Vittorio Storaro: Cinematographer vs. Director of Photography

From American Cinematographer, Master of Light and Motion interview by Bob Fisher (June 1998)

AC:Why do you prefer the title of "cinematographer" to "director of photography" in the credits?

Storaro: Because we aren't directing. That is Warren's job. We are writing with light and motion to tell a story. That distinction is very important.

- Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC

Robert Primes: Cinematographers' Contribution

From American Cinematographer, Penny-Wise, Image-Foolish? by Richard Crudo, ASC

"It's a shame that no one has yet found a device to measure the impact that beautifully realized images have on an audience, and by beautifully realized I mean photography appropriate to the story, not pictures of sunsets. We presume they're affected by the acting because they become fans of the performers. We presume they're affected by the music because they buy the soundtrack. If an audience simply likes the movie, most of the time they give all of the credit to the director. Though what we do isn't measured, anything that takes away from our ability to create mood and beauty through the cinematography hurts the entire package. The certitude of print dailies give you leads to vital, exciting work that pushes the envelope and supports everything else that's going on in the picture."

- Robert Primes, ASC

John Mescall: Lived His Last Years in Obscurity

From American Cinematographer, A Gothic Masterpiece by Jan A. Henderson and George E. Turner (January 1998)

John Mescall, ASC:

Universal executives were concerned about Mescall's participation in the project because the cameraman was a chronic alcoholic. Apparently, his artistry did not suffer when he was drinking; the problem was getting him to and from work. During the 1940's he was often replaced after failing to report for duty, yet earned a Best Black-and-White Cinematography Academy Award Nomination in 1942 for Take a Letter, Darling. Although he made no secret of his addiction, Mescall had a distinguished career and was also a world-class golfer. He lived his last years in obscurity.

Janusz Kaminski: Cinematography and Story

From American Cinematographer, The Devil Made Flesh by Christopher Probst (December 1999)

"I've always viewed cinematography as a way of directly supporting the story, not as a way of telling the story on its own. Having now directed a movie, I believe that even more. A cinematographer is truly there to support the story."

- Janusz Kaminski

Cecil B. DeMille: "He is a True Artist"

Cecil B. DeMille, wrote a small letter to the members of the American Society of
Cinematographers. It was a "heartfelt gesture in praise of ASC members Wyckoff, L. Guy Wilky, J. Peverell Marley, Karl Struss, Victor Milner, Hal Rosson, George Barnes and other cinematographers who had helped bring his films to the screen — and, by extension, of all ASC members for their contributions to the art of filmmaking." - American Cinematographer

The following is the letter entitled, He Is A True Artist.

"Amid the strange ingredients of Hollywood — a world typified by the human swarm and the artistic abstraction — there is a figure unknown to the chants of promoters and glorifiers. His hand has rarely held the scepter of public acclaim, his brow is not crowned with the envied olive leaf which so often settles upon the lordly producer and queens of beauty. This figure, a giant in his industry, is the cameraman — the sine qua non of a profession which often boasts that no one in its ranks is indispensable. No one, I say, save the cameraman.

I believe this is why:

He is the custodian of the heart of filmmaking as the writers are of its soul …

His tool is a box with a glass window, lifeless until he breathes into it his creative spirit and injects into its steel veins the plasma of his imagination …

The product of his camera, and therefore of his magic, means many things to many persons — fulfillment of an idea, an ambition ... realization of dreams …

He is the judge who applies the laws of dramatic effect in complete coordination and fellowship with the director who interprets those laws …

Light, composition, treatment are his instruments of power, which he wields with intelligence and sensitiveness to bring to full bloom the meaning of his art …

His versatile management of an intricate mechanism yields astonishing
results in mood, emotion, dramatic effect …

A slanting shadow becomes a shattering portent of doom …

A lifeless chair instills the feeling of infinite sorrow …

A dead wall awakens a foreboding of plunging terror …

A flash of a man’s face rises to the grandeur of drama, inspiring and ennobling …

Before his wizardry, wrinkles fade from the faces of Hollywood’s ageless, imperishable beauties… chins take on lovely contours… years melt away ….

Yes, the technique of the cameraman is the technique of artistic vivisection that lays bare the inner workings of our profession. If art can be said to be the expression of beauty in form, color, sound, shape or movement, then it must
be said that same art is the art of the cameraman — expressed in the boundless reaches of his imagination.

For his patience and singleness of purpose in a most arduous work, he is eminently deserving of that which is justly said of few men: 'He is a true artist.'"

— Cecil B. DeMille

Stephen Pizzello: Impressions of Cinematographers

From American Cinematographer, A Cinematic Honor Roll by Stephen Pizzello (March 1999),

"...Over the years, audiences have become increasingly difficult to impress, and the attempt to do so can sometimes be thankless; directors of photography practice a form of alchemy that is tremendously complex, and their work is frequently understood only by a relatively small group of industry insiders. To the average viewer, the impact of great photography is often subliminal, but connoisseurs can savor both the bold strokes and the small touches..."

-Stephen Pizzello