The Director of Photography’s job is to help express the story in visual terms. Everything comes back to story. The story and script inform the visual language: what genre are you working in? Is it a romantic comedy, is it a genre horror film, is it a drama? We can all imagine how those types of films look.

With a very visual Director, you can just set up the camera and be told what lenses to use. Conversely, you can be working with a Director who has come from a theatre or writing background and you have to lead the way in terms of the visuals for the production. It can fall at either end of the spectrum or anywhere in the middle. When they don’t [have a clear idea of visuals], it’s a team exploration to find the look and feel that helps the viewer understand the story in the most effective visual way.

In the early days, you spend time understanding the story, the arc of the characters and what the Director is trying to say. We have a lot of conversations about story, theme, characters. We try and get into the Director’s head to get a feel for what it is they want the audience to feel.

Once you’ve had all those conversations, you start to look at visual references together–are there any films that have a similar feel or are there artists and Photographers that invoke something that might be relevant to the story we’re telling?

After that, it’s about lighting and camera movement–what movement is most relevant to the production? Is it handheld or do we need more graceful, sweeping moves that might employ a crane? Still, the conversation is grounded in how best to tell the story in visual terms.

[Next] it’s crewing up, getting equipment together and figuring out what you’re going to need to pull off the look you’ve chosen. If you’re working on a big studio movie, your department heads (Gaffers, Key Grips) might come in a month or more prior to camera roll.

Nowadays, because there are so many visual effects, we have something called “pre-visualization” where the visual effects company will actually work with the Director and Cinematographer to do a rough CG build of certain scenes. Films like Gravity use this a lot so they can see what the camera angles will be, where the earth will be, where the light is coming from, those types of things.

If you’re working on an independent movie, it’s a lot smaller and there’s a lot less money–department heads will probably just join for the tech scout and you won’t get much prep time with them. Saying that, with smaller budget films, I get behind the camera more which I absolutely love!

Working in production is tiring and there’s a lot of pressure involved, so you really need to get on well with the people you’re working with. I make sure we’re on the same page because it’s like going into battle together — you need to be there to support each other and collaborate.

You do rely a lot on the people around you to help meet the deadlines. It’s important to respect people at work and give them the space to do their job.

When I choose a project, I’m not only choosing a story that speaks to me, I’m choosing the person I’m going to be working with. There has to be a connection.

If you’re on a commercial or music video or short, you are paid per day.

On TV and movies, you get paid on a weekly basis. Bear in mind, you do get paid a little less for prep than you do on shoot.

[There used to be a “quote system” in place where a Director of Photography would expect to earn the same or more than their previous production.] The quote system has practically disappeared so you just negotiate your quote on a per-production basis–it’s dependent on whether it’s a studio or indie project.

I travel all around the world and shoot in all kinds of places. If you want to do this job, be prepared to be nomadic because production happens everywhere.

Once you start having a family, it can become extremely complicated, so you have to be able to roll with the punches and be a bit of an adventurer. Things are never really going to be settled–it moves quickly and you don’t know what’s around the next corner. Really, it’s about relinquishing control. [Because this role is self-employed, there’s no sick pay, no maternity leave and often no health insurance provided.]

Self-care is important. The life can get intense with lack of sleep and long hours. It’s important to take care of yourself; at the end of the day, it’s just work and you have to be able to step outside of it and have some life of your own. It can be all-encompassing.

Sometimes you’ll work a lot and then you might not work for six months so you have to manage your money and not spend it all at once. It’s not a settled lifestyle, so think about that.

A number of components go into a creative collaboration between a Director of Photography and a Film Director. This partnership is fundamental to the success of any project, as it bridges the director’s creative vision with the technical expertise of the Director of Photography. Ultimately, success relies on communication and an agreement of the film’s creative vision.

