Light & Shadow
Zacuto presents an Emmy winning film from director Steve Weiss. A year and a half in the making, Light & Shadow gives us all a peek into the minds of legendary cinematographers.
If you’re searching for textbook answers, you won’t find them here. Thought-provoking questions such as “What is creativity?”, “What shapes your vision?” and “How do you look at life?” provide an inspirational view about what it truly means to be a cinematographer.
If you have only one takeaway from Light & Shadow, let it be a reminder that cinematography, like all art forms, is something that comes from within. The technical can be taught, and anyone can pick up a camera and learn how to operate it. To capture an emotion and move an audience through visual storytelling is the real challenge. The big question is this: can it be learned or are you born with it?
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96 Responses to “Light & Shadow”
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Looks Great 🙂 ~ I’ll be tuning in.
wow…incredibly honored to be included in this line up. Thank you. And for the record I’m still an Aspiring Cinematographer
Amazingly inspirational.
Bravo
Inspirational. Thanks for this.
Light and Shadow are very importent for Cinematographer. Thanks for this Information.
Inspirational & informative!
Thank-you for sharing.
Way to go Den! 🙂
Gifted, hardworking visionaries. Thanks you for the inspiration – let’s shoot something!
Thank you for sharing such a brilliant collection of thoughtful filmmakers. Their shared wisdom is one of caring, feeling artists who allow story to tell them how to apply their craft.
Inspirational and beautifully crafted. Makes me proud to be a “creative.”
Thank you.
thank you for allowing me to watch this wonderful and inspirational and educational video. All I can say is wow because I am lost for words. I smiled, I teared up, I understood.
very cool!
wow – you all given this to us for free ! feel like just gone out for wonderful meal and someone picked up the tab – thanks Steve !
Thanks Steve, Jens & Scott for another inspirational film. And thanks to all of the cinematographers / Masters of Light that shared their wisdom in this inspirational film.
What an amazingly powerful contribution to our art, our artists and communicating with pictures! And you did it because it was worthwhile to do. I’m in Hollywood and the film industry does nothing like this (either because there’s no money in it or too few feel the passion of filmmaking in their blood). I salute you and your company and the statement you made that will benefit so many filmmakers. Plus, it’s a fine piece of filmmaking.
Thank You – beautifully done.
Thank you so much for creating and sharing this inspiration program!
I don’t know what took me so long to find this. But…I thank you. How well this was done is beyond words. Very, very sweet and entertaining. I found this when I was just looking for something to give me a pick me up. Well this did it for me. I want more! Thanks.
Thanks for showing me that. Very interesting.
Great Steve !
Tell me more about the music. Super !
Best regards from Paris
first 20 seconds… i’m starting to tear already… can’t wait to see the rest!
Thank you, Steve, for making this happen!
Steve, you asked about the music. It’s all from the APM music library. I love their library and have been using it for over 20 years.
Sooooo inspiring. Just halfway through my 10,000 hrs….
Thank you Steve 😉 Best
Beautiful
Great piece of documentary film work. An inspirational piece beautifully and delicately produced.
Thank you guys. Keep it coming.
Babak
Producer/director
Eclipse film production
I filmed many a program on inspiration and art throughout my career and I found “Light & Shadow” very inspiring and reinvigorating. I enjoyed the different perspectives from the more seasoned cinematographers. I would agree that it is about whats inside and what drives the vision and creativity and ones ability to transcend the constraint of equipment, and make it do what you see in your mind, using Light and Shadow. Job well done.
I found this film mind blowing. I was nearly in tears at some point. A perfect example that embodies the concept of “Light & Shadow”.
Gez, great. I was just going to preview it..and got stuck..sucked in!
Lovely piece which is also very inspirational
Wow, just wow. This was amazing. Bravo!
Brilliant piece, truly inspiring, Phillip Blooms, Red Tails credit was the highlight.
Was it wrong for me to get a lump in my throat watching this beautifully poignant film? https://www.zacuto.com/light-and-shadow?utm_source=slidebanner&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=lightandshadow
Fantastic, thank you for making this!
Say no more very inspirational & informative.
I’m slightly late to the party, but there are almost no projects which Steve and Jens set their minds to which aren’t spectacular. And — yet again — is another that touches all the right emotional notes, while remaining educational, without being parochial or finger-waggy in the least. Love Zacuto Films
because Zacuto loves you!
Really well done guys.
You guys want to review your shaving habits to move up the ladder;)
I appreciate the undefinable spirituality, coming across from all these amazing DP’s.
Seriously the best of the best. Bladerunner some 30+ years ago. Still one of my faves.
These guys are off the charts.
Thank you for posting.
Also, I do own half a truck worth of Zacuto gear;) Funtoid!
Very inspiring peoples with very inspiring words. I want to be I cinematographer since I was 12 years old, but it’s so sad that not many women do this job…
Thanks for sharing this wonderful story about the specialness of what we do. As visual storytellers we have not only had a personal moment with some of our greatest luminaries, it has been done with such great visual storytelling. Very moving. I will be sharing this with many.
You should offer this for sale – or in some form of downloadable format if you don’t want the money.
Fantastic peace of work. It’s soooo inspiring hearing those masters talk about what we all love most: moving pictures!
This really made me think. Truly inspirational.
