With the in-class exercises conducted by Robin in recent weeks I’ve deepened my appreciation for the work that a cinematographer does in order to produce the frame in shot. With the most prevalent being in Class 12 having a more significant impact in my understanding of the composition of a set relating to a shot from a single camera. It was particularly mind-altering for me to realise that lighting not only involves lighting the scene using natural or artificial light but to also understand that lighting in relation to your subject/s that you are filming. In our case it was the effect that skin tone had on the lighting, different skin tones imbue different characteristics in relation to how they absorb and reflect light and it would be our job as a cinematographer to decide if we want these certain characteristics in the shot or not.
Now what to think about when you make a decision and why you do. And the ‘why’ is particularly important to me, in the case of the class exercise was that ‘Cath’ had a reflection of light bouncing off her outline when the focus of the shot would be on ‘Colin’. What we did was mount a negative fill or cutting board to block out the soft light falling on ‘Cath’ to eliminate that reflection. The purpose being to cut out the light so it does not reflect but also to perhaps not draw attention to the foreground as the focus should be on ‘Colin’ in the shot.
For me, it was quite important to note that how ever nuanced or minimal your change in lighting or framing can be for a cinematographer, it may not even matter in the end, but it does most certainly has an effect on the shot and that cannot be understated. There was something that I’ve begun to appreciate more in terms of cinematography is that it is fine to be totally nit-picky with your shot and it may or may not matter to the director or audience member but I think it has at least an effect somewhat on everybody who views that shot consciously or subconsciously.
