It’s been a while everyone, but I’m breaking from my nearly year-long abyss of silence to talk to you all about the value of approaching filmmaking as a photographer. That’s right, the blog is BACK BABY!
There’s a lot of contention in this space. People like to identify as either photographers or film people and honestly I don’t understand why. As someone who’s come into filmmaking from photography (and before that theatre) there’s a lot of things I learned as a photographer that have helped structure my visual aesthetic. Perhaps for better or for worse, but that’s for you to decide. Yay, you!
Anyway, moving right along. Thinking of scenes as a series of interwoven images is SO HELPFUL in mapping the conflict of characters and the story. In fact, thinking of photography as a way to summarize a scene in three words or less has helped me depict subtext, moods, and themes without saying anything. Composition is a helpful tool in directing; it’s just as important in photography as it is in filmmaking because without focus drawn to your subject, the action and thus the story is lost. Finding ways to manipulate the environment and your subject to amplify visual motifs or remove objects/elements that detract from the scene can help your work be more intentional.
For example, take this frame from a recent music video:
There’s a lot going on everywhere in the room and it’s easy to lose sight of the action in the subject. However, in using the metal staircase in the left of the frame to close off the empty space from wandering eyes, you direct focus to the subject in the scene. Similarly, the three touchpoints of yellow created by the flowers, the back of her hair, and the reflection in the staircase on the left-hand side enclose the subject in a golden ratio. This composition doesn’t just use shapes, but color and light to guide the eye and personify the inner life of the character. Working with metal, glass or any surface that can bend and distort light is a great way to reflect color or create distortion.
The same is true for this shot, composed with just natural light:
In many ways, this framing is more informed by 19th century Romantic Era paintings than any particular photography style, but the principles of composition still apply. Even though you don’t see the character’s face, you still get the story. A woman dressed in plain clothes looking out over a sunset blockaded by vacant luxury development. And yet that story is largely told by the lines, shapes, and colors created in the scene. You see the parallel of the woman and nature characterized by the blue in her jacket and that in the sky. You see her presence disrupting the lines created by gates and the rooftops of luxury apartments. Just by using the relationships of all the lines, colors, and shapes in the picture with the subject, you get a sense of conflict.
And that is the point. Photography is all about revealing the conflict of different objects in their environment. Within spatial relationships, there is drama, and being intentional about how to create and sustain these principles while you work with moving images will help you build conflict in whatever story you're telling.
Every story you are ever trying to tell has conflict. The principles of composition and framing, lighting, and color are tools that you— the filmmaker— can use to depict the inner life of your story. So use them! And don’t get caught up in whatever camp you’re in whether you’re a filmmaker or a photographer— you can be both!