ShootingPhilosphy

Shooting Philosophies

Philosophies…

On Story
I’m a slave to the story. That’s all that really matters. I’m not a DP that is secretly directing or forcing their “look” on the film. Whatever the story needs to be told, whether its video or film, color or black and white, 16mm or 35mm. There are different tools that can be used to help tell a story. Color, line, shape, space, movement, tone and rhythm. All of these elements help to visually tell a story. They are just as important as the words that the actors say. It’s my job to focus on the words not being said; the subliminal dialogue that is happening on the screen.

On Collaboration
One of the things that I love about the collaboration with a director is to listen, really listen, to what he or she is trying to say. I try to attack each film from the creative standpoint that we have an unlimited amount of money to tell the story and how do we tell it. If we have the budget for a Technocrane and it is needed to tell the story, we get it. If the budget doesn’t permit, then we come up with something that can achieve the same effect. You have to be able to think on your feet in this medium. You can plan a particular shot for weeks, months, in advance but on that day anything can happen. You just have to roll with it and make the best of the situation. I like having a plan of how we are going to shoot a film but I am still always looking for those “happy accidents” that might emerge that you just can’t plan. At the end of the day no one will remember the problems with equipment, the disagreements or the egos but they will remember the images. They will be remembered.