Collaboration between these two creative heads starts with a like-mindedness. While the director is the visionary for the project guiding both the emotional and narrative arcs for the film, the Director of Photography is the visual architect, executing the director’s vision into a tangible, cinematic rendering. The early stages of all film productions involve intensive discussions about the director’s vision, thematic elements, and the emotional tone they’re looking to convey with their movie.

Often, the director has visual references that they’ve either drawn themselves or pulled from other films or works of art. It’s the Director of Photography’s job to extrapolate on these ideas, and figure out how to translate them into a reality for the film they’re working on. This includes technical aspects like framing, camera movement, and lighting. It’s vital that the Director of Photography and film director see eye-to-eye in these meetings, as they’ll eventually come to establish the cinematic vocabulary the film will use.

During production, this collaboration continues. The director and DP work together to figure out camera placement and movement as well as block scenes. With an understanding of what the director is looking for, the Director of Photography uses their knowledge of lenses and lighting to create the director’s desired visual aesthetic. The process is often revised and altered until all involved parties are satisfied they’re creating the film’s intended look. While the director guides the emotional beats of the scene, the Director of Photography ensures that the visual they’re capturing enhances the narrative impact.

The final phase of the collaboration between the Director of Photography and the director occurs during post-production. Here, they’ll work closely with the editor and colorist to ensure the film’s visual cohesion. The Director of Photography typically offers insights into the technical aspects of color grading and visual effects meant to align with the director’s core storytelling vision.

As I started working, my experience with art history and photography drove me towards the creation of the images for film–that’s what spoke to me. I started right at the very bottom as a Production Assistant, then I moved to the Camera Department as a Camera Trainee, then a Second Assistant Camera.

All the while, I was shooting short films on 16mm film. Then a Cinematographer I was working with suggested I go to film school. And I did–I enrolled at AFI in Los Angeles.

What I love about today’s world is the growing diversity in the film business and people come from all walks of life. I know people who have worked their way up through the Camera Department, I know others who started in the Lighting Department then moved into cinematography–it’s really about making sure you’re a visual person with an eye. Above all, it’s about your attention to story. It doesn’t matter where you come from.

My goal is to keep moving forward and tell good stories. I’ve been lucky recently, starting to shoot bigger budget, studio films with very visual Directors. That allows me to pull together really arresting, exciting images rather than working on more character-driven films. I hope to continue along this path of finding an expressive aesthetic.

[As you’re starting a career,] there is plenty of good, non-union work and you can build up your experience that way.

Don’t rush to get an Agent. You’ll end up giving away 10% of your money and, at the beginning, you probably won’t have enough credits for them to push you. Take your time!

Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Take it slowly. If you take a job that’s too big for you too early, it’s easy to fall at the first hurdle. It’s great to be ambitious, but I remember someone telling me when I was a twenty-one-year-old PA that it would take me ten years to become a DP.

I was absolutely horrified… but then I shot my first feature at thirty-one! They were spot on! It takes time to learn your voice and your aesthetic sensibilities. Frankly, I’m still learning, every day I go to set.

It’s your unique eye and voice that will make you stand out, so take time to do the things that nourish you as a person–travel, ingest art and have a solid sense of who you are and what you want to say. Life experience informs your art.

I worked a lot for free, doing short films and taking any job I enjoyed. I don’t think anyone should feel that is beneath them–it’s a technical job and there’s a lot to learn. It’s better to do it when you’re not spending a lot of other people’s money.

We need to be very malleable depending on the types of personalities surrounding us. You’re always working with different types of people, so when you start on a new project, it’s a process of getting to know everyone–how they tick, how they operate–and you become very close with them during production.

In the old days, some people could get away with behaving disrespectfully on set (and we still see a bit of that), but these days, we want to work with people who are easy and collaborative.

I would say, spend time on set to understand the intense conditions, drop the attitude, know your role on the team and understand that anyone can have a good idea. Even a PA can have excellent input if you stay open. There’s just no room for ego these days.

