Spielberg's Best Cinematographer?

[Elmo Lewis 6]

A film is moving images and sound. Spielberg has always been very well off in the sound section with John Williams on board of most of his movies. But after countless hours discussing this sound, what about the images? Spielberg has varied from cinematographer to cinematographer, from the warm, saturated colors of Dean Cundey to the faded and smokey ambiences of Janusz Kaminsky.

Mind you, although he was worked with different, very talented (in their syles) people, he has shown a big talent on composing an image: he always places his actors in the right place, and the background is always set in the best, most meaningful way. He is also great at moving the camera through this images, expressing as much as possible through a pan or a travelling.

So what do you think of his different photography collaborators?

Vilmos Zsigmond is the Sugarland Express and Close Encounters of the Third Kind guy. He made a good game of lights and shades, but I can't really say much more, since I haven't seen these movies in a very long time (say, 5 years).

Douglas Slocombe was the Indiana Jones guy. I'm only adding him here for the sake of completeness, but I was tempted to not do so (same I didn't add Bill Butler, from Jaws or Mikel Salomon from Always) because I don't think he was a key factor in the movie. But I don't want to start purists against me.

Allen Daviau made E.T., Color Purple, and Empire of the Sun (Peio...). He was a great guy, who gave Spielberg that characteristic tone in his movies. I really like his work. He was to the images of E.T. what Williams was to its sound. The are both the movie's soul. Don't get me started on the sheer beauty of Empire of the Sun.

Dean Cundey was the man behind Hook and Jurassic Park. He liked saturated colors, which to me mean more life to the movie. Jurassic Park was beautifully shot, in my opinion -- it wasn't very original cinematography, but it was great.

I never liked Janusz Kaminski's style. He is the exact opposite of Dean Cundey. He has stolen the color (which to me is synonim of life) of Spielberg's movies. I mean: Saving Private Ryan and its making more realistic the scenes, Minority Report and its making sadder the scenes, Catch me if you Can and its making more 60's the scenes...How many excuses can you find to de-color a scene? The best way to compare, in my opinion, is to play color-saturated (my favorite) Jurassic Park, and then the pale Lost World. I don't really like how he always uses one jet of light to light a scene, and how this jet of light is entirely visible through smoke that comes from somewhere. What is this obsession this man has with smoke?

But then I see Amistad, I forgive him just anything.

What about you?

[scissorhands 16]

Daviaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaau!!!!!!!!!!!! Spielberg's friend from their youth is the one who knows how to capture Spielberg's personality on his films.

Empire of the Sun's photography is at the same level of Ford's and Lean's best films! The only difference is that EOTS is 1.85:1

And Color Purple's is very lovely, perfect for the tone of the film.

Kaminski is great too. Amistad (brown) is his best, along with SPR (green). I also like Minority Report (blue).

[mahler3 478]

Don't get me started on the sheer beauty of Empire of the Sun.

Indeed, I would have to go with your good self and Scissorhands. ET too has some beautiful flourishes, the classic dolly in zoom out shot is excellent and Elliot's bedroom and closet, gorgeous!

I love Kaminski's work though, particularly the sheer use of light in 'Schindler's List' and 'Saving Private Ryan's' clever utilisation of the Second World War colours and ambience.

Special mention should go to Mikael Saloman for 'Always' also, he managed to capture the dreamy, soft lensed romanticism of the story very well. Particularly Hepburn and Dreyfuss' first encounter in the burnt forect, the airplane lights under water scene near the end, and of course the forest fire scenes were fantastic.

-Tim

[Lurker 5]

I cannot imagine an Indiana Jones film shot by Kaminsky.

What about William A. Fraker? He shot 1941 and the new scenes for Close Encounters for the re-issue in 1980.

Neil

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Yeah, Douglas Slocombe gave the Indiana Jones films a very distinct visual style.

Direct, colorfull but without any (seemingly) manipulation of colors like Kaminski is so fond of.

