I just watched 'Memoirs of a Geisha' and thought it lovely.

[babylonsister]

I know it won an award for cinematography. What movie inspires you?

[regnaD kciN]

1. As someone who has shot films as well...

...I would say that I don't equate still photography and cinematography. To quote film critic Lenny Lipton, "what passes for composition in film would be decomposition in photography," and the best-shot movie is going to be far behind good still photos in terms of image quality.

I can see how a studio photographer might take inspiration from one or another Hollywood work, since they generally have a commonality of being shot in a controlled environment with heavily-manipulated light, and much studio photography tries to catch onto one or another current "style" -- which may have come from a recent popular movie. (Think of how much advertising photography a few years ago tried to emulate the "look" of The Matrix, for example.) But, for those of us whose work is predominantly in the out-of-studio realms of scenic, wildlife, or architectural photography, far better inspiration can be found in the work of other photographers (my current favorites are Galen Rowell and Tim Fitzharris) rather than in cinematography, no matter how good.

[babylonsister]

2. Though the movie didn't faithfully follow the book, which was so

wonderful and descriptive, it gleaned a lot from it, making it a wonderful movie for me.
I read a lot, and this is one book that has stayed with me. And, I believe a man wrote it, amazing that!

[Touchdown]

3. I find the Merchant Ivory pictures to be beautifully shot.

Room With a View
The Decievers
Maurice
Remains of the Day, etc.

They may be PVLSs (Pretentious Victorian Love Stories), but they do have wonderful Cinematography.

I also liked the cinematography in...
Brokeback Mountain
A chinese Dynastic sword film with Jet Lee that came out last year. The Sword Hero or something like that.
Popeye with Robin Williams (blue waters in Malta)
Lord of the Rings Trilogy
The Mission (Jeremy Irons, Robert DeNiro)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (Italian Riviera)
Dances With Wolves (boring after 2 watches, but beautifully boring)
Lawrence of Arabia

I'm not a big fan of the "photojournalist style" of fast panning and slow shutter speeds of less than 24 FPS that's popular now. Like Saving Private Ryan, Tigerland, Blackhawk Down, or those insipid horror movies lately. Seems too frenetic and fast to catch the scene, but they are telling stories first, and war movies aren't pretty pictures anymore. I also found Spielberg's 2 Cruise movies, War of the Worlds and Minority Report to be deliberately overexposed and color subdued, and found that annoying. Anybody else notice this? Strange that he's he same guy who shot with beautiful color in ET, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List (well Beautiful B&W), Empire of the Sun, and if you just look at some of the dusk shots in Jaws, they were breathtaking.

Interesting note about depth of field. Brian DePalma double exposed a shot so he can have two in focus people with out of focus ground inbetween them in one scene of Carrie. The classroom scene early in the film where she's sitting 3 chairs back from the boy who will take her to the prom later on, they are both exposed, but the back of the room and the chairs inbetween them are out of focus. It's an eerie effect.

[babylonsister]

4. Thank you. I've seen a few that you've heralded, and you make

me want to see them again.
And you're obsessed with 'Carrie'. :crazy:

[Touchdown]

10. They're all going to laugh at you!

We'll pray! :evilgrin:

Really it's about the director. DePalma is a master at cinematography. The longest single tracking shot in Bonfire of the Vanities. 120 frames a second slo-mo in Femme Fatale. He's a slow motion master and it's poetry, Dressed to Kill, Body Double, The Fury, Blow Out, Scarface, and nobody can forget the train station gunfight scene in Untouchables. Nobody else could shoot up Tom Cruise's nose (Mission Impossible 1) and still work in Hollywood. Eh' I like DePalma. His choices of what he makes aren't always good, but his direction skills are unsurpassed.

Yeah I'm a nut, but you find a Stephen King story adapted as well as Carrie, or any other horror film period, which was the first film of a SK novel made. IMHO, it ranks up there with 1933 Frankenstein, Sixth Sense, Psycho, Alien, The original Omen, Rosemary's Baby, Exorcist, Jaws, The Birds, as the cream of the horror genre. Don't give me Halloween. Hack and slash crap.

[Eurobabe]

5. The English Patient

By far and away one of my all time favorite movies, the cinematography in that film was just amazing. The desert shots in the beginning are surreal.

I need to get that on DVD so I can watch it again, haven't seen it in years.

[priller]

6. John Seale

Won the Oscar for that movie for cinematography. Also shot "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Cold Mountain" for Minghella. In the past shot "Witness", "Dead Poets Society", "Rain Man", and many others.

I'm a big DePalma fan, too. "The Untouchables" had many stunning scenes, along with his trademark odd angles.

Have to add "The Godfather" movies to the list of inspiration. So beautifully filmed.

Stanley Kubrick was a photographer before he became a movie director. "The Shining" has some of the most memorable (and frightening) images ever. I know a lot of people don't like that movie, mainly because of the slow pace, but it scared the hell out of me when I saw it at the theater. And here is his homage to Diane Arbus:



Inspired by this Arbus photo:



BTW, the parents of these twins said it was the worst picture ever made of his girls. Ha!

[NashVegas]

7. La Belle et Le Bete

Cocteau's take on Beaty & the Beast, shot magnificently by Henri Alekan (who also was responsible for Wings of Desire, 40 years later).

[TahitiNut]

8. "Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain" (i.e. "Amélie") with Audrey Tautou

I agree that the cinematography of 'Memoirs' was terrific ... and many other movies come to mind. But I couldn't help but point out the quirky, playful cinematography of 'Amélie' - particularly for the wide-angle/macro devotees on this forum. As a francophile and lover of Paris, the movie portrays an aspect of Paris that's part of the heart of the city, imho.

Bruno Delbonnel is an internationally-acclaimed cinematographer and has many nominations and awards for his work. 'Amélie' was nominated for an Oscar for cinematography, very unusual for a foreign film, imho. (It was the same year 'Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' won.)

[JeffR]

9. Kubrick's Barry Lyndon

& Karel Reisz's The French Lieutenant's Woman. Wonderful use of tableau in both. The cinematography in the latter is by Freddie Francis, if I remember right. Francis directed the truly awful Trog, which I think was Joan Crawford's last movie.