“Cinematic” is a term thrown about with abandon, but little explanation. What is it? How do we get it? What’s it good for anyway? Making a first stab at definition, I’d say cinematic, the adjective, means in the same manner as movies, motion pictures or films – in short, like Hollywood. “Hollywood” in turn conjures up terms of endearment like creative, artistic, original, talented, masterly, prodigious, expressive, inspiring, imaginative, inventive, visionary, champion.
Wow! Hard act to follow! But what we do know right away is that we expect an exciting impact of initial reaction, and want to be left with a meaningful story told through the details of plot and characters, emotion and action, interesting angles, locations and points of view.
Linear Mind Set
Most events, wedding and other lower budget filmmakers are not used to thinking in terms of such lofty goals. They’re used to capture and edit pretty much in a linear manner. Simple, decorous, reserved. They start at the when the bride arrives at church and end with the getaway car. A reasonable, classic approach – similar to that of early filmmakers, who by necessity of the equipment, just had to keep rolling start to finish. And, as we’ve found out, very acceptable to some clients.
We insiders can see how fortunate it is that Hollywood film making has evolved to recognize an equal contribution by the Director of Photography and the Editor. For a great documentary of the evolution of film and editing, rent The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing from Netflix. It relates the history of cinematic styles with fascinating interviews. Cinematic evolution has really been a revolution in technology and approach, over years.
Democracy of Film
My thought is that it’s no wonder that nobody doesn’t like movies! Along with its sister art form, photography, movies are a distinctly and uniquely democratic art form. These are everyman art forms, holding a dizzyingly varied meaning to each and every person. The secret is that the public at large doesn’t simply stand on the outside looking in at the fun of movies. Equipment is so easy they are eager and willing participants, albeit mainly amateurs, on both sides of the camera as producers of film and actors in them.
Of course you’ll object that “Uncle Bob’s” shaky cam and your neighbor’s 500 dreadful family vacation snap shots simply can’t be mentioned in the same breath as National Geographic and The English Patient, for instance. Yet experience has taught me that all imaging has a commonality that both allows and encourages enjoyment at any level of production.
The “Keyhole”
Karl and I were discussing – ok arguing – this artistic dilemma, in reference to current client demand for ever cheaper commercial and personal productions from typical small studios across the country. It was Karl who got it in one word -”keyhole”. Actually I should have known that, because it’s the same thing still photographers have been saying for years. The baby’s expression sells a picture, never mind that the lighting is amateurish, the focus off and the background identical in hundreds, even thousands of images in thousands of identical frames on thousands of bookshelves. The keyhole is the personal, emotional link of recognition through which the mother passes when she sees her child’s expression. She is now mentally in a different world; she’s gone through the looking glass and is focusing on her delight and memory of the child in action – certainly not that the bright orange shirt emblazoned with cartoon characters is ugly and dated or that the eye sockets are dark with poor lighting. Now show the same picture to a person unconnected with the family and the impact is unremarkable, the artistic faults obvious. A finely crafted portrait, however, created with skill and insight that reveals personality will evoke interest and reaction from any mother, and father too.
The same thing is true of video film making. It takes a lot of creativity, read that cinematic creativity, to produce a wedding video that is of any interest whatever to someone outside the bride’s immediate circle. A tutorial or PR short for a company or non-profit, no matter how scripted and stilted the talent, may get great reviews, but only from those involved. Because the production value doesn’t grab attention instantly and keep it with a compelling story of universal significance, outsiders pass on by without even a first look. They don’t buy the product or service. Compare these applications to a movie trailer. Did it convince you immediately to buy a ticket or give it a miss? Once we see a trailer, I’ve noted from experience that we rarely change our minds about seeing a coming film. The inference is clear: the power of moving pictures is tremendous, and a great responsibility. A story well told has the potential to excite a diverse cross section of viewers, but a dull presentation can put them to sleep, closing their minds, hearts and wallets.
If you’re like us, soul-less video makes us want to rant and tear our hair. We didn’t say achieving cinematic style is easy, we just know what it’s NOT when we see it! An aside: To us there is one worse scenario than the client who doesn’t recognize cinematic talent – that’s the client who does perceive the difference that cinematic quality makes, and for whatever reason, does not want it. This is the greatest affront to our profession.
Harnessing “Cinematic” on a Budget
So what’s a small production company to do? You want to output the highest quality you are able, but in a timely workflow that turns a profit even in times of ultra tight budgets. The days of Francis Ford Coppola and the ever expanding cost and time line of Apocalypse Now are a thing of a past economic era. And of course you want to please your clients, because they are your best source of new jobs through referrals.
You’ve probably guessed that the point of this digression is to show how our own philosophy evolved to define and harness cinematic style, in light of today’s lower budget productions. Yes, we do take our cues from Hollywood; yes the advances in equipment and software make it possible for us to emulate editors like Walter Murch, one of Karl’s heroes.
In part 2 of “Defining the Cinematic Look” I’ll expand on the 2 major tracks toward the cinematic grail. And I promise special low-cost high-value tips and tricks for the Indie film maker and small production house.
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Known as the Velcro Couple, Sara Frances and Karl Arndt's talents mesh gently, sometimes not so gently, when debating techniques or artistic principles. Fusion is their media, on the edge of contemporary technology. Their collaboration between still and cinematic imagery is sometimes refined and quiet, sometimes raucous and noisy. That's the sound of those pesky muses that flit back and forth between still and motion editing bays. Husband and wife yes, but also a marriage of art, idea and approach. "We're not satisfied if we don't learn something new every day. Our goal is to make what we do appear effortless and far more than the sum of the parts.”
"We are Foto Griots, tellers of tales of insight, culture and expression, through photographic or cinematic based imagery that is sometimes realistic, sometimes abstract. Starting out as documentarians, our style and ability have evolved far past photojournalism into what we call 'Storytelling from the Heart'."
To learn more about Sara Frances, M.Photog.CR. and Karl Arndt, please visit www.photomirage.com or email them at imagination@photomirage.com . You may also view their portfolio at www.photomirage.smugmug.com.
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