Visual Storytelling — Cinematography Techniques from Newton Thomas Sigel (Drive, Bohemian Rhapsody)

Подробнее о видео

DP Newton Thomas Sigel explains his approach to visual storytelling with cinematography techniques, including lenses, camera movement, aspect ratio, and more.

Drive Cinematography Breakdown ►►
StudioBinder Blog ►►

─────────────────────

Special thanks to:
Go Creative Show ►► ,
Time Sensitive Podcast ►►
The Cinematography Podcast ►►
Because We Love Making Movies ►►
Art of the Shot ►►

─────────────────────

Chapters:
00:00 - Intro - Newton Thomas Sigel
00:40 - Chapter 1 - Lenses
02:33 - Chapter 2 - Film Stock & Processing
03:53 - Chapter 3 - Aspect Ratio
05:25 - Chapter 4 - Camera & Gear
07:18 - Chapter 5 - Camera Movement
09:05 - Wrap Up/Final Thoughts

─────────────────────

Visual storytelling is what cinematography is all about. But telling a story with moving images isn’t as easy as it seems. When it comes to storytelling with cinematography, the DP has a variety of tools and techniques to call upon. And in this video, we learn a lot about visual storytelling with cinematography techniques from one of the most versatile and unsung DPs, Newton Thomas Sigel. With a filmography that includes Drive (2011), X-Men (2000), Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), Newton Thomas Sigel has made a career out of storytelling with cinematography.

First, let’s talk about camera lenses. In Cherry (2021), Sigel and the directors, Anthony and Joe Russo gave each of the film’s chapters its own distinct visual language. In the first chapter, when Cherry first meets and falls in love with Emily, they used TODD-AO and Petzval lenses to give the romance a swirling and softly out-of-focus beauty. But then, when Cherry goes into Basic Training, they switch to a 14mm wide-angle lens in order to give the images a surreal, farcical feeling.

Sigel also talks about aspect ratio as another tool in visual storytelling. In his film with Spike Lee, Da 5 Bloods (2020), they shot Ho Chi Minh City using a more modern, big city widescreen aspect ratio of 2.40:1. But then, once they enter the wilds of the Vietnamese jungle, the frame “opens up” to a taller 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Back to Cherry, during the Basic Training section, Sigel describes wanting to “box him in” to communicate just how trapped Cherry is. To visualize this, they went with a much boxier 1.66:1 frame.

The film medium itself can also be a big factor in the language of visual storytelling. For Three Kings (1999), two photochemical techniques were employed when developing the film. The first of these cinematography techniques is called a “skip bleach process,” where much of the silver is left on the negative. This creates higher contrast and more color saturation that Sigel used at the beginning of the film while the soldiers are insulated at the military base. The other technique is called “cross processing” in which the film is intentionally developed using the “wrong” chemicals. For example, processing color negative film as if it were color slide film, and vice versa.

The language of visual storytelling in filmmaking is a language we all intuitively understand but few filmmakers can actually “speak.” Cinematographers like Newton Thomas Sigel have proven time and again that he is one such filmmaker.


#FilmTheory #VideoEssay #Filmmaking

─────────────────────
VIDEO EDITOR: BRANDON SCULLION
─────────────────────

♬ SONGS USED:

“We Will Rock You” - Queen
“Carnival of Losers Pt. 1” - Henry Jackman
“Madison” - Henry Jackman
“I Just Want To Celebrate” - Rare Earth
“I Get Around” - The Beach Boys
“A Thing For Weak Guys” - Henry Jackman
“The Usual Suspects Main Theme” - John Ottman
“Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of These)” - Eurythmics

Music by Artlist ►
Music by Artgrid ►
Music by Soundstripe ►
Music by MusicBed ►

─────────────────────

SUBSCRIBE to StudioBinder’s YouTube channel! ►►

Looking for production management solution for your film? Try StudioBinder for FREE today:

— Join us on Social Media! —

Instagram ►►
Facebook ►►
Twitter ►►