Artist statement

My favorite science fiction author H.P Lovecraft  once said “Pleasure to me is wonder—the unexplored, the unexpected, the thing that is hidden and the changeless thing that lurks behind superficial mutability. To trace the remote in the immediate; the eternal in the ephemeral; the past in the present; the infinite in the finite; these are to me the springs of delight and beauty.”As a cinematographer these are the things that i want to show people. when people see movies I have made I want them to be actively looking not just at the subject but the entire frame. I want people to look for the answers not just in the story but in the lighting, in the camera angles, and in the background. I have always loved science fiction and horror because, the answer could be place right in front of you and you wouldn't even know it because you were looking at what you thought the director wanted you to see. these  are the kinds of movies I think the world is ready for, and that I will make. Some may be hard for some audiences to grasp but that's the whole purpose of making them this way.Like Lovecraft says "Like the late Mr. Wilde, I live in terror of not being misunderstood" 

Final reflection

I have been wanting to have a class like this since I was a freshman. I'm glad I got the chance to take it in my final year here at alabama, better late then never I guess. I feel like I have a better understanding of pre-production of a film. Although I have a long road ahead of me I feel like I have at least started out strong. Now, instead of getting sucked into the plot of my favorite shows and movies, I'm thinking about where the camera is placed, how the previous shots tied into the current ones, and how I can mimic their techniques in my projects. TCF 312 has really opened my mind about the movie business, it's perks and its disadvantages. I feel like I can handle all of the negative aspects of pre-production just because I like doing it so much. I feel like I could get up at whatever hour to do this job and hopefully I'll get the chance. 

inspring lighting

shot by shot of the shower scene in psych

im going to to the best i can with this one...

the camera follows her from the living room to the shower. evrything is pretty evenly lit nothing out of the ordinary.

MS of her getting her shower on. a bit erotic and distracting, still nothing out of the ordinary.

another erotic MS 

this is not a MS, this is a wide shot with the main character in the foreground 

through the obscurity of the curtain the real subject inters the scene

as the camera pans/zooms to a medium shot

the curtain is pulled back to reveal a silhouetted figure. heavily backlit no key key light or anything. who/whatever it is, is a dark evil entity.

 

reaction shot. MS 

ECU of the scream 

the first shot of the killer stabbing her. still heavily backlit with nothing lighting its face.

Medium two shot of the struggle. from previous shots it looks like the killer is stabbing at nothing, this shot fixes this by putting the killer almost in the shower with her.

a

MS of the blood falling in the tub.

This is the best glimpse of the killer we see through the entire ordeal. the water still on reminding us that, a couple of seconds ago she was peacefully taking a shower. 

close up of her hand clinging to the last bit of life she has.

close up of the curtain falling as she grabs it to stand but is to much dead weight for it to hold her up (pun intended)

we see the blood running down the tub into the drain  

close up of the bath drain. the exact place her life went down.

extreme CU of her lifeless eye.

pull out to a close up to reveal her lifeless body

motivated camera movement

at about 3:15 the camera moves from dicaprio playing with his kids, to the totem. even though the action is happening offscreen the audience knows to look at the spinning top on the table. 

in this scene we have the establishing shot of the underground scientific lab. The camera moves down to continuing the last shot to suggest that the place we are now in is beneath the place we saw before.

this scene uses camera movement as an introdution of an important charachter. at first all you see is a black and red blurr as the camera follows  rufio down the roller coaster still keeping him a bit obscured. 

5 scenes

this famous scene in pulp fiction is one of my all time favorites its a simple shot reverse shot between Vincent, a hitman, and Brad , some nobody who pissed off the wrong gangster. As far as lighting goes, Vince's key light is a lot brighter, establishing him as the character in charge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE9Qm8mShik

I love kung fu movies, even though Kung Fu Hustle was a bit more comedic, the action scene are nothing less than incredible.. in this scene the kung fu masters fight off a threat from gangsters. This scene is really beautiful because it is shot at night and the background of the slum is complemented with green light giving it depth and implied signs of life (it's not an abandoned building, people live there) Also a lot of wide shots and reaction shots used. its hard to follow a kung fu fight if all the shots are too close so the WSs lets the audience get their bearings as to whats going on.

I love how they shot this scene, simply because its one long shot from the time the camera enters count room to the time the subject leaves the casino. the cool thing about it is the camera doesnt just follow the subjuect it  goes around the room as the voiceovers explain what's going on. I don't know what the name of this kind of shot is called but it is one of my favorite techniques and how they do it so smoothly is beyond me at this point.

Hit Me! nolan really amped up the tension with this scene. in a way it is a shot reverse shot, just with movement. the camera switches from one to another showing both character's unrelenting will. this really goes with what the joker says later in the movie " the unstoppable force (batman) meets an immovable object (Joker)" 

Portrait of a place

For my Portrait of a place I wanted to shoot in the basement of Gorgas. i wanted to make it seem as if the main character was trapped in a maze. the shelves and limited lighting helped give the frame symmetry, making the aisle seem longer than it actually was. one of my favorite little things about the movie is the blue light that shows up on some of my shots. It added a haunting glow that made it look like something was watching him. The POV shots were done on a shoulder mount, making it seem like someone or something was gliding through the aisles.