SeeingEyeBlog

Above all, I’m out to create honest imagery. I am looking to embed the imperfections and chaos of nature into the texture of the image, both within a shot and across shots and scenes. We joke about filmmaking being an exercise in ‘creating a perfect world’ for the story, or that things need to be ‘heightened,’ but I wonder how that affects the story’s authenticity. My perception is that our authenticity is eroded with every decision made by anyone on the crew. Those decisions should be made with care, not with a heavy hand.

Granted, sometimes real-life has too many details that would dilute what we’re trying to do with the story, and it’s fine that we eliminate some of that noise to allow the audience to focus on our story. But please, not all the noise. It’s our lifeline to reality. Especially in the world we live in, viewers are developing a very keen sense of fakery, and can spot a charlatan on the screen in under a couple seconds. They don’t have the tolerance or the suspension of disbelief that older generations had. They’ll turn us off if we lay on too much gloss.

With regard to lighting, I know that movies need light, and actors want to look like movie stars. There is a way we light movie stars on movie sets, but seldom are they lit that way in real life. So I’m torn between an honest (but hopefully never lazy or negligent) style of lighting, and a more glamorized style that is less ballsy (and less honest). It’s been said that a photograph is a lie, and a movie is 24 lies per second. I’m in the camp who would like to see if we can sell truth at 24 frames per second. Our only bias should be the script. My goal would be to work on projects which support the idea of honest lighting.

We don’t need to see people’s faces all the time. In a feature film, we’re spending two hours with a main character. So presumably we’re going to get to know what he/she looks like. Why not observe them in shadow or silhouette once in a while where it’s appropriate in the story? Sort of meet them half way. Walk the same gauntlet they are walking in the story, through the lighting. In the character’s darkest moment, we should resist building up that moment with pretense. Like a friend who is observing his friend in the best and worst of times.

I’m arguing for practical locations, smaller crews, lighting that feels real, and a sense of wonder on the part of the filmmakers. Rather than be the captain of a 747 that can go anywhere on earth at a whim, I’d find the destination more gratifying if I were the captain of the Mayflower or some other engineless sailing ship. Rather than overpowering nature with technology, life is (as I believe cinema is) ultimately more interesting when there is a give and take with nature.