Although cinematographers are vital to the filmmaking process, they don’t always get the recognition they deserve. Directors of cinematography often are responsible for the look of a film and its lasting impression on the viewer, but their skills are not as readily appreciated as those of directors or screenwriters. David A. Ellis had the privilege of meeting with a number of accomplished cinematographers to discuss their art and craft. In Conversation with Cinematographers features interviews with 21 directors of photography--as well as two notable camera operators--most of whom still work in film and television today. In this volume, readers are taken behind the scenes of some of the most successful films and shows of the last several decades. Interviewed in this book are: • Sue Gibson (Hear My Song, The Forsyte Saga) • Gavin Finney (Colditz, Mr Selfridge, Wolf Hall) • Oliver Stapleton (The Cider House Rules, State and Main, The Proposal) • Phil Meheux (The Fourth Protocol, Casino Royale) • Brian Tufano (Trainspotting, Billy Elliot, The Evacuees) • Clive Tickner (Traffik, The Puppet Masters, Inspector Morse) • Stephen Goldblatt (The Prince of Tides, Angels in America, The Help) • Seamus McGarvey (High Fidelity, Atonement, The Hours) • Peter MacDonald (Excalibur, Hamburger Hill, Rambo 3) • Mike Southon (Gothic, Doctor Who: The Hider in the House) • Rob Hardy (Every Secret Thing, Testament of Youth, Ex Machina) • Harvey Harrison (101 Dalmatians, The Expendables, Sahara) • Mike Valentine (Shakespeare in Love, Skyfall, The Bourne Ultimatum) • Robin Browne (Gandhi, A Passage to India, Air America) • Adam Suschitzky (Life on Mars, The Whisperers) • Ken Westbury (Dr. Fischer of Geneva, The Singing Detective) • Simon Kossoff (Young Charlie Chaplin, Client 9,The Daisy Chain) • Chris Seager (Call the Midwife, Game of Thrones) • David Worley (Quantum of Solace, Thor: The Dark World, The Full Monty) • Trevor Coop (Amadeus, Ballykissangel, Chocolat) • Haris Zambarloukos (Mama Mia, Cinderella, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit) • Peter Hannan (The Gathering Storm, My House in Umbria, The Razor’s Edge) • Roger Pratt (Shadowlands, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Batman) These cinematographers recount their experiences on sets and reveal what it was like to work with some of the most acclaimed directors of recent times, including Danny Boyle, Francis Ford Coppola, Clint Eastwood, Lasse Hallstrom, David Lynch and Steven Spielberg. With valuable insight into the craft of moviemaking and featuring more than forty photos, this collection of interviews will appeal to film professors, scholars, and students, as well as anyone with an interest in the art of cinematography.

Through conversations held with fifteen of the most accomplished contemporary cinematographers, the authors explore the working world of the person who controls the visual look and style of a film. This reissue includes a new foreword by cinematographer John Bailey and a new preface by the authors, which bring this classic guide to cinematography, in print for more than twenty-five years, into the twenty-first century.

ONE OF THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER'S 100 GREATEST FILM BOOKS OF ALL TIME • The first book to bring together interviews of master moviemakers from the American Film Institute’s renowned seminars, Conversations with the Great Moviemakers, offers an unmatched history of American cinema in the words of its greatest practitioners. Here are the incomparable directors Frank Capra, Elia Kazan, King Vidor, David Lean, Fritz Lang (“I learned only from bad films”), William Wyler, and George Stevens; renowned producers and cinematographers; celebrated screenwriters Ray Bradbury and Ernest Lehman; as well as the immortal Ingmar Bergman and Federico Fellini (“Making a movie is a mathematical operation. It’s absolutely impossible to improvise”). Taken together, these conversations offer uniquely intimate access to the thinking, the wisdom, and the genius of cinema’s most talented pioneers.

In Conversations with Cinematographers, David A. Ellis has assembled interviews with some of the most influential and highly regarded cameramen of the last half century and more. While their names may not be known by the general public, these men and their work have left indel...

Packed with gems of wisdom from the current 'masters of light’, this collection of conversations with twenty leading contemporary cinematographers provides invaluable insight into the art and craft of cinematography. Jacqueline Frost’s interviews provide unprecedented insight into the role as cinematographers discuss selecting projects, the conceptual and creative thinking that goes into devising a visual strategy, working with the script, collaborating with leading directors such as Martin Scorcese, Spike Lee, and Ava DuVernay, the impact of changing technology, and offer advice for aspiring cinematographers. Interviews include Maryse Alberti, John Bailey, Robert Elswit, Kirsten Johnson, Kira Kelly, Ellen Kuras, Edward Lachman, Matthew Libatique, John Lindley, Seamus McGarvey, Reed Morano, Polly Morgan, Rachel Morrison, Rodrigo Prieto, Cynthia Pusheck, Harris Savides, Nancy Schrieber, John Seale, Sandi Sissel, Dante Spinotti, Salvatore Totino, Amy Vincent and Mandy Walker. Filled with valuable information and advice for aspiring cinematographers, directors, and filmmakers, this is essential reading for anyone interested in the art and craft of cinematography.

Nobody forgets their first time--and film directors are no exception. In these vivid and revealing interviews, a collection of filmmakers as diverse as the Coen brothers and Ken Loach, Ang Lee and Kevin Smith, Anthony Minghella and Gary Oldman, Neil Jordan and Mira Nair talk in extraordinary detail and with amazing candor about making their first films. Each chapter focuses on a director's celebrated debut--be it "Angel or "Blood Simple, "Clerks or "Diner, "Muriel's Wedding or "Truly, Madly, Deeply--and tells the inside story: from writing the script to raising the money, from casting the actors to assembling the crew, from shooting to editing, from selling the movie to screening it. Along the way, every aspect of the movie industry is explored: from dealing with agents and moguls for the first time to pitching your movie as a debutante director, from languishing in development hell to confronting test audiences from hell. The questions have been posed by Stephen Lowenstein, a young director with two acclaimed short films to his credit. Remembering the struggle to launch their careers, the directors have opened up about their first films and themselves to an unprecedented degree. Each chapter is not only a memoir of a particular movie, but also an emotional journey in which the director relives the pain and elation, the comedy and tragedy, of making a first feature. For anyone who wants to direct movies, these tales of triumph and disaster, of sleepless nights and nail-biting days, will be enthralling and terrifying in equal measure. For all other film fans, the interviews provide fascinating and entertaining insights into filmmakers who have become household names.

As chief collaborators with the directors on a film, cinematographers are artistic masters in their own right. In Cinematography sixteen of the world's greatest "painters of light" share their insights, anecdotes, and technical achievements through a series of exclusive interviews. Fascinating for both film fans and practitioners, this book is the perfect companion for anyone who wants to stand on the other side of the camera, with some of the greatest film artists of our time.