Expanded Cinematography

Abstract

The cinematography as an art form stands today at a crossroad. There is a lot of controversy surrounding the definition of the term “cinematography” in the context of films in which traditional (lensed) cinematography was subordinated to virtual techniques, such as “The Matrix”, "Life of Pi" and "Gravity”. The following study will observe the historical development of the camera techniques, as its goal is to verify if the virtual cinematography is a step forward in the evolutionary road of the job of the director of photography. In order to seek for the truest answer, the study will analyze the work of the cinematographers of the above-mentioned feature movies, in terms of their collaboration with the visual effects supervisors and their creative team. The study will try to convey how the DoP’s have used the new skills to help support the dramaturgy of the screenplay.