Cinematographers have varying opinions on the necessity of having a signature style.
Some advocate for creating strong, stylised images while others try to create
cinematography which is as true to life and as naturalistic as possible.
Vittorio Storaro strongly sides with style.
His photography utilizes colour, a textured atmospheric haze, and deliberate, hard lighting.
Like the works of the painters that he draws inspiration from, he vigorously sculpts light
to extract an emotional response from the audience.
In this episode of Cinematography Style I’ll go over Storaro’s general philosophy on
cinematography and show how he uses gear to achieve this philosophy.
Being the son of a film projectionist, the Italian DOP became aware of cinema and photography
at a young age.
He attended the National Italian Film School at 18, where he began his training in cinematography.
Over the years he formed strong, collaborative bonds with famed directors such as Bernado
Bertolucci, Dario Argento, Francis Ford Coppola, Warren Beatty and Woody Allen.
“Literature and music can take many variations, and I believe that the language of light has
similar possibilities. It can have energy waves that create specific emotions.”
Storaro’s cinematography is rooted in making bold lighting choices and creating a deliberate
visual style for each film he shoots.
He sees the contemporary shift in cinematography towards only using available natural light
to tell a story as problematic for filmmaking.
“This is the most common mistake that many cinematographers seem to be making, to the
extent that most movies do not have a proper visual style for the particular story being
told, and the images end-up looking very similar to one another.”
“It’s now almost impossible to recognise the different creative styles between different
cinematographers. And, I might say, many don't seem to want to try to have their own, personal,
visual style.”
This perceived lack of diversity or style in modern images is not something Storaro’s
photography suffers from.
One stylistic flourish which distinguishes his visuals is his use of strong, deliberate
colour palettes.
He’s a proponent of Goethe’s book ‘Theory of Colours’, which describes light and the
psychological impact of colours on humans.
Different colours are said to represent different symbolic emotional states. For example, Goethe
sees red as representing ‘beauty’ and yellow as symbolising ‘good’.
While I feel that the symbolic interpretation of colours change depending on the context
they are viewed in or the cultural background of the viewer, I think it’s important to
recognise that different colours do affect the audience in different ways.
Storaro’s photography acknowledges a full spectrum of colour. His images either have
a strong, singular colour cast or they utilise complimentary colours in the frame which results
in a dynamic, saturated colour palette.
Another stylistic characteristic which I associate with Storaro’s cinematography is his use
of atmospheric haze or smoke.
He’s used this effect in both exteriors and interiors to amplify his lighting. When
hard light hits a smoky or dusty environment it accentuates the shape and direction of
the light.
Storaro’s use of a textured atmosphere therefore brings further attention to his stylised lighting
approach.
“You always need these two sides: the concept, and the technology to transfer this concept
together and materialize an idea.”
Let’s take a look at the technical gear that he uses to shape his philosophy.
A primary reason why Storaro’s lighting is so noticeable, is due to the quality of
the light that he favours.
He uses direct, hard light which results in high contrast images with sharp, deep shadows.
When lighting interiors he likes to use direct, powerful light sources, such as Maxi brutes,
aimed through windows. This creates a solid beam of light, motivated by what sunlight
would do, but with a far harder quality.
To achieve the desired colour temperature of the light on set he likes to use different
coloured gels.
For exteriors he’ll use mirrors or bounceboards to reflect and amplify the naturally occurring
sunlight.
He likes to rig all of his lights on dimmers, a technique he’s employed since 1980. This
allows him to raise or lower the levels of each light on set, to achieve a precise, carefully
controlled exposure.
At times, such as on A Rainy Day In New York, he uses dimmers for an extreme effect, bringing
up and warming light levels during a shot for an expressionist, emotional effect.
Having shot on film for most of his career he’s recently made the move to shooting
digitally. For Storaro however the medium he shoots on is less important than the idea
behind the photographic approach.
He’s shot on 35mm film cameras such as the Mitchell BNCR and the Arriflex 35BL. Digitally
he likes to shoot with the Sony F65 which he favours for its 16-bit files and ability
to shoot in a 2:1 aspect ratio.
The unconventional Univisium 2:1 which he invented with his son, is Storaro’s preferred
aspect ratio. He claims to use this ratio for its historically
supported compositional ability, citing Da Vinci’s painting, The Last Supper, as inspiration
for shooting 2:1.
He has a preference for using Cooke lenses and has shot with Technovision modified Cooke
Anamorphic lenses, Cooke S4s, which he frequently uses, and Angenieux Optimo Zooms.
Although his approach to camera movement and composition changes slightly depending on
the film, he maintains that the choice of what to show on screen, the perspective, is
crucial.
“As humans, we consider "reality" to be what our eyes see around 180° degrees of
space. When we select part of this reality, in a specific size and shape, we are creating
"visual art".
In agreement with directors, we need to compose images to suit the style of the film. "Composition"
and "rhythm" are two of the most important words in the camera operator's vocabulary.”
As he shoots in a manner that gives great value to style, it would be easy to critique
his lighting as heavy handed, unnatural and unmotivated at times.
However I’d argue that his expressionist style, which is aimed at creating an emotional
response from the audience, isn’t always concerned with simulating reality.
He wears his heart on his sleeve. His images are an expression of feeling, works of visual
art. They speak directly to the audience, telling a story through light.
Thanks for watching this episode of cinematography style. I’m always interested in hearing
any suggestions you have for future videos in the comments.
Liking the video and subscribing will allow the channel to grow and for me to spend more
time making these videos. Until next time, thanks for watching and goodbye.