I enjoy Kaminski's work a hell of a lot, loved what he did with TLW and SPR, but so far his style looks a bit to...artistic for Indiana Jones.

We will see though.

Stefancos- Who disagrees with Ross and thinks Jurassic Park have fairly uninteresting cinematography, while The lost Word is one of Spielbergs best looking films.

[A24 4,346]

Kaminski for Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan. They should earn a prize bigger then the Oscar. The Noble Prize for Cinematography !!! Spielberg really has an eye for talent. With Kaminski you can rest assure that the photography is going to be one of the best things of a new Spielbergo. All new Spielbergos, Indy 4 included.

However, Daviau is every bit as good as Kaminski. Pure poetry. Many scenes in Empire of the Sun are without equal. This is why I'm waiting so eagerly for a R2 DVD, hopefully taken from a new print, to fully enjoy Daviau's work.

In my opinion, Dean Cundey was a mistake. Both Hook and Jurassic Park are shallow and lack inspiration. Any Hollywood bloke can do this. I'm glad that's over.

I suspect Bill Butler is, in fact, Spielberg. Anyway, Jaws deserves a new print too. You feel the young Spielbergs' enthusiasm all over this movie. Great!

I wonder why they didn't do the full digitally restored business on the Spielbergos just like they did for Kubrick. All Kubrick movies look fresh and new. I have a feeling we'll soon be spending money once again on new picture improved Spielberg classics.

----------------

Alex Cremers

[Morlock 11]

All were great, but I have to go with Kaminski, simply for quantity. Even JP2, IMO Spielberg's worst film of the 90's, looked good.

But Daviau also did fantastic work on E.T., EoTS and The Color Purple, not to mention Spielberg's Amblin'.

So again, I loved Daviau's work just as much as Kaminski's, but Kaminski did seven films, out of them five looked amazing- so Kaminski's my man.

Although I don't see it happening- I would've liked Daviau to do Indy 4, just because his previous work (mainly TCP and Amblin') seems to be more in tune with the spirit of Indiana Jones. But I'm sure Kaminski will do a fantastic job- with CMIYC and JP2 he has many great looking scenes in the sun, full light, no color filter, so Indy may be a new challenge- but one he could ride out. The question is if anyone could make it feel like Slocombe's great work (Despite the fact that it doesn't call attention to itself)/

[Joel 0]

Hmmmm...I really can't easily decide between Dean Cundey and Allen Daviau. I love the colour of Hook and Jurassic Park, i have always loved colourful images, but E.T and Empire of the Sun (well, what i have seen of it) especially, were superbly shot. I think a film which is shot well really makes a great movie and also would contibute to how a composer scores the film.

Hmmmmm...I think i'll have to go with Cundey. The colour of Hook and JP make the movies just so gorgeous to watch. Both of those films look great on screen, so Cundey gets my vote.

[Romão 2,274]

Kaminsky is just amazing, I think. Secombe created that Indy feel though, and it will be weird to see Indy Iv shot by Kaminsky.

But SL, SPR, Amistad and A.I have some of the best cinematography I have ever seen.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Kaminski is absolutley horrid. Since Steven has been using him, his films lack the beautiful color and photography of his other films. He is in my opinion average, and I hope Spielberg drops him like a hot potato. I cannot imagine him shooting Raiders of the Lost Ark, or Jaws.

Speaking of Jaws, where is Bill Butler the director of photography of Jaws on the list.

Back to Kaminski, none of the films he has photographed for Spielberg have been extraordinarily shot. Sure Schindler's List, SPR, and Minority Report have had a "look", but hell if you took a copy of the prints of those films to a restorationist, they would think the film stock was deteriorating. That washed out faded look, is just ugly.

Another reason Kiminski needs to go is he is urging Steven to make a erotic/soft-porn film similar to Eye's Wide Shut. That isn't a subject matter I ever want to see Steven tackle.

