Case Study

The Cinematographer I have chosen for my DOP case study is Janusz Kaminski, A.S.C. I have always been fascinated by  the signature look he and Director Steven Spielberg have created over their collaborative careers, so naturally I decided to use the subject of my inspiration for my case study.

Janusz Kaminski was born in Ziebice, Dolnoslaskie, Poland on June 27, 1959. After the early death of his father and Poland’s newly imposed martial law Kaminski spent six months sweeping streets and factories in the purgatory of Vienna while waiting for his immigration papers. At the age of 21 he immigrated to America and settled in Chicago. He begun his film career studying a BA in Cinematography at Columbia College in Chicago from 1982 to 1987. He then transfered to The American Film Institute where he earned his Masters Degree. During his time studying he interned on his first low-budget, feature film, Nothing in Common in 1986. After this he broke into the industry doing lighting on other low-budget features such as: 1988 Not of This Earth, Gaffer; 1989 Dance of the Damned, Gaffer; 1989 Stripped to Kill II: Live Girls, Gaffer; 1989  After Midnight, Chief lighting Technician. His break as a Cinematographer on feature films begun in 1990 when he was Second Unit Director of Photography on Director Katt Shea’s Streets, by Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael. During the same year he was Director of Photography on Director Wayne Coe’s Western Horror, Grim Prairie Tales: Hit the Trail… to Terror; and Director Ken Stein’s Crime Thriller, The Rain Killer. Many consider Kaminski’s big break into the industry to be Diane Keaton’s television film Wildflower in 1991, which perhaps it was as this was the film in which Kaminski’s talent caught Director Steven Spielbergs attention. After seeing Kaminski’s work Spielberg hired him in 1993 to shoot Class of 1861 a backdoor pilot for ABC he was producing. From there his Director-Cinematographer working relationship with Spielberg begun on acclaimed feature film, Schindler’s List. Over their fruitful 20 year long collaboration Kaminski and Spielberg have made 13 feature films to date with Indiana Jones 5 being announced for preproduction this year.

Janusz Kaminski (left) and Steven Spielberg (right) with crew members on set

Since Kaminski’s established career partnership with Spielberg they have constructed a consistant crew who have worked on most of their films. Kaminski bought established gaffer, David Devlin onto the team in 1996 for Jerry Maguire. Since then David has been credited as Gaffer, second unit Director of Photography, Chief lighting Technician, lighting Director and additional Photographer on Kaminski’s films. To date Devlin has worked on 15 films that Kaminski has DOPed on. After 17 years of working together they have established a working relationship that enables them to work at a quick pace of usually 22 setups per day with relocates. The entire Spielberg-Kaminski team including producer Kathleen Kennedy, art director Rick Carter, first assistant director Adam Somner, costume designer Joanna Johnston, makeup artist Lois Burwell, camera operator Mitch Dubin,  B-camera/Steadicam operator Chris Haarhoff, key grip Jim Kwiatkowski and best boy Bob Anderson among others, strong working relationship is the reason they can churn out high quality work at such a quick pace. The whole team work together  to create a context and set in which opportunities for shots are endless:”The dressing of the movie – the great sets, period automobiles and wardrobe, and the fantastic locations Jeannine found – posed unlimited possibilities for the camera. No matter where you pointed the camera, it was hard not to find a great shot.”- Mitch Dubin. Dubin who has worked as Camera Operator for Kaminski since the making of Tall Tale in 1995, Directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik. Over their 18 year working relationship Dubin has worked on 17 feature films that Kaminski has been Cinematographer on, most of which are exclusively the Spielberg-Kaminski collaborations.

I have chosen to analyse two films from Kaminski’s renowned oeuvre, A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Spielberg, 2001) and War Horse (Spielberg, 2011). Why I am interested in these two films is they are both dramatic human interest stories, however one being a Science fiction and the other a War story. What I find interesting is the way Kaminski has approached the different genres with a similar style of lighting, being naturalistic and hazy. As Kaminski has developed a stylistic trademark in his work I will attempt to extract three common photographic methods that he frequently employs. 

