Rating: 
Summary: Hidden in the Light
Review: This documentary provides a very interesting look inside the work of cinematographers. This function however essential in the art of filmmaking is not one that makes it to the frontpages of films magazines and theaudiences do not really realise what the work of these men and women is in a film.
This film aims at presenting their work, especially the extent of their it, through close ups on particular films/persons.
I had to see it for an Intro to Film studies class and I think it is a really good work, nevertheless it only gets 4 stars because it somehow lacks a bit of a sense of purpose. However, it is never boring, but just leaves you with a slight desire for something more.
I would recommend it to any student in Film studies as well as to anyone interested in cinema for it is an agreeable film to watch and a very instructive one.
Rating: 
Summary: Study of lights and shadows is visually enlightening
Review: "Director of photography. The person in charge of lighting a set and photographing a film. Also known as 'first cameraman,' 'lighting cameraman,' or 'cinematographer,' he is responsible for transforming the screenwriter's and director's concepts into real visual images." From Ephraim Katz's Film Encyclopedia.This collection of film clips and interviews with various DPs (director of photography) and camera operators such as Allen Daviau, William A. Frakeman, Haskell Wexler, and Nestor Almendros reveals their influences, the period during which they worked, what techniques were evolving, and anecdotes. Clips from about two hundred or so films are examined. Yes, as Ernest Dickerson says, cinematography's the way one responds to light. Initially, there was just a director and cameraman, the director in charge of the actors, the cameraman in charge of everything else. And the stationary cameras didn't give them much to do, but of course that changed over time with the camera dollies and booms, and later, handheld cameras, made more effective by Steadicams, whose inventors won a special Oscar in 1977 in the technical field. But camera movement gave the DP greater ability to achieve his visual triumphs. Other than the Katz quote, DPs were to tell the story visually and to make actors and actresses more handsome and prettier but to enhance special features. Actresses like Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo required special attention, but boy, did they sparkle! Dietrich's cheeks were made narrower with the lighting used in Shanghai Express. And small wonder Harold Rosson made Jean Harlow prettier in Red Dust--he even married her (lucky guy!) after her husband Paul Bern committed suicide. This takes a chronological history of lighting, from the silent era up to the late 1980's, and puts it in context with the history of film. For example, the role of cinematography changed with the advent of sound. According to cinematographer John Bailey, the 1920's were the golden age of cinematography because at the time, the camera was unencumbered by sound and all devices accompanying verbal dialogue storytelling. And when anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen came to be used, DPs had to find some way to use that extra space on either side, as they did with Lawrence Of Arabia, like the scene of Lawrence, having rescued Qaseem, who is greeted by one of the boys, riding towards him. And with the gradual independence from the studio system, previous errors such as flaring lenses were deliberately used as new techniques. My favourite era is the film noir era, which borrowed from the German Expressionism of the 1920's. Sparse lighting, slashes of light, dark shadows, dense rarified vocabulary of visual information, low angles define the characteristics of such films as The Killers, Out Of The Past, and Touch Of Evil. It's stark black and wide, hardly any greys. But other uses of dark or darkly lit techniques were shown with the candlelit sequence in Grapes of Wrath, a clip from Fat City, and the accurate capture of period dramas, where there was no electricity and so thus families relied on light from windows. As for best uses of technique, the pure visual accident in In Cold Blood, where Robert Blake's character is speaking to the chaplain about his father, and the light reflecting off the pouring rain on the window shone on Blake's face, making it look as if he were crying. This collaboration between the American Film Institute and Japan's NHK Television is ideally for film students/buffs and for moviegoers of a more intelligent and inquisitive calibre, which I hope will comprise of enough people.