Zsigmond's work on Close Encounters is the best on a Spielberg film period. To bad Steven never got to work with Geoffrey Unsworth, that would have been a great match.

[Morlock 11]

That washed out faded look is perfect. I saw a comparison between the original and finished D Day sequence, and the fully colored one looked awful, like a nice summer day, and made all the guys dying seem like a joke.

I'm sure Minority Report would lose a lot of it's effect with normal color, and Schindler's List is one of the best cinematography jobs in history.

The fact that A.I., Amistad, Schindler's List and Minority Report lack beautiful color is that the stories lack beautiful color. The round up scene from JP2 is full of color as is CMIYC, but on a small scale, as the movie is small.

Kaminski doesn't need to shoot Raiders or Jaws. Butler and Slocombe did great jobs, as I'm sure Kaminski would have- but they would be totaly different lookng movies, not nessecarily to the good or detriment of the movies.

There are almost no great movies that I look back on and could say that any other cinematographer could have shot. I can't imagine anyone but Gordon Willis doing The Godfather, or Freddy Young doing Lawrence of Arabia, or Tak Fujimoto doing Silence of The Lambs, but hind sight is 20-20, and I'm sure Coppola could've taken Hall or Fraker shoot the movie and still have had one of the greatest movies ever made.

Eyes Wide Shut is not a soft porn film. I'm no huge fan, but I could see what Kubrick wanted to do with it.

(Sorry Joe, this ain't personal- but I have a passion for cinematography and concider Kaminski one of best of all times)

[Elmo Lewis 6]

I, for one, agree with Joe. All Kaminski seems to do is to remove color from scenes. He even did it with his own movie (the one with Winona Ryder). And then he uses the movie's single color: green, blue, white, red...

What I hate most about him is that he seems unable to go unnoticed. Allen Daviau's best gift was to stand out when he needed to (the fixing of the plane in Empire of the Su). But when he wasn't needed in the scene (because there were other elements that stood out, like the script, delivery, etc), he slowly moved away -- never letting the magic vanish, just not standing out.

You can't ignore Kaminski. He's sticks out like a sore thumb, even when he doesn't need to. I don't think he does a bad job, he is extremely talented. I bet he takes good stills (well, I know it, seeing the ones in the A.I. dvd), but he's always present in the scene, most of the time distracting the audience from other things. Somebody shoudl tell him the techniques for still photographs don't apply to movies. Or at least make him progressively de-color the movie, giving the audience a chance to the used to the movie's especial look.

It's good to experiment with the color and look of one movie. But what Kaminski stopped experimenting a lot of movies ago.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I'm sure Steven Spielberg completely disagrees with you, and their are HIS films that he is shooting.

Stefancos-

[A24 4,346]

Speaking of washed out colors, Close Encounters is another movie that didn't get the right attention when they made the transfer to DVD. Shame!

From old Spielbergos, only E.T. is treated right.

----------------

Alex Cremers

[A24 4,346]

BTW, the biggest talent in a Spielberg movie these days is not Spielberg, not the screenplay writer, not Tom Cruise, not CGI makers, no, the only talent, so good, that it stands out is Kaminski. A.I. and MR illustrate this.

----------------

Alex Cremers

[Morlock 11]

I think that's missing a joking smiley- becuase Minority Report was a triumph of everything (although acting and screenplay were not as strong as the rest).

[Lurker 5]

BTW, the biggest talent in a Spielberg movie these days is not Spielberg, not the screenplay writer, not Tom Cruise, not CGI makers, no, the only talent, so good, that it stands out is Kaminski.  A.I. and MR illustrate this.

Not even the work of John Williams?

Neil

[A24 4,346]

Not even the work of John Williams?

I'd hoped nobody would notice.

John is good as always, but, is he still hungry?

----------------

Alex Cremers

[King Mark 3,631]

I voted the Indy guy,I just love the lighting and characteristic earthy/orangy tones in those movies,especially Raiders and ToD.I thought Last Crusade was slightly paler.

