This Summer, Oscar winner and revolutionary cinematographer Roger Deakins is the artist I chose as an influence for my work this quarter. I have seen the following works of his;

1917

Blade Runner 2049

Skyfall

Rango

Unbroken

and No Country for Old Men.

7/6

Today I rewatched 1917. I was superbly impressed with the continuous shot style of the film. I was able to use my new knowledge of VFX and compositing to see how it was done, and what camera work specifically all went into it. There was one single jump cut that was obvious that I saw, but other than that it was a really fun puzzle to guess how I would have accomplished the same shots. Another notable aspect was the contrast, visible from the very first shot in the dark tent. We had the two main characters unlit, to be revealed, while a side character was fully lit from flame. This was very interesting as it was done through placement of actors rather than the light. I would like to pursue this use of contrast for storytelling further in my work.

7/16

Blade Runner 2029 took me back to the amazing world building of Ridley Scott, and now Dennis Villeneuve. The most memorable aspect for me was again contrast, as he constantly painted our main character against a stark background, making us visibly see just how alone he was. This film showed me a new aspect of Roger Deakins, and an area I see him succesfully mastering on the small scale (compared to 1917), moving shots. A lot of the shots had many small camera moves, and rarely sat still, adding to the story and the energy of the film. When the camera was still, this added all the more to those serious shots.

*One later note I realize looking back is how much the camera palette influences this film. This film is visually stunning, and without the palette art, it wouldn’t have as much punch.

7/17

Watching both Skyfall and Rango today, I had lots of fun comparing how Deakins worked in an animated medium versus live action.

Deakins ability to use natural lighting and still have dramatic shots really stood out in the film Skyfall. I enjoyed both the visual contrast as well as the contrast in types of light, from neon lit shanghai fights, to the shadowy fights in Scotland.

In Rango, the camera highlighted the environment, and made my mouth feel dry. I enjoyed how each shot was placed to give enough view of the world, and show how the character was moving within its environment, as well as how the environment reacted back in certain scenes, like ground sticking to him, or when mud first appeared. This film again brought me to when I watched 1917, and was thinking of each shot as a puzzle, and how I would have done it.

8/4

Unbroken was a beautiful watch, especially after my analysis of Blade Runner 2049. It was interesting to see the similarities in his work where he has to convey very alone men.

Pre-Quarter Assignments

Re-Do! Class 2