Why do you need a photographer when you have a director?

Many film critics often write about what lens a director used and what effect he achieved.

It seems that the "shot" in film shooting is controlled by the director.

So, what is "photography" in the credits? Since the director is in charge of the lens, why should film awards such as Oscar be specifically divided into "best photography"?

The first issue of the behind-the-scenes documentary program "I Make a Film in China" gave a clear and professional explanation.

Speaking of top photographers in the world, the famous names are Gregg Toland in Citizen Kane, vittorio Storrow in The Last Emperor, roger deakins in The Shawshank Redemption and so on.

In China, fans are familiar with Wong Kar-wai's royal photographer Du Kefeng, Gu Changwei, who has filmed domestic peaks such as Farewell My Concubine and Here comes the Devil, and Hua Dan Lv Le, Zhang Yimou's master in the mid-to-late 1990s.

As far as Jianghu status is concerned, Cao can't be compared with the above-mentioned absolute masters for the time being, but most audiences in China have heard of his films.

In 2004, China's typical western film "Hoh Xil" won the Golden Horse Award for Best Photography for its cruel and realistic portrayal of Hoh Xil.

At that time, Cao Yu had not participated in such a large-scale award ceremony. After taking the stage to receive the award, he should have stepped down from the background and walked off the stage directly, thus exposing his status as a film rookie.

Continue to shoot Nanjing with Lu Chuan! Nanjing! Cao Yu got the opportunity to cooperate with top domestic directors.

Wong Kar-wai's "The Ferry Man" and Chen Kaige's "The Legend of the Demon Cat" all have beautiful pictures taken by the camera he is responsible for.

Guan Hu's removal of the unpublished war masterpiece "800 Men" is expected to help to a higher level, Cao Yu.

"I'm Making a Film in China" is conducted in the form of an interview, and the first photography theme revolves around Cao Yu.

First, Cao Yu explained that there is a difference between a photographer and a cameraman. The work of the former is much more complicated than that of the latter.

It can be seen that the photographer is not only responsible for operating the camera, but also the cameraman.

In the interpretation of encyclopedia entries, photographers are second only to directors. In China, cinematographers occupy the position of "the second child" in the film crew.

From Cao Yu's works, it can be found that the photographer is not only responsible for the setting of airplane seats, but also the most important task of lighting, even the color matching and music should be considered.

No wonder neither the Oscar nor the Golden Horse Award has set up an award named "Best Lighting". Because lighting belongs to photography.

Nanjing! Nanjing! Cao Yu uses a single light source, which makes the role presentation more powerful.

Cao Yu needs to use more light sources to make the picture more dreamy.

Therefore, the texture of the picture seen by the audience is provided by the photographer.

Without roger deakins in Blade Runner 2049, I'm afraid denis villeneuve wouldn't have this effect, or the film would have a different look and feel.

There is so much photography to do, and the basic picture presentation has been arranged. How does the director express his ideas in photography?

Cao Yu compared the cooperation between director and photography to "rival in love". Both of them are movie lovers.

It means that photographers also have something they want to express, not just following the director's command, but integrating with the concepts and ideas set by the director.

Film critics often write "What lens did the director use?" In fact, there is nothing wrong. The photographer's idea finally needs to be approved by the director. After all, generally speaking, the director is the general manager of a film.

Of course, different production modes may be different, such as the producer-centered system. When the director has no supreme power, the relationship between the director and photography should really be competitive.

The director's "control" of the camera mainly depends on story board, which gives the photographer a general "requirement". Photographers need to transform the director's ideas into pictures on the screen through practical operations, so as to better shape the aesthetic style of the lens and pictures.

If Tsui Hark, Zhang Yimou and other directors with artistic skills describe in detail in different shots, the photographer's freedom will be much less.

A director who has no artistic skills, or a novice director, can ask a special lens division to draw his own ideas. For example, in Wolf Warriors 2, Jason Wu invited Zhang Yiming to shoot the manuscript.

For those who don't want to spend money to hire a split lens, such as Jiang Wen, you can use the split lens of "stream of consciousness" to assist shooting, as long as you can understand it anyway.

There are directors who don't need story board at all. Cao Yu revealed that Lu Chuan and Wong Kar-wai started shooting directly without splitting the lens, and through communication with the photographer, they finished the lens design on the spot.

If the director is the brain, then the photographer is the eye.

With the help of eyes, the brain can quickly construct a picture and achieve the effect of "seeing is believing".

Like the cooperation of human organs, film is an art form of "multiple authors".

Even for the author's films, it is difficult for ordinary audiences to accurately evaluate who determines the image style.

Wong Kar-wai's Night of Blueberries and The Grandmaster are not as good as before, and their styles seem to be less distinct. One of the important reasons is that he lost Du Kefeng, an important part of Wong Kar-wai style after 2046.

Aside from documentary techniques, I'm Making a Film in China, produced by Time.com, a film website, is at least very solid in content, which helps the audience understand the behind-the-scenes production of the film.

The program 1 * * * consists of five episodes. After the first episode of Photography, there are four behind-the-scenes works of art, sound, special effects and dubbing, waiting for fans to further explore.

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