slate: See clapper.
sprockets: Small, mechanically produced holes on the edge of film used to transport it through the camera, editing equipment, and projector.
Steadicam: Stabilizing camera device invented by Garrett Brown which allows the camera to move smoothly and freely in any direction, simulating dolly or crane moves.
Technicolor: Color process developed by the Technicolor company in 1915. Later, a three-strip process, the color standard from the late thirties to early fifties. Also, a laboratory of the same name.
telephoto lens: A lens of a long focal length which compresses perspective.
time-lapse photography: Frame-by-frame exposure of film in the camera over a period of time to present an action (such as the opening of a flower, or the rise or setting of the sun) in a few seconds of screen time.
underexposure: When insufficient light strikes the film emulsion, causing a darkened image. Underexposure can be utilized as a creative tool to produce moody and dark images for aesthetic, atmospheric, or psychological purposes.
Vista Vision: A 35mm wide-screen process developed by Paramount in the 1950s. It was unique in that the film traveled horizontally through the camera be cause the frame is larger than conventional 35mm. The format is still often utilized for special-effect compositing.
wide-screen: Any film format where the image is more rectangular than the standard Academy ratio of 1.33:1.
zoom lens: A lens which produces a range of focal lengths giving the ability to move from far to close or close to far within a shot, or to offer an array of frame sizes without moving the camera. Sometimes called a varifocal lens.
Bibliography
PERIODICALS
American Cinematographer. Magazine published by the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), dedicated to the art and craft of cinematography and filmmaking: 1782 N. Orange Dr., Hollywood, California 90028. From the 1960s to present, this publication has covered all of the cinematographers interviewed in Principal Photography (and countless others) in articles pertaining to films they have photographed.
International Photographer Film and Video Techniques Magazine. Published by the International Photographers Guild Local 600 IATSE: 7715 Sunset Boulevard, Suite 300, Hollywood, California 90046. This publication presents articles on cinematographers and their work. The careers of those interviewed in Principal Photograph), have been covered throughout the magazine's history.
Operating Cameraman, The. Magazine published by the Society of Operating Cameramen (SOC), dedicated to the art and contributions of the camera operator and the field of film and video photography: P.O. Box 2006, Toluca Lake, California 91610.
Steadicam Letter. A publication of the Steadicam Operators Association: 780 Parkway, Broomall, Pennsylvania 19008.
BOOKS
Filmographies
Each of the following books covers a variety of cinematographers and time periods.
Brenner, Debbie, and Gary Hill. Credits. Vol. 1 compiled by film title, vol. 2 by production category, vol. 3 by individual. Wallington, NJ: Magpie Press, 1985.
Film Review. New York: St. Martin's Press (published annually).
Monaco, James. Who's Who in American Film Now. New York: New York Zoetrope, 1981. Updated Edition, 1988.
Stockly, Ed. Cinematographers, Production Designers, Costume Designers, and Film Editors Guide. Fifth Edition. Beverly Hills, CA: Lone Eagle, 1996.
Technical
Alton, John. Painting with Light. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 1995.
Belton, John. Widescreen Cinema. Cambridge, MA, London: Harvard University Press, 1992.
Box, Harry C. Set Lighting Technician's Handbook: Film Lighting Equipment, Practice, and Electrial Distribution. Second Edition. Boston: Focal Press 1997.
Carlson, Verne, and Sylvia Carlson. Professional 16/35mm Cameraman's Handbook. New York: Amphoto, 1981.
Clarke, Charles G. Professional Cinematography. Hollywood, CA: American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), 1962. Second Edition, 1968.
Cox, Arthur. Photographic Optics. New York: Focal Press, 1971.
Elkins, David E. The Camera Assistant's Manual. Boston, London: Focal Press, 1991.
Fielding, Raymond. A Technological History of Motion Pictures and Television. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 1967.
Hart, Douglas C. The Camera Assistant. Boston: Focal Press, 1996.
Hines, William E. Operating Cinematography. Hollywood, CA: Ed Venture Films/Books, 1997.
Katz, Steven D. Film Directing Shot by Shot. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions in conjunction with Focal Press, 1991.
Lipton, Lenny. Independent Filmmaking. San Francisco: Straight Arrow Books, 1972.