Pearls of wisdom… To be treasured, taken to heart and put to use. Truly Inspiring. Cinematography is so much dependent on your personality… it is not just pushing the record button of the camera or placing a few lights here and there based on some formula…. reading as well as observing life, roaming around in the countryside….
Thanks Steve for creating this. Can’t thank you enough.
God this has been around the block for a couple of times now, on lotsof other sites, something fresh please, there’s lots happining in the industry right now.
absolutely wonderful. The last interview is so true, it does not matter what camera you use. What matters is what story you are trying to tell with it. This is a must see for all filmmakers.
When do we get to see the remaining? Much needed!
Thanks, a good reminder for this generation to look back while moving forward. we’ve all got a lot to learn from many great artists…
Fantastic film. Great insight and very inspirational. Thanks for a great video!
nice work 🙂
Great work!
That was great! Loved the insights!
Just a great inspiration piece to help light that fire within you to want to go out and make art!
This short really makes me want to watch more movies! Love Haskel Wexler’s advice “Don’t take any advice from Haskel Wexler”.
Definitely made me want to go shoot!
Love it. So many DSLR users forget or don’t understand how important light really is this should be watched by everyone that is in the business and think they are in the business.
Love the what is a cinematographer question and the what is talent, then that in the end the list of contributors with their headshot. I loved how you lit the interviews. Worked so well in the edit.
inspirational!!!
Interesting. 🙂
I wish there was more B&W out there.
Wonderful advice from so many talented folks.
“Nobody should give a damn about what camera you’re using….”
I’ve watched this documentary twice. The Director, DOP and Editor tried too hard. It’s pretty evident they thought they would be judged by their product instead of just doing what they thought would work.
Thanks for the inspiration, really dig the whole look of it !
Great set of questions. It was inspirational to hear what the masters of the craft thought about these issues.
100% inspirational. thanks for doing this!
Inspirational, Thx!
Thanks Steve.
Great video! Not sure that I understand the decision to lock it down so it can’t be shared with more people.
Can the poster be purchased? I saw that you made a larger jpg available, but it’d be great if a professionally printed poster could be available …
Not at the moment, sorry!
SO INSPIRING! Didn’t feel 19 minute long…I actually wanted more! Incredible well done…WOW!
Is anyone else bothered by the fact that only one of these cinematographers is a person of color and only two of them are women? Um…
Awesome movie! Made me look a the world of photography much differently and how I go about my schooling and shooting. I will be looking through my lens with a whole new set of fresh ideas and eyes now! Thank you for this!
Amazing!
Insight to the creative process is always great to read about,listen to or watch. Helps quell my angst, gives me a space to reflect in . Being connected to others, who look at the work of creating as an essential part of being, helps center your efforts. The drive is internal, the mastering of the external gives sight to that internal drive. This labor makes you whole
Thank you to Zacuto for having that internal drive.
[…] Zacuto Wins Two 2013 Emmy Awards For Light and Shadow […]
[…] by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS). A true labor of Zacuto love, Light and Shadow, won in two […]
Absolutely great and very inspirational.
Again great stuff
Always a pleasure I a fan of yor work since fim fellas!
Blown Away! Wow
[…] Light & Shadow, won in two categories: […]
Is there a Transcript of this video??
Some of the names where hard to understand for non-english speakers like myself.
🙁
Loved to see The Fall Included! such a great movie!
and great comments from the cinematographers.
Amazing and beautiful.
Amazing ! Thank you so much for making this !
A…Luz e a…Sombra é um composto essencial e próprio do nosso planeta Terra,Sua importância somatiza e reflete física e espiritualmente um Testemunho da Arte de se viver, neste Universo.
[…] by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS). A true labor of Zacuto love, Light and Shadow, won in two […]
Inspirational.
Hello! This is my first comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and tell you I really enjoy ceedbdecdkae
Fantastic it was great…
Can someone please tell me what song or sound track they used please??
I have someone trying to hunt down the track title for you! – Rachel, Z-Team
Can you please list the films shown in the documentary? Specefically, what is the film shown during Polly Morgan’s interview? (The one with the colors, and b&w). Thanks!
What an amazing story Bruce. Truly great insights. Thanks for sharing.
Love this. As filmmakers, we are constantly striving to reach to the depths with our clients by asking the hard questions. How can we find the real story? And then, how can we visually tell that story in a way that engages the audience and connects at a human level.
I read all of the comments, and one comment sticks out in my mind, by some numskull named Barry Fontaine (@BFMediaPro) on July 24th, 2013 11:15 pm
this numskull says the following about this fantastic film…
“I’ve watched this documentary twice. The Director, DOP and Editor tried too hard. It’s pretty evident they thought they would be judged by their product instead of just doing what they thought would work.”
#1, I have checked this guy out, and he has dome NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING of any importance, and NOTHING, that comes anywhere near the greatness of LIGHT AND SHADOW….
Guys like Barry Fontaine, are a dime a dozen… He is jealous beyond words, of this great Film.
In any Event, awesome job. I loved this Film.
Jason
And this other person on here… Samer Battikhi on March 18th, 2016 6:13 am
Says the following:
“Can you please list the films shown in the documentary? Specifically, what is the film shown during Polly Morgan’s interview? (The one with the colors, and b&w). Thanks!”
I say people like this should stop being so lazy, and check out the End Credits of the Film, and you would find out what Film you were wanting to know about.
Jason