The Top Ten Compositional Movie Shots 2008

If you are like me you love watching movies as a way to analyze composition, editing, pacing and lighting. All of course with the simple hope of being inspired. Sometimes I get lucky and come across a film that has a compelling story too making things like composition the icing on the cake.

I enjoyed reading these two posts that talk about a portion of all movies I love to break down; the composition. Check out the top ten compositional movie shots of 2008. (pt. 2) The great thing is for every shot listed they have a quote from the director of photography.

A quote from Anthony Dod Mantle who was the Director of Photography for Slumdog Millionaire :

I like to experiment, but I only ever experiment because of the story.  We thought bringing him really close in the foreground would be good to create that distance between the two boys and create that dramatic comment.  One of them is thinking about something else and the other is simply thinking about surviving and moving on.   It’s a sad image too because you can’t help the connotation that these boys have lost their mom, you know.  And those things don’t get storyboarded.  Generally speaking when you’re working with Danny, every shot feels as important as every other one.  And that shot is an example of the way we work .  He’d have an idea for a picture and I’m there to help him as a visually trained composer of images — that’s my job.

Perhaps my favorite quote from Roger Deakins about a scene in the Revolutionary Road:

You kind of work the shot by what’s demanded by the story.  The front of the shot is just Frank coming in the door and the exterior of the porch light that sort of rims him as he walks in.  It was an aesthetic reason because it helps set the mood of the shot.  We wanted this pool of warm light, sort of coming through this dark room and not knowing what you were going to expect.  It was about capturing the surprise of Frank seeing that scene and that mixed emotion.  And it wasn’t lit entirely by the candles.  I asked the art department to make a cake that was big enough that I could hide a little gag light behind it.

I love the thought and detail Roger put into this shot and it shows through the mood that was conveyed in the movie.(just saw it last week) What kind of mood does your story demand and how will you convey that mood and feeling in your photos? Because at this point in the game we all know that the best photographs are ones that make you feel.

In other words master your craft and then get out the way and let your heart and eye do what they do best.