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
Die Another Day (2002)
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Speed Racer (2008)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
"The Walking Dead" (2010)

Emmanuel Lubezki:

Spoiler

Meet Joe Black (1998)
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Ali (2001)
The New World (2005)
Children of Men (2006)
Burn After Reading (2008)
The Tree of Life (2011)

Tak Fujimoto:

Spoiler

Badlands (1973)
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Philadelphia (1993)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Signs (2002)
The Final Cut (2004)
The Happening (2008)

Bill Pope:

Spoiler

Pet Sematary (1989)
Darkman (1990)
Army of Darkness (1992)
Fire in the Sky (1993)
Bound (1996)
The Matrix (1999)
The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Don Burgess:

Spoiler

Forrest Gump (1994)
Contact (1997)
Cast Away (2000)
Spider-Man (2002)
Enchanted (2007)
The Book of Eli (2010)
Source Code (2011)
Priest (2011)

Eric Steelberg:

Spoiler

Juno (2007)
(500) Days of Summer (2009)
Up in the Air (2009)
Going the Distance (2010)

Robert Burks:

Spoiler

Dial M for Murder (1954)
Rear Window (1954)
Vertigo (1958)
North by Northwest (1959)
The Birds (1963)

John Alcott:

Spoiler

A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Barry Lyndon (1975)
The Shining (1980)

Geoffrey Unsworth:

Spoiler

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Superman (1978)
Superman II (1980)
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)

Eduardo Serra:

Spoiler

What Dreams May Come (1998)
Unbreakable (2000)
Blood Diamond (2006)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

Michael Ballhaus:

Spoiler

After Hours (1985)
The Color of Money (1986)
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
Goodfellas (1990)
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
The Age of Innocence (1993)
I'll Do Anything (1994)
Quiz Show (1994)
Outbreak (1995)
Air Force One (1997)
Wild Wild West (1999)
Gangs of New York (2002)
Something's Gotta Give (2003)
The Departed (2006)

Andrzej Sekula:

Spoiler

Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
American Psycho (2000)

Larry Fong:

Spoiler

300 (2006)
Watchmen (2009)
Sucker Punch (2011)
Super 8 (2011)

 

[darkseid26]

Nice thread.
One of my favorites.

Robert Yeoman:

Spoiler

Bottle Rocket
Rushmore
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
The Darjeeling Limited

 

[Rocketman]

To elaborate, I don't think cinematographers get enough love. In my opinion, they're just as important (and in some cases, more important) than the directors themselves. They are directors. These guys are masters of the subtle, and their job is usually for you to not notice them, which is why I feel that they're not respected enough.

A director might be ultimately in charge of saying "Yes" or "No" to suggestions, but it's oftentimes the cinematographer who originally makes these suggestions when it comes to camera angles, lighting, lenses, camera equipment, dollies, etc. In other words, it's everything you love visually in a movie.

Personally, I don't think directors themselves really do much. When you think about the entire crew of people including the:

- Music Composer (Score)
- Director of Photography / Cinematographer
- Sound Design / Sound Effects
- Visual Effects / CGI
- Actors and Actresses
- Costume Department
- Make-Up
- Screenplay Writer

... A director doesn't really do any of this stuff. He/She usually just directs them and tells them "Yes" or "No" to their ideas. There's an entire population of creative people around the director doing all this amazing stuff.

Just my opinion, of course.

 

[the amazing fro]

I love Tonino Delli Colli who did quite a lot of Sergio Leone's films.

Conrad L. Hall (American Beauty, Road to Perdition and Cool Hand Luke)

The late great Jack Cardiff (Red shoes, the african queen)

Gregg Toland (Citizen Kane)

That's all I can think of off the top of my head that aren't on your list. Roger Deakins is the best IMO.

 

[the amazing fro]

To elaborate, I don't think cinematographers get enough love. In my opinion, they're just as important (and in some cases, more important) than the directors themselves. They are directors. These guys are masters of the subtle, and their job is usually for you to not notice them, which is why I feel that they're not respected enough.

A director might be ultimately in charge of saying "Yes" or "No" to suggestions, but it's oftentimes the cinematographer who originally makes these suggestions when it comes to camera angles, lighting, lenses, camera equipment, dollies, etc. In other words, it's everything you love visually in a movie.

Personally, I don't think directors themselves really do much. When you think about the entire crew of people including the:

- Music Composer (Score)
- Director of Photography / Cinematographer
- Sound Design / Sound Effects
- Visual Effects / CGI
- Actors and Actresses
- Costume Department
- Make-Up
- Screenplay Writer

... A director doesn't really do any of this stuff. He/She usually just directs them and tells them "Yes" or "No" to their ideas. There's an entire population of creative people around the director doing all this amazing stuff.