Lowell, Ross. Matters of Light & Depth. Philadelphia: Broad Street Books Publishing, 1992. Second Edition, 1994.
Malkiewicz, Kris. Cinematography. Second Edition. New York: Prentice Hall Press, 1989.
Film Lighting. New York: Prentice Hall, 1986.
Neale, Steve. Cinema and Technology: Image, Sound, Colour. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1985.
Pincus, Edward. Guide to Filmmaking. New York: New American Library, 1969.
Rabiger, Michael. Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics. London: Focal Press, 1989.
. Directing the Documentary. London: Focal Press, 1987.
Roberts, Kenneth H., and Win Sharples, Jr. A Primer for Filmmaking. New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1971.
Ryan, Dr. Rod, ed. American Cinematographer Manual. Seventh Edition. Hollywood: The ASC Press, 1993.
Samuelson, David W. Panaflex User's Manual. Boston, London: Focal Press, 1990.
Schmidt, Rick. `Hands-On' Manual for Cinematographers. Oxford: Focal Press, 1994.
Feature Filmmaking at Used-Car Prices. Revised Edition. New York: Penguin Books. 1995.
Uva, Michael G., and Sabina Uva. The Grip Book, Boston, Oxford: Focal Press, 1997.
Wheeler, Leslie J. Principles of Cinematography. London: Fountain Press, 1971.
Wilson, Anton. Anton Wilson's Cinema Workshop. Second Edition. Hollywood: American Society of Cinematographers, 1997.
Wysotsky, Michael Z. Wide Screen Processes and Stereophonic Sound. New York: Hastings House, 1971.
Theory
Barthes, Roland. Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography. New York: Hill and Wang, 1981.
Brakhage, Stan. A Moving Picture Giving and Taking Book. West Newbury, MA: Frontier Press, 1971.
Bresson, Robert. Notes on Cinematography. New York: Urizen Books, 1977.
Frampton, Hollis. Circles of Confusion: Film, Photography, Video: Texts 1968-1980. New York: Visual Studies Workshop Press, 1983.
Sontag, Susan. On Photography. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1977.
Reference
Almendros, Nestor. A Man with a Camera. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1984.
Bitzer, Billy. Billy Bitzer: His Story. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1973.
Boorstin, Jon. The Hollywood Style: What Makes Movies Work. New York: Cornelia & Michael Bessie Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 1990.
Bordwell, David, Janet Staiger, and Kristin Thompson. The Classical Hollywood Cinema. New York: Columbia University Press, 1985.
Brouwer, Alexandra, and Thomas Lee Wright. Working in Hollywood. New York: Crown Publishing, 1990. Contains interviews with Key Grip Tom Ramsey, Gaffer Steve Mathis, Director of Photography Laszlo Kovacs, and Camera Operator Walt Lloyd.
Brownlow, Kevin. The Parade's Gone By ... New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1968.
Cardiff, Jack. Magic Hour. London, Boston: Faber and Faber, 1996.
Carringer, Robert L. The Making of Citizen Kane. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 1985.
Chell, David. Moviemakers at Work. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press, 1987. Contains interviews with Cinematographers Allen Daviau and Chris Menges.
Eyman, Scott. Five American Cinematographers: Interviews with Karl
Struss, Joseph Ruttenberg, James Wong Howe, Linwood Dunn, and William H. Clothier. Metuchen, NJ, London: The Scarecrow Press, 1987.
Gallagher, John Andrew. Film Directors on Directing. New York, Westport, CT, London: Praeger, 1989.
Higham, Charles. Hollywood Cameramen: Sources of Light. Bloomington, London: Indiana University Press, 1970.
Higham, Charles, and Joel Greenberg. The Celluloid Muse: Hollywood Directors Speak. Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1969.
Knight, Arthur. The Liveliest Art. New York: Mentor Books, 1957.
Krasilovsky, Alexis. Women Behind the Camera: Conversations with Camerawomen. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1997.
Laskin, Emily, ed. Getting Started in Film. New York: Prentice Hall, 1992. Contains interviews with Cinematographers Haskell Wexler, Caleb Deschanel, and Allen Daviau.
Lassally, Walter. Itinerant Cameraman. London: John Murray, 1987.
