The reason I break these Cinematography Style videos down into two sections: philosophy
and gear, is because cinematography is an art form that is in a constant state of balance
between these ideals.
Some DOPs place a large importance on the technical side of cinematography. Bradford
Young, however, is a cinematographer who is enamoured with the philosophical implications
of photography.
This philosophical approach of his has resulted in a strong, signature style. He is a master
of creating raw, subtle, naturalistic images.
In this video I’ll be looking at Bradford Young’s personal philosophy on creating
visuals and analysing how his use of technical gear allows him to execute his vision.
Young is an American born cinematographer. From an early age he claims to have been more
inspired by other art forms, such as painting and literature. However, after high school
he went on to study film at Howard University.
He began working as a freelance documentary cinematographer before transitioning to shooting
independent feature films, many of which found festival success and won him several awards.
He’s worked with many acclaimed directors, such as: Dee Rees, Andrew Dosunmu, David Lowery,
Ava DuVernay and Denis Villeneuve. Over his career he’s gone from shooting primarily
independent festival films to larger and larger blockbusters.
Despite his transition to larger budget filmmaking, his cinematic style and philosophy has remained
largely unchanged.
“FOR ME IT’S ABOUT BEING IMPERFECT. I’M NOT ATTRACTED TO PRECISION ORIENTATED CINEMATOGRAPHY.
I’M MORE INTERESTED IN PHOTOGRAPHY THAT HAS FEELING.”
Prioritising raw, naturalistic emotion in an understated way is one of his trademarks.
This can be seen in the films and directors that he chooses to collaborate with.
He has a preference for shooting more personal stories which he feels he can relate to and
which his unique approach and philosophy to cinematography is best suited to.
He described his initial uncertainty about shooting a Star Wars film for this reason.
“I got a call from my agent about a Star Wars spin-off. I was flattered, but felt it
was quite a reach – that there was no bridge between the naturalistic work I do and Star
Wars.”
However the more he thought about it the more he found a way to blend his style with that
of the film.
“I have always been interested in the bridge between dark comedy and dark photography.
Plus, Solo: A Star Wars Story was a period film – part western, part road movie – with
sophisticated humour that teases out character studies of young soul rebels on-the-run
“...Overall, I felt that if we could make this movie with a dark and more organic temperament,
with what I call “spirited blacks”, it could be a real move forward in how Star Wars
movies feel.”
So again, it comes back to this notion of feeling. Part of creating this feeling comes
from his approach to lighting.
“I feel my cinematography is about being naturalistic, with a subdued imprint in the
way the camera technology and lighting are used.”
Most of his work embraces natural, ambient light, deliberate, minimal camera movement
and immersive lens choices. His style never imposes on the story.
His photography is a subtle touch. A guiding hand that provides an understated perspective
on the story. It’s unobtrusive enough that it doesn’t draw attention to itself, yet
strong enough that it influences how audiences view the on-screen world presented.
Let’s take a closer look at how Young is able to achieve this simple, naturalistic
look. It all stems from his lighting style. As mentioned, he loves natural, ambient light.
In order to replicate the look of natural light with artificial sources, the key is
softness.
One technique he uses to soften light is by bouncing light. He takes this softness a step
further by using a technique called book lighting.
This is where a light source is first bounced off a textile or white surface and it’s
then diffused a second time by letting that bounced light pass through a diffusion frame.
Here’s an example of this from Ain’t Them Bodies Saints. In this film he lit the entire
film with only tungsten film lights.
He would create a book light using a source such as 5K tungsten fresnel. First he would
bounce the 5K off an unbleached muslin textile then he would soften it again as the light
passed through a full or half grid cloth diffusion.
This creates beautifully soft shadows which imitate the look of sunlight bouncing into
a room.
The danger of making light too soft however is that the softer light becomes the less
contrast it tends to provide.
To counter this and create soft light with ample contrast, Young often employs another
technique called negative fill.
Different colours on the spectrum affect light in different ways. Basically, when light comes
into contact with a light surface it bounces off. When light comes into contact with a
dark surface it absorbs the light.
So placing a black textile such as a 4x4 black floppy near an actor’s face will absorb
light on one side. This therefore increases contrast in a naturalistic way and is called
negative fill as it takes away fill light as opposed to adding it.
Young uses this technique to subtract ambient light from spaces to achieve his dark, natural
look.
One way to do this is to rig black cloth to the ceiling of a room. Usually natural light
hits a white ceiling and produces more fill light in a room. If the ceiling is black out
there is less ambient bounce, which creates a subtle, darker image.
Bradford Young has used an array of lights in his films such as LED Skypanels, Tungsten
fresnels and HMIs. But it’s the basic principles of bounce, diffusion and negative fill that
he employs which are key to his soft, naturalistic look.
In terms of technical camera gear, lenses play a vital role. He loves images with a
subtly textured look. When talking about this he used an analogy about an object from his
childhood: a quilt.
“I'm just really honoring what quiltmakers do, which is [to] tell a story by using varying
texture within a specific framework to communicate an idea. For me, with digital technology,
lenses do that the best. The chips don't do it now—digital film stock is basically all
captured the same [way], but the lenses are how you give the image its textural quality.”
To get this texture his choice of lenses tend towards imperfect, vintage glass. He’s used
standard, older cinema lenses such as Zeiss Super Speeds but has an affection for using
unusual, specially tuned glass. He’s used the large format ARRI DNA lenses which are
rehoused and tweaked Hassleblad still lenses. He’s used altered Zeiss Ultra Primes and
vintage Todd AO anamorphic glass.
He even recently started his own company Tribe7, which produces custom, detuned lenses called
Blackwing7s.
He likes to shoot on wider focal lengths as it allows him to get physically closer to
the actors. Shooting at a close proximity with wider lenses creates a greater level
of intimacy in his photography.
He tends to shoot on Arri cameras. When shooting film he’s used cameras such as the Arricam
LT. Digitally he’s used various iterations of the Alexa sensor: the Alexa Mini, Alexa
XST and the Alexa 65.
Like the rest of his simplistic approach to creating images, the camera movement in his
films is equally simplistic.
"When I use a dolly or a camera movement, I always want it to be as subtle and as understated
as possible...I try to create a sort of delicacy to how the camera moves."
Whether using a dolly, a steadicam or a handheld camera the way the camera moves always embodies
this minimal approach. Like his choice of lenses, his decisions regarding subtle camera
movement also help to create images which are immersive and intimate.
This is Bradford Young’s style. Whether shooting a low budget indie picture, or a
sci-fi blockbuster, his psychological approach of creating imperfect images full of feeling,
combines perfectly with his technique of creating naturalistic, intimate cinematography.
Ironically, in most art forms, one of the most difficult styles to create is a technique
rooted in subtlety and simplicity. Large, stylised, obtrusive brush strokes are easy.
It takes a deft and practiced hand to sketch lightly, unnoticed yet meaningfully.
Thanks for watching this episode of cinematography style, if you enjoyed watching please give
the video a thumbs up and hit the subscribe button. I’d love to know your thoughts on
Bradford’s work as well as any suggestions you might have for future videos. Until then,
thanks for watching and goodbye.