The visual style that Kaminski has employed in A.I. Artifical Intelligence is different from many of his other works however he still employs adapted stylistic methods. In this film Kaminski employs photographic methods that involve the camera in the action making it an active participant. The camera work is floaty and constantly moving in typical Kaminski style as well as his very particular framing which when in the submerged New York City is generally symmetrical. He utilizes different lens lengths to not only shift focus but also establish the unnatural movement of the main character, David, a child android. The shots move through sun dappled and hazy forrest exteriors to luminous and clinical interiors. This film unlike Kaminski’s others do not employ stunning vistas to aid the storytelling as the narrative calls for a futuristic world. Kaminski has richly textured enclosed spaces with beautiful warm tones in “human” locations but created a more clinical mood in “Mecca” locations. Throughout most of the film Kaminski uses soft source light often being backlight or side light. When he does this he doesn’t add to it such as in the imprinting scene with David and Monique. In this scene Kaminski creates a strong source light through the open door to which he adds haze, at times the characters are almost in silhouette but the falloff of light on the subject is so rich and shapes the characters emotions in the scene. “I love backlight not just for the sake of glamorizing, but because the direction of the light can represent storytelling…I don’t do backlights and then also add key lights and all these things — if I do backlight, I want to see that backlight. That’s my style, and that’s the way we’ve done it in every single movie.”- Janusz Kaminski.

The visual style of the Oscar Nominated War Horse in my opinion is flowing and almost lyrical. Throughout the film the camera is constantly moving through longer aerial, Stedicam, tracking and crane/jib shots. These shots move through stunning vistas in European countrysides to the Battlefields of WW1. The use of these gorgeous moving shots coupled with the hazy streaming light create a moody environment that adds to the emotions of the scene. I think it is important to point this out as the constant movement of Kaminski’s style in this film is not erratic like many modern war films. The style of the movement could almost be described as traditional with the frame always changing through panning or tilting and the slow track and crane shots. Kaminski uses the characters emotions and movements to guide the camera, his appreciative eye follows the intricacies of the actors emotions and the narrative. Through this attention to detail in performance Kaminski humanizes the camera making it an active character in the storytelling process.

Lighting the trenches in Wisley, Surrey

Although Kaminski used Gaffer Eddie Knight on War Horse instead of his usual Gaffer David Devlin (who on War Horse was lighting Director), the lighting of the film is true to the Kaminski style of hazy streams of light. Through the different locations in the film the lighting changes according to the conditions and emotions of the narrative. For instance Knight comments on Kaminski’s lighting style of the wartime scenes: “he didn’t want a nice look, he wanted a low key look that was grey and bleak, with a lot of rain.” This style of lighting contrasts beautifully with the English and French countryside scenes in which Kaminski has employed a warmer colour temperature with lots of backlight on the subjects, especially on Joey the Horse. For most of the exterior scenes it would seem Kaminski and Devlin have decided on strong lights like HDMI’s with full CTO’s to achieve the rich and colourful style.

During this assignment I have been watching a lot of clips and films by Kaminski and have noticed some common photographic methods that appear throughout his works. The first method I want to discuss is they way he uses practicals to light actors in interior scenes. Although these two clips are from completely different genres he still utilizes practical lights to create sources. He then shapes what is the “source” light around the actors face to create depth. He doesn’t add more lights to these shots as he feels it becomes to flat and with limited lamps used as side light or backlight you can practically feel he fall off of light.  In this first clip the light is more harsh and clinical feeling, it creates hot spots on the side of the face and at times a hot rim lighting. Another lighting technique in these scenes that is common throughout his work is the use of top light, in wide shots of the scenes he establishes the roof lights which hes adds lamps to to create this hot top light. 

Although these scenes are completely different in colour palettes and A.I. Artificial Intelligence uses a mixture of harsh and soft light while Lincoln is soft light the lighting methods are similar. Both have side and top light with hot rims on the actors faces however in the Lincoln scene there is a bit more fill.

