Hi I’m Sareesh Sudhakaran.
In this video I’ll show you the five key
cinematography styles.
Just a quick warning.
A cinematography style is different from a
film genre or directorial style.
E.g., you can make a surreal film, but you
could have infinite types of dream-like styles
as far as cinematography is concerned.
I’m focusing on just the ones that are established
in cinema.
There’s a lot of grey areas, and you shouldn’t
get too logical here.
Number one, the simplest, is the naturalistic
style.
You could also call it the documentary style.
I use naturalistic, because that’s what
I learned from Sidney Lumet.
The images look like they were shot on a cheap
video camera, or CCTV camera, or other consumer
device with the objective of making it look
unstaged.
Found footage horror is a great example of
this style.
In a non-horror category The Office is a great
example, where the objective was to portray
fiction as if a real camera crew were recording
everything.
The naturalistic style uses our inner belief
as the audience that footage that looks like
it was shot on a video camera is more authentic.
Of course, that world is soon changing.
Maybe in about twenty years even the cheapest
cameras will look very cinematic.
Kids born in that generation would probably
grow up without this belief that we presently
have.
It is quite possible that found footage as
a genre will cease to exist in the future,
but not yet.
The strongest sign of the naturalistic style
is the lack of lighting, or at least the appearance
of that illusion.
That’s what differentiates it from the next
one.
Number two.
The realistic style.
The realistic style is when the cinematography
tries to portray realism, but in a filmic
way.
99% of movies we see are shot with this style.
The objective is not to draw attention to
the cinematography or camera work.
The lighting is natural looking but cinematic,
and the focus is on raising the production
values of each shot.
With the realistic style, there is a dedicated
attempt to compose and light in the traditional
cinematic sense.
But, the key is, the lighting takes on a more
functional role as opposed to being a style
statement.
It’s hard to define the realistic style.
It’s easier to say it’s not this or that,
or the other styles in this list.
Even if you shoot with the most expensive
camera in the world, the absence of lighting
will give it a documentary feel, which is
the naturalistic style.
The realistic style just doesn’t want to
advertise being any different.
Number three.
The high-key style.
This is the style where the world is always
a happy place.
The faces are almost always well lit, and
the shadows are all kept to a minimum.
In fact, shadows only exist because they have
to, and to give depth and dimension.
Every square inch of the frame is lit, like
you’re in a bright mall all the time.
Most sitcoms and romantic comedies are lit
in this fashion.
There is a strong objective here, of keeping
things light-hearted.
It doesn’t happen by accident.
The lighting has to be carefully prepared
to get this look, and to maintain it throughout
a film.
Other examples are cartoons for kids, and
beauty commercials.
They’re all selling happiness and joy.
But what if you aren’t?
Number four.
The expressionistic style.
This is heavily influenced by German expressionism
in cinema.
From The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari to Fritz
Lang’s M, to Hollywood Film Noir, the focus
is on extreme contrast, more than you’ll
typically see in real life.
You’ll also see hard shadows, and lots of
shadows.
The goal of the expressionistic style is to
use lighting in a less subtle way.
That’s derived from the classic expressionistic
style in painting and fine art.
You have fierce brush strokes of light and
shadow, and the result is always moody and
sombre.
David Lynch’s films have a lot of expressionistic
elements.
He uses in-camera effects like double images,
dissolves and flashes as part of this cinematography
style.
Many would call Lynch’s cinema surreal,
but the cinematography is expressionistic
through tradition.
Another director whose work people will call
surreal is Dario Argento, but his use of color
is expressionistic.
Strong, bold and definitely beyond what you’d
see in real life.
Even though expressionism is mostly obtained
through lighting and color, you can also use
camera tricks like playing with the shutter
speed or frame rate, as you see in some scenes
of Chungking Express.
Even slow motion can be considered expressionistic.
Any effect achieved in-camera or in editing
can be considered expressionistic.
Another less subtle example of the expressionist
style is the The Matrix.
The lighting is natural when we are in the
Matrix, but the color is green.
So obviously realism isn’t the cinematographic
goal.
In the real world the expressionistic style
is clearly visible.
You also get the bullet time effect, which
is done with multiple cameras firing in a
sequence.
For me, The Matrix is definitely expressionistic.
Another good example of the expressionistic
style is Zack Snyder’s work.
300, Watchmen, Sucker Punch and the movies
in the later DC universe are in the expressionistic
tradition.
On the other hand, Christopher Nolan’s DC
universe is realistic, and the Marvel Universe
is also in the realistic style.
What if you want to push the expressionistic
style to even more extremes?
Is that possible?
Yes.
Number five.
For lack of a better word, The ‘stylized’
style.
The reason I use the word ‘stylized’,
is because the filmmakers go out of their
way to draw attention to the style.
Sin City is one great example, where you have
expressionistic lighting, but the style is
pushed to a level that almost makes it look
like an animated film.
A Scanner Darkly is another great example,
as is Waltz with Bashir, which are movies
that have had animation drawn over live action.
This is different from movies with animated
characters in them, like Who Framed Roger
Rabbit or Space Jam.
Here, the goal is to present a very stylistic
representation of reality, and there is not
doubt it’s stylized.
Visual effects isn’t mandatory.
You can have this kind of stylized filmmaking
without used CGI.
Some of the scenes and work of Wes Anderson
are purely stylized.
Not all, though.
Andrei Tarkovsky’s films can have multiple
styles in the same film.
E.g., Stalker has stylized cinematography
as well as realistic cinematography.
You can even have animated movies that are
fully stylized.
A lot of Japanese anime is highly stylized
in its cinematography.
But not all animation is stylized.
Avatar is in the realistic style.
Remember, we’re talking about cinematography
and lighting here.
Movies can be multiple styles.
Raging Bull has realistic lighting, but in
some scenes it has expressionistic lighting.
The first Blade Runner is in the expressionistic
style.
The second one is in the realistic style.
And on and on it goes.
As a practical tool these styles are basically
words you can use to communicate with other
crew members, or your colorist.
If you dwell too much on the logical aspect,
you’ll get into unnecessary arguments.
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you’ll see on the right - with style.
Make it the realistic style.
If it isn’t a real click Google won’t
count it.
