The History of Cinematography - Development of Film Technique

Throughout the years, film techniques have changed rapidly as technology has developed. The first film cameras used were usually only fastened directly to the head of a tripod, which had minimal, if any, levelling devices provided. The earliest cameras were usually used to capture fixed shots and when it came to creating movement within a shot, the camera would usually be mounted onto a moving vehicle. 

One of the first known film to use these techniques was shot by a Lumiére cameraman, who filmed from the back platform of a train leaving Jerusalem in 1896, and then this technique and use of the train was more widely used throughout film making. 

Robert W. Paul, in 1897 created the first real rotating camera head that would be used on the tripod, this way, he could record movement of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in one uninterrupted shot. This camera head allowed the camera to mount on a vertical axis that could be rotated by a worm gear. This allowed shots such as 'panning' and 'panoramas' made their way into the industry.

'The standard pattern for early film studios was provided by the studio which Georges Méliès had built in 1897. This had a glass roof and three glass walls constructed after the model of large studios for still photography, and it was fitted with thin cotton cloths that could be stretched below the roof to diffuse the direct ray of the sun on sunny days. The soft overall light without real shadows that this arrangement produced, and which also exists naturally on lightly overcast days, was to become the basis for film lighting in film studios for the next decade.'

All this shows our technology has developed and created cinematography as the art form it is today, without technology, people created compromises, solutions to their problems into the technology became available to them, which in a sense, allows us as a student group to work together with what we have and make it work any possible way we can. 

The History of Cinematography - Development of Early Technology

Cinematography is known as one of the art forms within filmmaking. One of the earliest works was by Eadweard Muybridge, who successfully photographed a horse moving in fast motion. To do this, Muybridge used a series of 24 stereoscopic cameras to record the footage. Each camera was arranged along a track which was juxtaposed with the horse's track, and each camera shutter was controlled by a wire which triggered when the horse passed. They were 21 inches apart to be able to cover the 20 feet stride. 

Étienne-Jules Marey, a french scientist from 1880s, invented a chronophotographic gun, which was able to take up to 12 consecutive frames per second, as well as recording all these frames within the same picture. 

Another piece of equipment was invented by W.K.L Dickson, who created the Kinetograph, which takes a series of instantaneous photographs on standard Eastman Kodak photographic emulsion coated on to a transparent celluloid strip which was 35mm wide. This was presented by using the viewing equipment called the Kinetoscope which was also designed by Dickson. This was contained within a large box, and only allowed one person to view the images at a time by looking through a peephole. 

The Lumière Brothers perfected the 'Cinématographe', a piece of equipment that printed and projected film. This was used to present and project pictures to an audience in 1895.

Opening Session

Our first session of this strand was an introduction to the module briefs as well as lighting tutorials.

We were told that the main assessment deadlines were as follows:

Week 10: Group Presentation - Studio Workshop (Task 1 in Progress)

Week 12: Final Presentation - Portfolio Of Work

Final Submission (2nd May 2013) includes Portfolio of work including the Film, Research Blog & Individual Presentation (1000 Words)

In our first session, we explored the idea of lighting, what it meant, different phrases etc. We split into groups and came up with a range of words that represent lighting, such as (hard, sharp, dim, bright, colour, filters, shadows, strobe) etc.

We then went to look at different sets of lights we would be using throughout the module, and the different style of lights they gave off, and how to use them effectively to get the right brightness, colour (warm/cold) features. It was interesting to revisit this from first year, as I'd forgotten many features with the lighting equipment from previous productions last year, and as I haven't experienced them in first semester as I was completing an editing module, it was a nice starter to get back into the production mode of work.

After looking at the different sets of lighting, we took a look at a few examples in films (for example, Matilda) and how the lighting affected the shots, as well as how lighting changed in shot. A big example of this would be where the scene changes from night to day in Matilda's bedroom whilst we pan in closer to the girl. The shot stays the same and only the lighting changes, which I found very clever. The use of filters and light settings make this possible and therefore allowed me to learn how to use these techniques within my own work.