K.M.

[UCFKevin 0]

Slocombe all the way.

Can't guess how Indy IV will look without him.....hopefully not all washed out.

[Molaram 0]

Without doubt, Kaminski is the best. How many cinematographers would have the guts to try the crazy things he did on Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan? What about his beautiful use of the colors in Catch Me If You Can? I have loved every film he has shot with Spielberg, and each one of them has such a distinct look to it, it is almost impossible to believe they were all shot by the same guy. SL is a great study in b&w, The Lost World has such a primordial jungle feel, Amistad bassed on the paintings of Spanish artist Goya is stunningly beautiful and warm, SPR is so realistically shot, it makes you think he must have really been a combat cameraman, AI is very cold and scientific feeling, just as Stanley Kubrick would have liked it, Minority Report is also very cold, but somehow familiar feeling, and CMIYC is rich with the vibrant colors of the period.

All of them have greatness though. Slocombe was a genius being able to film a film noir in color. Daviau is responsible for some of the most unabashadly beautifyul images in cinema history. Fraker did a wonderful job with his smoky interpretation of 1941. Butler was great to be able to handle all of the challenges that shooting at see threw at him. Cundy has a great sterile clean feel to Jurassic Park, while he gives Hook a fairy tale feel that perfectly fits the movie. And what can be said about Zigsmond? He taught Spielberg a lot and help get his career off the ground.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

A.I. and MR illustrate this.  

Minority Report would be so much better with colors, other than just blue. A.I. is so bad that Man Upstairs, himself wouldn't want to touch that piece of sh!+, fearing he would be lessoned.

Kiminski's style is terrible, maybe he is color blind. Critics agree about MR, they almost universally disliked the blue color saturation. All in all he is awful, I hope he doesn't work with Steven on Indy 4. I will be very disappointed. In fact I hope he never works with Spielberg again. Certainly not on a soft porn film with Steven.

[Hlao-roo 389]

Critics agree about MR, they almost universally disliked the blue color saturation.

Hmmm...maybe cinematography critics, but most film critics I read seemed either pleased with or oblivious to Kaminski's cinematography.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

No, so many film critics mentioned the washed out blue color and how annoying it was.

[Romão 2,274]

I also read several reviews prasing the cinematography in MR.

Romão, whose favorite DP is Vittorio Storaro.

[Hlao-roo 389]

No, so many film critics mentioned the washed out blue color and how annoying it was.

"The movie's virtues are not entirely Spielberg's doing, but he deserves credit for knowing what he wants and recognizing it when he gets it. With the help of Philip K. Dick's original story, writers Scott Frank and Jon Cohen have imagined the future world of 2054 in fantastic yet believable terms, and the set design and special-effects people have realized that vision beautifully.

Janusz Kaminski's cinematography subtly controls the mood

, while Tom Cruise gives a vigorous performance in a role full of physical and emotional demands." (San Francisco Chronicle)

"And, to add to the atmosphere, Spielberg and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski have filmed this movie as they might a contemporary mystery thriller, with muted hues and desaturated color. (At times, Minority Report looks almost monochromatic. If it was commercially viable, Spielberg might have made this movie in black-and-white.)" (ReelViews)

"In the movie, their visions are projected onto glass-screen video files for the Pre-Crime Unit to solve -- and the film begins with a smashing suspense scene (shot by Janusz Kaminski in eerily desaturated colors and explosively edited by Spielberg's secret weapon, Michael Kahn) where Anderton uses these files to locate and try to intercept a crime of passion in Georgetown." (Chicago Tribune)

"Samantha Morton's character (is "Agatha" a nod to Miss Christie?) has few words and seems exhausted and frightened most of the time, providing an eerie counterpoint for Anderton's man of action. There is poignancy in her helplessness, and Spielberg shows it in a virtuoso two-shot, as she hangs over Anderton's shoulder while their eyes search desperately in opposite directions. This shot has genuine mystery. It has to do with the composition and lighting and timing and breathing, and like the entire movie it furthers the cold, frightening hostility of the world Anderton finds himself in.