Another method Kaminski utilizes frequently to humanise his cinematography is point of view shots. He gets the camera involved in the action so much that it can become its own character or assume the role of a characters. In this first clip from The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Kaminski has composed all of the shots to be from the point of view of Jean-Dominique Bauby. The use of this photographic method adds to the emotion of the scene, through this camera work coupled with the voice-over the viewer feels as though they are in Jean-Do’s head. Kaminski often utilizes this technique to dial into the emotion of the scene and further the story. In this instance the camera work enhances the shock of Jean-Do’s paralysis and his anguish at not being able to move or speak. Also we feel his embarrassment at his appearance as during the shots through the corridor patients and vistors stare at him while one little girl runs away from him. Kaminski has composed these shots to reflect Jean-Do, therefore they are all beautifully framed dutch-angles with symmetrical compositional elements which reflect his soundness of mind and inability to communicate. We see a distorted reflection of Jean-Do’s face as he is wheeled down the corridor, in this reflection the composition utilizes vertical lines and elements. Also Kaminski makes great use of triangle shapes in these shots.

Kaminski’s use of point of view shots to enhance the mood of the scene is exemplified in this clip from Minority Report. The first shot starts as an establishing shot of the character John Anderton who walks into a closeup. The same shot then whip pans to Anderton’s point of view. This technique heightens the disorientation of the character and the narrative as he has assumed a new name in the replacement of his eyes through surgery. Kaminski has utilized this photographic method to further the story and dial into the characters emotions.

Another photographic method that Kaminski has perfected and utilizes in many of his films is establishing shots of beautiful vistas. In the first clip from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull the beauty of the opening scene consists of gorgeous warm golden Nevada desert shots interspersed with shots of lovely 50’s model cars. These sweeping shots prelude the location for most of the action of the film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Bn7r53SWEbA

In the trailer above you can get a sense of the way Kaminski has utilized the landscape in his shots. The long sweeping shots of the different European locations in the story almost become a character of the story. Especially the establishing wide shots of No-mans land where these shots isolate the characters in the scene. The beauty of the scenery in these shots become a beautiful backdrop in the shots that are closer to the action and an inspirational environment. Also in the opening aerial shots which dissolve to a jib shot (which is not in the above clip) Kaminski has utilized the natural lighting of the location to keep the cinematography more realistic. 

This scene in which Joey and Albert Narracott reunite outside the Army hospital is a great example of Kaminski’s humanization of the camera. In the stedicam shot that follows Joeys reaction to Alberts call (0:28 in the clip) zones in on a soldier who’s movement guides the camera to become his point of view as he walks toward the sound as the soldiers part to reveal Albert. The camera continues through the parting soldiers toward Albert, the framing here is very symmetrical with rows of soldiers packed together to make way for Albert. This shot then cuts to to Alberts point of view as if he could see Joey. The shot then becomes another stedicam gliding toward Albert zoning in on his emotions. The mood in this sense is initially tense then heart-warming. Through this photographic approach of continuous, participatory and character motivated camera movement I think Kaminski not only compliments actors performances but also aids in their portrayal of the narrative. 

In this extract Kaminski employs natural light to convey the human emotion of the scene. The point of the scene is to humanise the android character of David through the human instinct of fear and generosity. At the point in the scene where David is being bullied Kaminski uses mottled light through the surrounding trees to cast a foreboding shadow over the group of boys. This richly textured natural light is typical of Kaminski with which he creates shape on the subject to aid the mood of the emotional performance. In this scene Kaminski has used a wider lens with a larger depth of field enabling the whole group of boys to be in focus. I think this decision was to replicate David’s android senses as he can see and hear and analyse almost everything at once. The movement of the camera in this scene is almost an active participant in the group of boys through both its movement and proximity to the character of David. This is coupled with slight high and low angles to make the character of David small and weak. Although this technique is common in filmmaking I thought it was interesting in the way Kaminski utilized the location to obtain these angles. Specifically the shots from David’s perspective at the bottom of the pool of the action on the surface. All of the shots in this scene diminish David and the photographic methods employed achieve this.