Just my opinion, of course.

Movie making is a collaborative experience. And the director is the conduit in which all this collaboration flows. He/she is the centrepiece without which the whole thing would collapse. The director should have a hand in every aspect of the production and direct all the area's in which you mention. It's much more than saying "yes" or "no" (though even that is a very difficult thing to get right). In the end it is the director's vision that makes a film what it is. The different departments make all the different parts. The director brings them all together to make the sum.

Though I will agree that there are many positions within filmmaking that aren't given the recognition they deserve.

 

[Rocketman]

Movie making is a collaborative experience. And the director is the conduit in which all this collaboration flows. He/she is the centrepiece without which the whole thing would collapse. The director should have a hand in every aspect of the production and direct all the area's in which you mention. It's much more than saying "yes" or "no" (though even that is a very difficult thing to get right). In the end it is the director's vision that makes a film what it is. The different departments make all the different parts. The director brings them all together to make the sum.

Though I will agree that there are many positions within filmmaking that aren't given the recognition they deserve.

I know.
I agree.

I think some people (like myself maybe 10 years ago) just assume that a director is a genius because he magically does everything himself. Sooo not the case. Although the director is the driving force that makes it all come together. He/She is the boss.

Like any job. If you work at Wal-Mart (god forbid), there's the electronics department, the kids clothing department, the food department, etc. And the store manager (director) monitors/decides decisions for all these areas. But he gets paid more than anybody, unlike Hollywood.

 

[Sgt.Pepper]

As I'm very interested in cinematography, seeing this thread made me squealed with delight.

Adding a few p) more cinematographers. There's probably a couple more DPs I forgot add, but this will do, for now.

Lance Accord:

Spoiler

Being John Malkovich
Adaptation.
Lost in Translation
Marie Antoinette
Where the Wild Things Are

César Charlone:

Spoiler

City of God
The Constant Gardener
The Pope's Toilet
Blindness

Bruno Delbonnel:

Spoiler

Amélie
A Very Long Engagement
Infamous
Across the Universe
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Christopher Doyle:

Spoiler

Chungking Express
Psycho (1998)
In the Mood for Love
Quite American
2046
Lady in the Water

Pawel Edelman:

Spoiler

The Pianist
Ray
Oliver Twist (2005)
All the King's Men (2006)

Guillermo Navarro:

Spoiler

Cronos
Desperado
From Dusk Till Dawn
Jackie Brown
Spawn
Stuart Little
The Devil's Backbone
Hellboy
Pan's Labyrinth

Sven Nykvist:

Spoiler

The Virgin Spring
Through a Glass Darkly
Persona
Cries and Whispers
The Tenant
Fanny and Alexander
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Chaplin
What's Eating Gilbert Grape

Rodrigo Prieto:

Spoiler

Amores perros
Frida
8 Mile
25th Hour
21 Grams
Alexander
Brokeback Mountain
Babel
Lust, Caution
Broken Embraces
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Biutiful

Vittorio Storaro:

Spoiler

The Conformist
Last Tango in Paris
Apocalypse Now
Reds
The Last Emperor
Dick Tracy

Gregg Toland:

Spoiler

Les Misérables (1935 film)
Dead End
Wuthering Heights (1939)
The Grapes of Wrath
Long Voyage Home
Citizen Kane

Gordon Willis:

Spoiler

The Godfather
The Godfather Part II
All the President's Men
Annie Hall
Manhattan
The Purple Rose of Cairo
The Godfather Part III

Freddie Young:

Spoiler

Lawrence of Arabia
Doctor Zhivago
You Only Live Twice
Ryan's Daughter

 

[moviedoors]

To elaborate, I don't think cinematographers get enough love. In my opinion, they're just as important (and in some cases, more important) than the directors themselves.

You don't know how right you are. I've been on more than one set where the DP was actually directing everything. It's so common that a director doesn't know what they want. They don't know how they want the scene assembled in editing, they don't have a shot list, they aren't experienced enough to control what happens within a frame. While they're scratching their heads, the DP just takes over.

In fact, one of the best directors I've worked with was also his own DP. I'll never tire of praising that experience. Knew what he wanted, knew how to get it, got it fast. I wish more directors were more willing to get their hands dirty and learn technical skills like setting up 3-point lighting, reading a light meter, understanding lenses. I don't understand how someone can go through a thought process that ends with them thinking "I'll direct a movie" but during that process the thought of actually learning the nitty gritty of how movies are made never surfaces. Go back to playing D&D and let the people willing to work make films.

