Cinematography: digital crossroads

It’s not just about shooting on film or digitally. Peter Galvin found that the main challenge cinematographers are facing is being left out of the creative equation.

There is no question, argues cinematographer Laszlo Baranyai (Noise), that digital acquisition has altered the culture of filmmaking, and not just in terms of method and process. The issue, he says, is “about power and control”. In terms of cinematographers and their craft, much of the discussion has been about the effect digital acquisition has had on the back-end of the process. This is because, cinematographer Mark Wareham (Clubland) has argued,  “post-production [at times] is driving the process…so how does a cinematographer maintain their vision through the workflow?”(Encore, May 2008) Baranyai, Wareham and other DOPs have identified another potential dilemma that threatens the value and quality of the work.

Simply put, cinematographers are being cut out of the creative development of a project in preproduction. Part of the reason, they argue, is that there is a kind of ‘romanticism’ that has attached itself to the digital realm, and it is costing projects and the craft of  cinematography. “This is a great issue,” explains Baranyai, “and we need to discuss it publicly…there are so many traps and misunderstandings and false expectations around [the industry in all sectors] about this technology.” “When I speak to my colleagues, we all have the same issue [as Baranyai describes],” says Wareham.