Case Study Shots

I have attempted to shoot my own sequence in the style of Janusz Kaminski. I have based my sequence on the above sequence which starts in the clip above at 3:24. (I’m sorry I couldn’t find the entire final scene online but if you have seen the film before you will hopefully know to which style I am referring)

For my sequence I wanted to incorporate Kaminski’s typical lighting style that is natural lighting. In the original scene shot by Kaminski he waited for the last hours of the day to achieve these shots and added silhouette and orange filters. That these shots were achieved organically and not in post made me want to see if I could achieve something similar. For these shots I waited til 10 minutes before sunset so I could still have some highlights on the horse as it came closer to the camera. As I couldn’t get hold of a silhouette filter I chose to set my ISO at 100 and stopped down to 5.6, this helped me achieve something similar to the silhouette filter he has used however in doing this I have lost a lot of light on the subject.

“It’s all true craftsmanship and knowledge of what that image should look like and how to get it. You just wait for the right time of day. You get the sun setting there. And really, you have five minutes to do it. Because the sun is setting so rapidly, you don’t really have time to analyze.”-Janusz Kaminski

As I wanted a slightly shallower depth of field like Kaminski has used in the shot where Joey and Albert walk to the gate and meet Rosie Narracott I decided to use a 50mm lens. Also I wanted to frame the shot with the horse walking down to the gate and through it with the landscape. As sweeping vistas are a key aspect of Kaminski’s style I wanted to encorperate this in the shot framing the rolling hills of forrestry in the background and the ground, gate post, tree and horse in the foreground. Also in the close-up of the horses face I attempted to utilize natural lighting with a little bit of bounce on his eye. For this shot I purposefully framed his eyes and a bit of the trees in the background as I think the vertical divisions of the background frame could symbolize the struggle the characters have come through to get home. Also in framing his eyes you can capture the most emotion as horses have extremely expressive eyes. Kaminski utilizes frame division to not only create focus but also to symbols, he also uses composition and movement to obtain the emotion from the performance. 

In doing the DOP case study I have encountered many new ideas and ways to achieve different styles as an aspiring Cinematographer. Over the course of this case study I have watched many of Kaminski’s films to better my understanding of his style. As a cinematographer he has experimented with so many elements in both lighting and camera but what has interested me the most is the amount of planning and testing he puts into his shoots. As he works on big budget films I assumed there would be testing for camera and lighting but I never realized the look of the film generally was a product of these tests, I always thought it was predetermined long before the tests. One of the key aspects of the film industry that I have learnt from Kaminski is how much preproduction needs to go into each setup because on the day you could be shooting around 22 shots in order of coverage (Spielberg does this), all of which must be to the highest quality.

 

Also during this case study I have learnt that in order to tell the story to the best of your ability, as a cinematographer you must dial in to the actor and the emotion of their performance to be able to forward the story. Kaminski uses these beautifully composed shots involving movement, composition and framing to include the camera in the story, although he has massive budgets a lot of these shots are simple stedicam shots. Another thing that I have learnt from Kaminski is how delicate and textured lighting can be. Just by adding haze you can see the fall off of light more clearly as the haze seems to lift the exposure in the light.  

Overall I think Kaminski is fabulous and very talented. With the speed at which he works on Spielbergs films and the quality of work they churn out I am astounded. It is all well and good perfecting a shot but the perfecting has to be done before the shoot day has begun. As a cinematographer these are practices I want to take with me into my future career as a cinematographer. I know I need to work on perfecting both my lighting techniques and camera framing and movement but I also want to be able to work well under pressure while being a humble and calm. Kaminski has inspired me to be influenced by the performance and the location. I plan to do more shots with naturally lit vistas and characters.

Kaminski tells the sort of stories I want to tell throughout my career, serious stories with happy endings. Janusz Kaminski is a legend in his own right and I can not wait to see more work from him, especially the new Indiana Jones!