What is cinematography?

 Recently, there has been a debate on Twitter surrounding film: which is more important, writers or artists? I find this to be an impossible question to answer for the simple reason that in a medium such as film, one cannot exist by itself; there is an interwoven relationship between art, the visual representation on screen, and writing, the dialogue and stage directions that elevate the visual aspects of each frame in the film. 

The Wikipedia definition of cinematography is “The making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema.” In action, cinematography details the use of cameras, lenses, lighting, among other things. These choices can greatly impact the emotion portrayed in each frame of the film. If the lighting is yellow, there might be a feeling of unease or disgust being portrayed. Every choice made by directors and directors of respective aspects that make up cinematography are deliberate. 

These deliberate actions are what enable emotion to be told through film. If one were to ignore the functions of the many aspects of cinematography, there would be no meaning behind film. Horror movies would not elicit fear, romance movies would leave audience dry eyed, and theaters showing comedies would be silent. 

It is important to show everything that happens within the scope of the frame. If something happens outside of the frame, then to the audience nothing has happened. Directors of photography (DPs) are often responsible for this, which puts the responsibility of bridging the gap between the creative vision of the director and the technical side of production. The DPs have the ability to use specialized shots, such as drone shots, in order to capture whatever it is that needs to be in the frame. 

DPs have the responsibility of thinking like an editor, meaning they must be thinking of the final product with every shot. One of the biggest factors of cinematography in each film is lighting. 

Lighting can make or break a film, as this is what determines the 'mood' and the artistry of the film. This can include technical things such as slow-mo, green screen, and vfx, or practical things such as props and character direction. In the technical aspects, file formats and these editing techniques make a difference in the final product. 

But that is all focused on the artistic aspect of film. The writing plays just as an important role as the display does. Whether it's in the form of dialogue or stage direction, a key role is the delivery of writing from the actors involved. Writing helps DPs know what technology they need, as well as they shots they will need to complete to fully flesh out the ideas and story provided by script writers and directors. 

Film is a collaborative project. One aspect of it is not more important than the other, especially where the art of storytelling is evolved. As people, we have progressed from literature, to music, to plays, and now to film. As we have progressed in our methods of storytelling, so do our methods of fully doing so. Cinematography allows for everyone involved in a film to truly encapsulate the story being portrayed.