Light: it is one of the most crucial tools to a cinematographer. It is the paint with which the cinematographer constructs the story. It is honestly my favorite aspect of cinematography. There are countless images and films that I can delve into that have inspired me. For this post though, I will focus on particular films or moments within certain films that made me actually think and become interested in cinematography.
I make no qualms about speaking my mind about Roger Deakins; he is my favorite cinematographer, and I believe his work is one of the biggest influences.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is probably one of the most important films I have ever seen, at least in regards to how I think about lighting. Deakins is not afraid of letting things go dark or into silhouette and these images demonstrate that amazing ability.
Blade Runner combines all of my favorite elements of color and lighting. Jordan Cronenworth truly helped create a master piece with this neo-noir sci-fi classic. The hard light, and beautiful use of blues help create the gritty, hard-boiled future that Decker must navigate to locate the replicants.
Conrad Hall, quite frankly, he is one of the best American cinematographers of all time. I think it would be hard to argue that assertion. He is also among the cinematographers that have influenced me greatly. I love all of this films, but his final one, Road to Perdition, is probably my favorite and possibly his best work. Hall truly brought everything to the table with this film and his aesthetic vision helped create one of the most visually stunning films in cinema. Of course, the scene I got to the most from this film is the final confrontation between Hanks and Newman.
More Roger Deakins with perhaps the best use of color lighting that I have ever seen.
Gregg Tolland is another one of my favorite cinematographers. I can see his clear influence on so many of the DPs that I love. He was a master of the hard lighting.
In recent years I have found the work of Gordon Willis to be some of the most fantastic photography in the whole of cinema. I absolutely love his work on the Godfather films, but honestly, the works I enjoy the most are his films with Woody Allen. In particular, I find that Manhattan is one of my favorite black and white films of all time. I couldn't find an image of the couples walking in front of the store fronts of New York, but I absolutely love that entire sequence, along with the observatory in complete silhouette.
If I could submit the entire collection of Breaking Bad as my visual inspiration I would. The work Michael Slovis provided for the visual mastery of the show blows my mind every time I watch an episode. Here are a number of selections from a couple of my favorite episodes. Slovis makes wonderful use of color and contrasty lighting that gives the show its dark atmosphere.
As an added bonus, here is a shot that has always stood out to me from the amazing film The Spy Who Came in from the Cold based off the John le Carre novel.
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