The cinematographer, Janusz Kaminski, who has worked with Spielberg before (not least on "Schindler's List"), is able to get an effect that's powerful and yet bafflingly simple.

(Chicago Sun-Times)

"In a way, Spielberg is subordinating all his elements here -- Janusz Kaminski's grainy photography, Alex McDowell's imaginatively minimalist production design, John Williams' music that deliberately evokes Bernard Herrmann's suspenseful "Vertigo" score -- to his story in a way he never has before." (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

"Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, Spielberg's sidekick since "Schindler's List" in 1993, renders this middle-distance future in watery, muted hues of blue and gray, simultaneously suggesting the precogs' Jacuzzi visions of homicide and the black-and-white crime films of the '30s Spielberg has long worshipped." (Salon.com)

"Spielberg surrounded himself with his usual top technicians: masterful editor Michael Kahn, composer John Williams and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, who bleaches the future of color except for crucial "warm" scenes." (Charlotte Observer)

"Working with cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, Spielberg has made his grainiest film to date, one in which the colors have been drained out of the actors' faces and the smoke and gelid light seem to have been borrowed from a David Fincher movie." (Washington Post)

"With the usual gifted team at his disposal ? including composer John Williams, cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, editor Michael Kahn and costume designer Deborah L. Scott ? Spielberg takes assured control." (Washington Post)

"Shot by longtime Spielberg cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan), who uses a bleach-bypass process and special, high-grain film-stock that leaves the resulting images looking chilly and bluish and the characters as though they'd just risen from a morgue slab, Minority Report takes the old frame-job device and gives it a sci-fi tweak, to excellent effect." (Austin Chronicle)

"Still, while the film, deftly imagined by screenwriters Scott Frank and Jon Cohen, doesn't entirely hold together, its dark, twisty chases and tricky puzzles have much more going for them than Spielberg's last foray onto similar turf: the muddled, cheesy A.I. Cinematographer

Janusz Kaminski's steely, color-sapped canvas has a grim beauty

, and the production design is top-notch (way-cool eye-scanning robotic "spiders"!)" (Philadelphia Inquirer)

"Janusz Kaminski did the dreamlike cinematography, bathed in Spielberg's trademarked waves of hazy luminescence, and John Williams composed the humdrum music." (Christian Science Monitor)

"Spielberg and his longtime cinematographer Janusz Kaminski make both the high-tech and low-tech future look exquisite as ever, using a lot of the same eerie filters that bleached and crystallized the mood of ''A.I.'' But they identify the ''best'' values with the least futuristic, most traditional, and most warmly lit landscapes of thriving green plants, warm wood architecture, and handsome furniture." (Entertainment Weekly)

"Having publicly taken issue with his old friend George Lucas' paeans to digital video, Spielberg makes a passionate case for celluloid. Janusz Kaminski's palette is cool, desaturated, blue-washed, with a grainy texture suggesting the unstable molecules of reality." (Slate.com)

"After the ripe, damp colors of "A.I.," Mr. Spielberg and his cinematographer, Janusz Kaminski, give "Minority Report" a cold, silvered tone. The picture looks as if it were shot on chrome, caught on the fleeing bumper of a late 70's car." (The New York Times)

"Working once again with cinematographer Kaminski and using a special process to create flat, washed-out colors, Spielberg has clearly enjoyed filming some of the creepier aspects of Anderton's flight, like a meeting with rogue surgeon Dr. Solomon Eddie (Peter Stormare) to get an identity change." (Los Angeles Times)

"Set in a hazy, amorphous 2054, Minority Report has been shot by Janusz Kaminski as though all color has been leeched from the world, along with criminality. The lighting is pale and diffuse; the space sometimes turns alarmingly viscous." (Village Voice)

"To help audiences to see this "dark," esteemed cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (SCHINDLER'S LIST) created a deliberately weather-beaten, grainy look to mirror Anderton's emotional and psychological state. He succeeded ? the film looks awful." (TV Guide)

These were the accessible reviews at MetaCritic (http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/minorityreport/) that made explicit reference to the cinematography. Of them all, some are rather positive, some merely comment objectively, and only the last one comes across as averse to Mr Kaminski's work. Obviously, we read different reviews.