NYU Tisch, AFI, Chapman, UCLA, and the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) are graduate programs that take 2-4 years and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. They can be out of budget for most people; I spent a lot of time trying to get scholarships for AFI and I still owe a lot of money. Even the short courses at the New York Film Academy cost a fortune.

[However] as a PA, you can watch how all the different departments interact and collaborate. That’s priceless. It helps you to be patient because you can see how challenging each job really is. As a PA, the level of responsibility is fairly low so you have time to stand to the side and observe people at work.

That’s a hell of an education. If you haven’t had that set experience, and you start working straight out of film school, you can miss that big picture experience. I see young DPs coming in without working their way up through the Camera Department because, with digital capture, it’s more achievable to move up quickly.

I still think it’s important to understand the process and know how to treat people with respect. Ultimately, I’m only as good as the people who are working with me–I can’t do this job alone.

Just shoot. Shoot short films using any equipment you can find, even your iPhone — we have such easy access these days to video capture, even under low-light and natural light situations. Shoot as much as you can.

Watch movies to see what inspires you and what you actually like.

Shooting on film involves using photosensitive material typically made with silver that reacts to light, which then captures the image on various sized grains of silver. Digital photography uses an electric sensor, which harnesses the light and grabs the images digitally on identically sized pixels.

There’s now a much-documented debate on which is the better way to shoot a movie – film or digital, as they both seem to have their pluses and minuses. Renowned directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Christopher Nolan swear by film, while other master filmmakers such as David Fincher and Steven Soderbergh have embraced digital moviemaking. The issue goes deeper than mere technics, as each medium offers its own aesthetics and overall cinematic experience. Let’s take a closer look at some of these differences…

• Aesthetic Characteristics

Digital video tends to have a cleaner, more clinical appearance. Film, on the other hand, typically offers a more organic look, characterized by a more unique texture and richer colors than video offers.

• Detail And Resolution

While film has held an advantage in terms of resolution and detail, advances in technology have allowed digital cameras the capability of manipulating their images so as to imitate film. Ultimately, this tends to come down to the needs – and required aesthetic – of the specific project.

• Dynamic Range

Over time, digital sensors have sharpened their dynamic range, but film still seems to maintain the edge on this one. There’s nothing quite like the range of shadow and that can be found in a single film exposure.

• Post-Production Process

This is an area where video outshines film, as shooting on digital allows for immediate access to footage, offering filmmakers immediate editing capability. Film, on the other hand, involves a time-consuming (not to mention costly) process of developing images and scanning them, adding a layer of time to any production schedule.

• Budget Concerns

When you take into account such elements as stock, processing, and scanning, film creates a larger burden on the budget than when shooting on video. The immediate accessibility to footage coupled with lower production costs offers a more practical economical choice for filmmakers.

For an even further in-depth look into the differences between shooting on film and video, check out this video.

A Director of Photography leads a team of professionals to bring the visual elements of a film or video project to life. The composition of the DP’s team can vary depending on the scale and requirements of the production. Here are key members commonly found in a Director of Photography’s team…

• Camera Operator

The description is right there in the title. The camera operator executes the shots and supervises composition, camera movement, and framing during takes.

• First Assistant Camera (1st AC)

The First Assistant Camera, also known as the focus puller, is responsible for maintaining focus, ensuring that the proper elements of the shot look crisp, sharp, and clear.

• Second Assistant Camera (2nd AC)

The Second Assistant Camera loads and unloads the film (or manages the digital media, if the production is shooting on video), prepares slates for each take, and offers any other camera-related assistance that may be required.

• Gaffer

The gaffer leads the lighting department. Setting up lights, illumination of scenes, and manipulation of shadows all fall under the gaffer’s purview.

• Best Boy Electric

The best boy electric is the gaffer’s assistant and is responsible for the rigging and electrical aspects of the lighting setups. The electricians on a production often answer to the best boy.

• Key Grip

The key grip is in charge of camera movement and offers all other camera support. They work to ensure camera stabilization, whether that’s on a crane, dolly, tripod, or other camera mount.