The Cinematography Thread: Why 2011 Marked a Shift in the History of Cinematrography

Why 2011 Marked a Shift in the History of Cinematrography

 

Disgusting article. War Horse is the most stunning film of the year, and God bless Spielberg for continuing to shoot on film. The Tree of Life is another great example. Inception was the most visually resplendent film of last year and yet again... shot on film. Some of the most amazing photography I saw last year was the IMAX work in Ghost Protocol - again, film.

It's a moronic argument anyway - Tintin is shot digitally, purely due to the nature of the piece. That is similarly why Hugo was done digitally. I highly doubt that Scorsese will shoot Silence digitally.

I'm all for the use of digital photography on projects where the difference isn't going to be huge, but for something like War Horse it would be a minor tragedy if film was abandoned altogether. Stuart's argument just seems provocative for the sake of being provocative. There's an inimitable quality that digital just can't replicate. There's always a sterility to digital, even if the filmmakers have done their utmost to mask it (like Sigel's work on Drive).

 

Every seen any of Von Sternberg's films of the 20's and 30's? They are incredibly beautiful.

Ditto, in colour, the Archers.

 

Only Shanghai Express.

I'd love to see a P&P film at the local revival theatre, particularly Black Narcissus. I think they play it now and then. Some of the stuff I've seen there is unbeatable though, even if the prints are worse for wear. Home video is no substitute whatsoever, even for things like Sweet Smell of Success and Network.

 

Von Sternberg's films have an extraordinary pearly grey chiaroscuro. Their content is often (increasingly as he goes on) nonsense, but the images are something else.