Lewis, Jerry. The Total Film-Maker. New York: Warner Paperback Library, 1973.
LoBrutto, Vincent. Stanley Kubrick: A Biography. New York: Donald I. Fine Books, 1997.
By Design: Interviews with Film Production Designers. Westport, CT, London: Praeger, 1992.
Madsen, Roy Paul. Working Cinema. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1990. Contains section on cinematography with Vilmos Zsigmond.
Maltin, Leonard. Behind the Camera: The Cinematographer's Art. New York: New American Library, 1971. Contains interviews with Hal Mohr, Conrad Hall, Hal Rosson, Lucien Ballard, and Arthur C. Miller.
McDonough, Tom. Light Years: Confessions of a Cinematographer. New York: Grove Press, 1987.
Miller, Pat P. Script Supervising and Film Continuity. Boston, London: Focal Press, 1986.
Oumano, Ellen. Film Forum. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1985. Contains section with film directors discussing cinematography.
Rainsberger, Todd. James Wong Howe: Cinematographer. San Diego, CA, New York: A. S. Barnes & Company, Inc. London: The Tantivy Press, 1981.
Rebello, Stephen. Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. New York: Demb- ner Books, 1990.
Rogers, Pauline. Contemporary Cinematographers on Their Art. Boston, London: Focal Press, 1998.
Russo, John. Making Movies: The Inside Guide to Independent Movie Production. New York: Dell Publishing, 1989.
Samuels, Charles Thomas. Encountering Directors. New York: G. P Putnam's Sons, 1972.
Sayles, John. Thinking in Pictures-The Making of the Movie Matewan. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1987.
Schaefer, Dennis, and Larry Salvato. Masters of Light: Conversations with Contemporary Cinematographers. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 1984.
Sherman, Eric, for the American Film Institute. Directing the Film. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1976. Los Angeles: Acrobat Books, 1988.
Sterling, Anna Kate, ed. Cinematographers on the Art and Craft of Cinematography. Metuchen, NJ, London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1987.
Taub, Eric. Gaffers, Grips, and Best Boys. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1987. Contains section on director of photography with Haskell Wexler and gaffer, grip, electrician, best boy, and rigger with Gary Holt.
Truffaut, Francois, with the collaboration of Helen G. Scott. Hitchcock. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967. Revised Edition, 1985, Touchstone/Simon & Schuster. Second Touchstone Edition, 1997.
Vidor, King. King Vidor On Film Making. New York: David McKay Company, Inc., 1972.
Walker, Joseph, and Juanita Walker. The Light On Her Face. Hollywood: ASC Press, 1984.
Wiley, Mason, and Damien Bona. Inside Oscar. Tenth Anniversary Edition. New York: Ballantine Books, 1996. Contains nominations and winners of the Academy Award for cinematography from 1927 to 1994.
FILMS ON CINEMATOGRAPHY
Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography. An American Film Institute/NHK Jan Broadcasting coproduction, 1992. Contains interviews with John Bailey, Michael Ballhaus, Allen Daviau, Conrad Hall, Lisa Rinzler, Sandi Sissel, Gordon Willis, and many other cinematographers.
For further interest, there are many instructional videos on cinematography featuring noted cinematographers, as well as a myriad array of Web sites concerning cinematography and filmmaking too numerous to list here. The reader is encouraged to read, search, and browse.
Index
About the Author
VINCENT LoBRUTTO is the author of Selected Takes: Film Editors On Editing (Praeger, 1991), By Design: Interviews With Film Production Designers (Praeger, 1992) and Sound-On-Film: Interviews With Creators Of Film Sound (Praeger, 1994). He has a bachelor of fine arts in filmmaking from the School of Visual Arts and has worked as a postproduction coordinator for the ABC television network and as a film editor for the Fox and HBO networks. Vincent LoBrutto is an editing and production design instructor for the School of Visual Arts Department of Film, Video and Animation where he is a thesis advisor and member of the thesis committee. LoBrutto is also the author of Stanley Kubrick: A Biography (Donald I. Fine, 1997). He is a contributing writer for American Cinematographer and Films In Review and has appeared on Entertainment Tonight and National Public Radio's All Things Considered.
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