[Romão 2,274]

Nice job, Loo.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

I guess I stand corrected.

I must thank Alex for giving me another reason to berate Speilberg's worst film of all time A.I. It has that awful cinematographer J. Kiminski. I have forgotten how much fun it is to trash that piece of trash film.

Joe, fearing a hideously shot Indiana Jones and the ...2005.

[Rogue_Leader 2]

I voted for the Indiana Jones DP just to be different.

[A24 4,346]

I guess I stand corrected.

I must thank Alex for giving me another reason to berate Speilberg's worst film of all time A.I.  It has that awful cinematographer J. Kiminski.  I have forgotten how much fun it is to trash that piece of trash film.

Joe, fearing a hideously shot Indiana Jones and the ...2005.

Who? me?

Anyway, Kaminski not filming Indy 4? I don't think so, Spielberg is too much a fan of the man.

Washed colors? Kaminski? That's Spielberg decision! Where was Janusz during Band of Brothers? Same washed colors. If you don't like the colors I hope your sensors can detect other qualities in Kaminski's cinematography since color seems to be the only thing you moan about. Look how he frames each set in Schindler (the little girl doing the throat slash gesture) or how the camera moves and takes you right amidst the soldiers in SPR. These and countless other breathtaking shots I didn't see in, let's say, The Pianist. I cannot understand that you think so low of this man. Do you really think his eyes washes out the colors? Do you really believe Spielberg wants to mess with Indy's color just because he liked their effect in SPR or MR? Soon, for the sake of bashing something, you'll be saying that Welles made Citizen Kane one of the poorest shot movies in history.

----------------

Alex Cremers

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

All right, I must confess. I have no effin' clue what a cinematographer does. I absolutely can not tell the difference between good and bad cinematography, because I don't know how to look for it. When I saw Road to Perdition everyone was all like "wow, this is great cinematography", but I have no clue at all.

- Marc, :?

P.S.: Is a cinematographer the same as a Director of Photography?

[Elmo Lewis 6]

Yes, it is Mark.

A cinematographer basically "builds" the image you are going to see in the screen: he lights the set in a certain way, he adds some lenses to the cameras... all according to the mood, the ambience the director wants to add to that certain scene. Where the limits of his job are, that's not sure. Some are merely crafstmen, others are artists. Some go as far as to choose what color will the be actor's clothes, others just light the scene.

About Kaminski, Alex, I thik the decision of washing out the colors in Band of Brothers was just to look like SPR. But I must admit that you are right, we are only judging Kaminski for his use of colors (or lack thereof), ignoring a lot of things he does very well (remember, I said he was very talented).

I don't think washing out the colors is Spielberg's idea. I think it's Kaminski's idea (look at other films he has shot, they all look the same), and Spielberg, like you, agrees with him. I just don't think it's his wisest decision. I bet he thinks it is (when Kaminski does a good job, he's outstanding - but does every movie require an outstanding cinematography job?).

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

So, the director decides how he wants to show things, what angle he wants to pick, how he wants the camera to move, and the DP or cinematographer then makes it possible, right? Does this also include stuff like making the camera able to move freely?

- Marc, who's glad with this explanation, since he was already planning on asking about this.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

So, the director decides how he wants to show things, what angle he wants to pick, how he wants the camera to move, and the DP or cinematographer then makes it possible, right?

Yes, that's exactly what it is. Did you look it up somewhere, or thought it by yourself? If it's the second, I'm impressed.