 

[Rocketman]

You don't know how right you are. I've been on more than one set where the DP was actually directing everything. It's so common that a director doesn't know what they want. They don't know how they want the scene assembled in editing, they don't have a shot list, they aren't experienced enough to control what happens within a frame. While they're scratching their heads, the DP just takes over.

In fact, one of the best directors I've worked with was also his own DP. I'll never tire of praising that experience. Knew what he wanted, knew how to get it, got it fast. I wish more directors were more willing to get their hands dirty and learn technical skills like setting up 3-point lighting, reading a light meter, understanding lenses. I don't understand how someone can go through a thought process that ends with them thinking "I'll direct a movie" but during that process the thought of actually learning the nitty gritty of how movies are made never surfaces. Go back to playing D&D and let the people willing to work make films.

Great post.

I think this might sum up why it's common for cinematographers to work with certain directors quite frequently. It's because the director knows what he's doing, or the DP knows what he's doing, and they want to repeat that experience because they enjoyed each other.

Wally Pfister / Christopher Nolan = 7 films
Janusz Kaminski / Steven Spielberg = 13 films
Roger Deakins / The Coen Brothers = 11 films

A lot of directors don't do that, which is strange. Maybe they just never found the right relationship, or, obviously, the particular film they were making didn't gel with the language that the same DP was interested in.

 

[mclay18]

Here's some other cinematographers people forgot:

Phedon Papamichael:

Spoiler

Walk the Line
3:10 to Yuma (2007)
Knight and Day

Dion Beebe:

Spoiler

Green Lantern
Memoirs of a Geisha
Collateral
Chicagao

Henry Braham:

Spoiler

The Golden Compass
Nanny McPhee

Roger Pratt:

Spoiler

Troy
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Batman (1989)

I think some cinematographers are at their best when they're shooting film, but they do really poorly with digital cameras. Like Dean Semler -- his work on I Pronounce You Chuck and Larry and Date Night betrayed its digital origins. Especially the latter.

Not that cinematographers can't get great work from digital cameras. Captain America, In Time (but it's hard for Deakins to screw up anything), and next year's The Avengers look stunningly good.

 

[The Jester]

To elaborate, I don't think cinematographers get enough love. In my opinion, they're just as important (and in some cases, more important) than the directors themselves. They are directors. These guys are masters of the subtle, and their job is usually for you to not notice them, which is why I feel that they're not respected enough.

A director might be ultimately in charge of saying "Yes" or "No" to suggestions, but it's oftentimes the cinematographer who originally makes these suggestions when it comes to camera angles, lighting, lenses, camera equipment, dollies, etc. In other words, it's everything you love visually in a movie.

I would say it's the complete opposite. With the names you have mentioned, all their work sticks out for a reason (and that's because they're some of the best).

You sort of give off the impression that a cinematographer does more work than the actual director of the film does. Film is an entirely collaborative process, which you have noted, but there's much more to a director's job then getting other people to do the work for him/her. A film follows the vision of what a director wants and he needs to orchestrate and tell everybody what they need to do to go along with said vision. When it comes to angles, this is usually decided by the director. Lenses are chosen based upon what the director wants in a shot.

When it comes to an important job at being subtle, the credit for that should go to an editor. You know you have a good editor when you don't even notice the cuts.

Personally, my favorite cinematographer is John Alcott

 

[Motown Marvel]

no conrad l. hall?

jerks.

 

[PWN3R]

You're all even bigger jerks for not naming the god-man, Nestor Almendros.
Seriously?

I will watch a film based on who shot it. Photography is fascinating. Great thread.

 

[lime]

My favorites are Wally Pfister and Roager Deakins. Both are brilliant.

 

[WarBlade]

Nobody's mentioned Andrew Lesnie yet?

There is also Dan Laustsen.

 

[obin_gam]

I love that Wally Pfister shot soft core pornos before he got big

 

[Still Wynning]

My favorites are Wally Pfister and Roager Deakins. Both are brilliant.

I second this, especially Deakins. I love the way he frames his shots. His work on True Grit is especially fantastic.

 

[dark_b]

are Pfister and Deakins your favorite because they are very popular right now ? like he last 5 years? and because batman is a huge franchise? i am asking a serious question. not joking

 

[moviedoors]

They're amongst my favorites working today, but they aren't favorites because they're popular, that's just nice. I love that they're super popular (for DP's). They deserve it. They've helped define the look of 21st century cinema with their unique eyes, beautiful compositions and lighting schemes, and their untouchable technical prowess. Look at the silhouettes and the beams of light in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford in the train robbery scene. Look at the beautifully modulated balance between almost completely enveloping darkness and then the wincing brightness when the lights get switched on in The Dark Knight during the "good cop bad cop routine" scene.