Rating:
Summary: Study of lights and shadows is visually enlightening
Review: "Director of photography. The person in charge of lighting a set and photographing a film. Also known as 'first cameraman,' 'lighting cameraman,' or 'cinematographer,' he is responsible for transforming the screenwriter's and director's concepts into real visual images." From Ephraim Katz's Film Encyclopedia. This collection of film clips and interviews with various DPs (director of photography) and camera operators such as Allen Daviau, William A. Frakeman, Haskell Wexler, and Nestor Almendros reveals their influences, the period during which they worked, what techniques were evolving, and anecdotes. Clips from about two hundred or so films are examined. Yes, as Ernest Dickerson says, cinematography's the way one responds to light. Initially, there was just a director and cameraman, the director in charge of the actors, the cameraman in charge of everything else. And the stationary cameras didn't give them much to do, but of course that changed over time with the camera dollies and booms, and later, handheld cameras, made more effective by Steadicams, whose inventors won a special Oscar in 1977 in the technical field. But camera movement gave the DP greater ability to achieve his visual triumphs. Other than the Katz quote, DPs were to tell the story visually and to make actors and actresses more handsome and prettier but to enhance special features. Actresses like Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo required special attention, but boy, did they sparkle! Dietrich's cheeks were made narrower with the lighting used in Shanghai Express. And small wonder Harold Rosson made Jean Harlow prettier in Red Dust--he even married her (lucky guy!) after her husband Paul Bern committed suicide. This takes a chronological history of lighting, from the silent era up to the late 1980's, and puts it in context with the history of film. For example, the role of cinematography changed with the advent of sound. According to cinematographer John Bailey, the 1920's were the golden age of cinematography because at the time, the camera was unencumbered by sound and all devices accompanying verbal dialogue storytelling. And when anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen came to be used, DPs had to find some way to use that extra space on either side, as they did with Lawrence Of Arabia, like the scene of Lawrence, having rescued Qaseem, who is greeted by one of the boys, riding towards him. And with the gradual independence from the studio system, previous errors such as flaring lenses were deliberately used as new techniques. My favourite era is the film noir era, which borrowed from the German Expressionism of the 1920's. Sparse lighting, slashes of light, dark shadows, dense rarified vocabulary of visual information, low angles define the characteristics of such films as The Killers, Out Of The Past, and Touch Of Evil. It's stark black and wide, hardly any greys. But other uses of dark or darkly lit techniques were shown with the candlelit sequence in Grapes of Wrath, a clip from Fat City, and the accurate capture of period dramas, where there was no electricity and so thus families relied on light from windows. As for best uses of technique, the pure visual accident in In Cold Blood, where Robert Blake's character is speaking to the chaplain about his father, and the light reflecting off the pouring rain on the window shone on Blake's face, making it look as if he were crying. This collaboration between the American Film Institute and Japan's NHK Television is ideally for film students/buffs and for moviegoers of a more intelligent and inquisitive calibre, which I hope will comprise of enough people.
Rating:
Summary: The Vision of the Medium Conveys the Message
Review: "Visions of Light" was a co-production of the American Film Institute and NHK[ Japan Broadcasting Corporation ]. The work has the blessing of, and was created with, the cooperation of the American Society of Cinematographers[ ASC ]. Some 27 ASC cinematographers were interviewed for this project, which was shot in the High Definition Video System format by director of photography Nancy Schreiber. The project inter-cuts three main types of footage as it's content:
A) Film to Video transfers from over 100 feature films, shot during the period between 1907 and 1989.
B) Film footage of the process of shooting some of the feature films in question.
C) HDVS footage of interviews with cinematographers discussing both their own work and the work of others that they admire, or who have influenced/affected them in some way. One can sense from viewing this material, that cinematographers play a major role in shaping the visual feel of a film through their choice of:
A) Camera - with different size cameras affecting the possibilities of shooting location and achievable motion.
B) Film - use of color vs. black and white, choice of exposure, pre and post shooting film processing methods.
C) Lighting - choice of different types and combinations of artificial lighting, or the sensibility of using natural lighting in different locations and at different times of the day. More discussion on the division of labor between director and cinematographer or from other contributors to the final contents of the film frame would have been desirable, but sadly such material is not included in this documentary. A working assumption of "Visions of Light" seems to be that the viewer would already have an intimate knowledge of film production methodologies. Still, the selections chosen from the feature films in question will be appreciated by all for their visual beauty. They will also serve as curated documentation of stunning highlights from the history of cinema. Directors Todd McCarthy, Arnold Glassman and Professor Stuart Samuels are to be congratulated for their thorough research into this captivating subject.
Rating:
Summary: The Vision of the Medium Conveys the Message
Review: "Visions of Light" was a co-production of the American Film Institute and NHK[ Japan Broadcasting Corporation ]. The work has the blessing of, and was created with, the cooperation of the American Society of Cinematographers[ ASC ]. Some 27 ASC cinematographers were interviewed for this project, which was shot in the High Definition Video System format by director of photography Nancy Schreiber. The project inter-cuts three main types of footage as it's content:
A) Film to Video transfers from over 100 feature films, shot during the period between 1907 and 1989.
