Cinematography - (Behind the silver screen ; 3)

Cinematography

BEHIND

THE SILVER

SCREEN

Behind the Silver Screen

When we take a larger view of a film’s “life” from development through exhi￾bition, we find a variety of artists, technicians, and craftspeople in front of and

behind the camera. Writers write. Actors, who are costumed and made-up, speak

the words and perform the actions described in the script. Art directors and set

designers develop the look of the film. The cinematographer decides upon a

lighting scheme. Dialogue, sound effects, and music are recorded, mixed, and

edited by sound engineers. The images, final sound mix, and special visual effects

are assembled by editors to form a final cut. Moviemaking is the product of the

efforts of these men and women, yet few film histories focus much on their labor.

Behind the Silver Screen calls attention to the work of filmmaking. When

complete, the series will comprise ten volumes, one each on ten significant tasks

in front of or behind the camera, on the set or in the postproduction studio. The

goal is to examine closely the various collaborative aspects of film production,

one at a time and one per volume, and then to offer a chronology that allows

the editors and contributors to explore the changes in each of these endeavors

during six eras in film history: the silent screen (1895–1927), classical Holly￾wood (1928–1946), postwar Hollywood (1947–1967), the Auteur Renaissance

(1968–1980), the New Hollywood (1981–1999), and the Modern Entertainment

Marketplace (2000–present). Behind the Silver Screen promises a look at who

does what in the making of a movie; it promises a history of filmmaking, not

just a history of films.

Jon Lewis, Series Editor

1. Acting (Claudia Springer, ed.)

2. Animation (Scott Curtis, ed.)

3. Cinematography (Patrick Keating, ed.)

4. Costume, Ma keup, and Ha ir (Adrienne McLean, ed.)

5. Directing (Virginia Wright Wexman, ed.)

6. Editing and Special Visual Effects (Charlie Keil and Kristen Whissel, eds.)

7. Producing (Jon Lewis, ed.)

8. Screenwriting (Andrew Horton and Julian Hoxter, eds.)

9. Art Direction and Production Design (Lucy Fischer, ed.)

10. Sound: Dialogue, Music, and Effects (Kathryn Kalinak, ed.)

Cinematography

Edited by Patrick Keating

new Brunswick, new Jersey

Dedicated to two inspiring teachers,

David Bordwell and Lea Jacobs

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cinematography / edited by Patrick Keating.

pages cm. — (Behind the silver screen ; 3)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978–0–8135–6350–3 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978–0–8135–6349–7 (pbk. :

alk. paper) — ISBN 978–0–8135–6351–0 (e-book : alk. paper)

1. Cinematography—History. 2. Digital cinematography—History. I. Keating,

Patrick, 1970–

TR848.C53 2014

778.5’3’09—dc23

2013037742

This collection copyright © 2014 by Rutgers, The State University

Individual chapters copyright © 2014 in the names of their authors

All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic

or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written

permission from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 106 Somerset Street,

New Brunswick, NJ 08901. The only exception to this prohibition is “fair use” as defined by

U.S. copyright law.

Visit our website: http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu

Manufactured in the United States of America

Contents

Acknowledgments ix

List of Abbreviations xi

Introduction Patrick Keating 1

1. The Silent Screen, 1894–1927 Patrick Keating 11

2. Classical Hollywood, 1928–1946 Chris Cagle 34

3. Postwar Hollywood, 1947–1967 Lisa Dombrowski 60

4. The Auteur Renaissance, 1968–1980 Bradley Schauer 84

5. The New Hollywood, 1981–1999 Paul Ramaeker 106

6. The Modern Entertainment Marketplace, 2000–Present Christopher Lucas 132

Academy Awards for Cinematography 159

Notes 165

Glossary 185

Selected Bibliography 193

Notes on Contributors 201

Index 203

ix

Acknowledgments

I owe my first and foremost thanks to Rutgers University Press, the Academy of

Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and series editor Jon Lewis for inviting me

to edit this volume. Jon has been a patient and encouraging editor, and it has

been my privilege to work with him. I also extend my deep appreciation to Leslie

Mitchner and the team at Rutgers University Press for all that they did, with their

kind and capable hands, to shepherd the Behind the Silver Screen series.

I have enormous admiration and gratitude for the authors collected here—all

of whom I am honored to consider friends both on and off the page. Thank you

for your deep thinking and timely revisions, and for giving me cause to revisit so

many wonderful movies.

Closer to home, I wish to acknowledge the support I received for this project

from my institution, Trinity University; grants from Academic Affairs and the

Department of Communication enabled the inclusion of color illustrations in

this volume. Research funds from Trinity University enabled me to travel to Los

Angeles and review documents in the Margaret Herrick Library.

I’ve been fortunate to have many excellent teachers in my life, including David

Bordwell, Lea Jacobs, Judy Irola, and Woody Omens, all of whom have taught me

much about cinematography. My warmest thanks go to my wife, Lisa—for read￾ing chapters and keeping me fueled with positivity. I’m so lucky that we get to

spend our lives sitting shoulder-to-shoulder watching movies together.

xi

Abbreviations

The main text uses the following abbreviations:

ASC American Society of Cinematographers

d.p. Director of Photography, another term for cinematographer

The endnotes use the following abbreviations:

AC American Cinematographer, the ASC’s trade journal, still in print

MPW The Moving Picture World, a trade journal from the silent period

Cinematography