They're guys I have no problem mentioning in the same breath as Greg Toland and Gordon Willis.

 

[Mandalore464]

Cinematography is, to me, the single most essential part of filmmaking, and as somebody else said above, I would watch a film depending on who shot it.

Even the ****tiest film (screenplay-wise) can be a gold mine in perfectly-lit and framed shots. I'm thinking for example about Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part I, which had beautiful landscapes which most people found boring but that I found immensely satisfying.

My favourite movie of all times, Blade Runner, is probably so only because it is to me the first film that made me fall in love with lighting, and I still find myself watching it today two or three times in a row just to watch it (even though I love the story too).

As for the "debate" above about cinematographers being more important or not to the film than directors, I'm sorry to say that it is absolutely untrue. I will concede that DPs don't get enough love and often go unnoticed. Hell, the whole audience that sat with me through Mallick's Tree of Life thought the movie was a/ boring, b/ a piece of dog***** and c/SO boring. No one even seemed to notice all the beautiful shots, and that is because, sadly, a lot of people still think that to shoot a film, all you have to do is find a camera and a couple of actors and point the camera towards them.

BUT, as a short-film director, the day I will let a cinematographer direct my own film is never coming. I know everything a director should know about lighting and shooting a film, I even worked as a DP on other directors' projects when I was still in Film school, and thinking of a director as a lazy arse who only gets asked things and replies to them by yes or no couldn't be farther from the truth.

The truth is, almost every professional director around knows so much about cinematography that they will often tell their DPs how they want the scene lit, where they want the camera(s), and go as far as telling him what aperture he should use (which irritates the hell out of their DPs).

I'm all for DPs getting the recognition they deserve, they are wonderful technicians, and very helpful contributors (The ones I've worked with have almost always come up with ideas that actually improved the look of a scene I had planned to shoot differently), but no DP should be considered a director. They are different jobs, and I am convinced that if a director wouldn't be able to do the DP's job as well as they would, there certainly isn't a DP on this planet who can do a director's job as well as they can, unless they've become directors themselves.



EDIT : Here's THE book everybody interested in cinematography (DP or film director) should read before shooting their first film.

The new edition's been out for a few weeks and features a DVD, which I haven't watched yet, but that looks promising.

 

[Max J Power]

are Pfister and Deakins your favorite because they are very popular right now ? like he last 5 years? and because batman is a huge franchise? i am asking a serious question. not joking

Deakins has been big (as far as cinematographers go) since the early 90s.

 

[EliteF50]

There are so many fantastic cinematographers, but Larry Fong is the best, imo.

Another underrated DP is Michael Grady. He did an awesome job in Faster.

 

[obin_gam]

Hoyt van Hoytema is also badass! He shot Let the right one in and currently Tinker Tailor...

The shots in LTROI looks like still photographs and is amazing.

Flawless framing:

 

[Mister H.]

Awesome thread. I don't really think in terms of who are the "best DOP's", but there are films that greatly influenced me as a filmmaker, and I like to credit many of the DOP's who were involved. These are films that blow me away visually:

Owen Roizman - The Exorcist
Roger Deakins - The Assassination of Jesse James
Vittorio Storaro - Apocalypse Now, The Conformist, The Last Emperor
Frederick Elmes - Blue Velvet
Peter Deming - Mulholland Dr.
Anthony Dod Mantle - 28 Days Later
Michael Ballhaus - Goodfellas
Wally Pfister - Batman Begins
Jeon-Hun Jeong - Oldboy
Jack N. Green - Unforgiven

But the legendary Stanley Kubrick was the best. Although he isn't always credited as the DOP of his films, make no mistake...he was. Some people are turned off by his hallmark "detached" approach, but I think the guy had the greatest comman of the camera of any filmmaker in history.

And rocketman, I think you are really underselling what directors do. As a director (albeit very small time) I know that surrounding yourself with talented people is a credit to your understanding of your job. That shouldn't be seen as a flaw. You should hire the best DOP you can, and trust them to do their job. That's what I do.

 

[mclay18]

Nobody's mentioned Andrew Lesnie yet?

There is also Dan Laustsen.

I was going to mention Lesnie, but I just forgot. He did an incredible job on the LOTR trilogy (his work in TTT is one of my favorites), as well as Rise of the Apes.