B) Film footage of the process of shooting some of the feature films in question.
C) HDVS footage of interviews with cinematographers discussing both their own work and the work of others that they admire, or who have influenced/affected them in some way. One can sense from viewing this material, that cinematographers play a major role in shaping the visual feel of a film through their choice of:
A) Camera - with different size cameras affecting the possibilities of shooting location and achievable motion.
B) Film - use of color vs. black and white, choice of exposure, pre and post shooting film processing methods.
C) Lighting - choice of different types and combinations of artificial lighting, or the sensibility of using natural lighting in different locations and at different times of the day. More discussion on the division of labor between director and cinematographer or from other contributors to the final contents of the film frame would have been desirable, but sadly such material is not included in this documentary. A working assumption of "Visions of Light" seems to be that the viewer would already have an intimate knowledge of film production methodologies. Still, the selections chosen from the feature films in question will be appreciated by all for their visual beauty. They will also serve as curated documentation of stunning highlights from the history of cinema. Directors Todd McCarthy, Arnold Glassman and Professor Stuart Samuels are to be congratulated for their thorough research into this captivating subject.
Rating: 
Summary: Without the Production Designer...
Review: ...the cinema photographer would have nothing to photograph. They copy the Production Designer's color sketches and make it real, but it starts with designs along the lines of great artists like Richard Sylbert, William Cameron Menzies, and David Hall. Without it, these great films wouldn't have stood the test of time. Interesting film, though.
Rating:
Summary: Masterful
Review: A brilliant exploration of the visual nature of film
Rating:
Summary: A visual primer on the art of Cinematography
Review: Every time I teach a film class this documentary is one of the first things I screen for my students. "Visions of Light" includes clips from 125 films to graphically demonstrate how the art form of cinematography has evolved. You will also come away with a new understanding of the work of specific cinematographers such as Gregg Toland ("Citizen Kane"), Conrad Hall ("In Cold Blood"), Vilmos Zsigmond ("The Deer Hunter"), and many more. You will even get a sense of the individual styles of these great artists as well as a better appreciation of how the people behind the camera have as much of an impact on a movie as the actors we see on the silver screen. But be warned: after watching "Visions of Light" you are not going to have a whole bunch of cinematic classics you will want to track down (I am still trying to find "Great Expectations"), you are going to want to rewatch some old favorites. This 1993 documentary was directed by Arnold Glassman, Todd McCarthy and Stuart Samuels.
Rating:
Summary: A visual primer on the art of Cinematography
Review: Every time I teach a film class this documentary is one of the first things I screen for my students. "Visions of Light" includes clips from 125 films to graphically demonstrate how the art form of cinematography has evolved. You will also come away with a new understanding of the work of specific cinematographers such as Gregg Toland ("Citizen Kane"), Conrad Hall ("In Cold Blood"), Vilmos Zsigmond ("The Deer Hunter"), and many more. You will even get a sense of the individual styles of these great artists as well as a better appreciation of how the people behind the camera have as much of an impact on a movie as the actors we see on the silver screen. But be warned: after watching "Visions of Light" you are not going to have a whole bunch of cinematic classics you will want to track down (I am still trying to find "Great Expectations"), you are going to want to rewatch some old favorites. This 1993 documentary was directed by Arnold Glassman, Todd McCarthy and Stuart Samuels.
Rating:
Summary: A visual primer on the art of Cinematography
Review: Every time I teach a film class this documentary is one of the first things I screen for my students. "Visions of Light" includes clips from 125 films to graphically demonstrate how the art form of cinematography has evolved. You will also come away with a new understanding of the work of specific cinematographers such as Gregg Toland ("Citizen Kane"), Conrad Hall ("In Cold Blood"), Vilmos Zsigmond ("The Deer Hunter"), and many more. You will even get a sense of the individual styles of these great artists as well as a better appreciation of how the people behind the camera have as much of an impact on a movie as the actors we see on the silver screen. But be warned: after watching "Visions of Light" you are not going to have a whole bunch of cinematic classics you will want to track down (I am still trying to find "Great Expectations"), you are going to want to rewatch some old favorites. This 1993 documentary was directed by Arnold Glassman, Todd McCarthy and Stuart Samuels.
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