Does this also include stuff like making the camera able to move freely?

I'm not sure what you mean by this, but it seems like that's more of a technical job for engineers. The same way they invented some gadget to allow the camera to move freely in the stampede scene in Jurassic Park. Is that what you mean?

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Yes, I thought that up by myself.

By making the camera move more freely, I mean like figuring out what sort of camera to use. For instance, if you put a camera on a track somewhere, the actors will have to step over it. If you use a steadicam, you get a fluid motion, but it won't be the same every take. By making it move freely, I mean also that you should be able to move the camera all the way, without seeing crew or equipment.

- Marc

[Elmo Lewis 6]

Okay then, I guess it's also the cinematographer's job, but not exclusively his -- the special FX crew, the director and some other people should also have a voice in making that decision.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

All right. Thanks.

- Marc,

[tpigeon 3]

No, so many film critics mentioned the washed out blue color and how annoying it was.

No, so many film critics mentioned the "washed out blue color" and how great it was. I have read review after review of Minority Report, and I'd say that the film and its cinematography had a very positive slant, as Alan's post demonstrates. I think Kaminski's cinematography is on the whole very good, but I wasn't a full believer until I saw Catch Me If You Can, which is a deviation for him as Spielberg's cinematographer. And to my surprise, it was a beautifully shot film. I'm actually anticipating his photography for Indy 4.

Ted, who think that both AI and Minority Report are brilliant films in every regard

[Morn 8]

Kaminski or Daviau.... hmm, well to me extreme colour suggests.... artificial... But anyway, Daviau was just perfect in ET and Kaminski uses really neat methods to great effect.

[MoffJake 0]

Vilmos Zsigmond is my choice, based soley on his work in Close Encounters. He made great use of natural lighting, especially in the opening desert scene (assuming that Zsigmond actually shot this part) and the Wyoming day time scenes (Roy and Jillian see Devil's Tower for the first time). The blinding light for the film's finale starting with the appearance of the aliens is simply amazing. The amount of light needed for those scenes must have been incredible - a daunting task for a cinematographer. According to all reports it was excrutiatingly hot in the hanger where they shot it.

Slocombe shot the scenes in India which actually do a great job of matching Zsigmond's typically brown ochre color scheme. According to IMDB, there were 11 DPs altogether for the film (several for FX, probably). But it's Zsigmond's work that I particularly enjoyed.

As for Kaminski, Schindler is very beautiful and I actually liked the cool flavor to Minority Report. AI was shot well too, but Lost World, Amistad, and SPR seem fairly dull to me, from an aesthetic point of view.

My least favorite Kaminski/Spielberg collaboration is Catch Me If You Can. Any time a character in an interior scene stands next to a window, there is this inredibly blinding light shining through, to the point of washing out all tone on the subject. I swear it looks like a nuclear weapon is being continually detonated just oustide the window, and the person standing in the window doesn't seem to mind. In CE3K, people react to the blinding light, and there is great purpose behind it. In CMIYC, it's a boring stylistic effect which seems very out of place for the mood and content of the film.

God save us if Kaminski does Indy 4.

[Guest]

This thread has done very well in reminding me why I stayed away from jwfan.net for so long. Bitter angry relentless negativity.

I think Kaminski's work is amazing. I would love to see what he does with an Indy film as it is obvious to anyone that they will work to make it visually match the other three films. His work HAS been starkly different than that of the cinematographers that Spielberg worked with before him. But I LIKE what he's done. And Steven does as well, or he wouldn't work with the bloke. How do you know that it wasn't Spielberg's idea to wash out SPR and MR? It certainly was his idea to film SL in black and white.

[Morlock 11]

@Moff Jake: That 'blinding light' is very purposeful, and not supposed to be realistic. It enhances your nervousness, makes you uncompfertable and makes the scene a bit more sureal, as meeting your future father in law, Martin Sheen, is a very uncompfertable thing.

[A24 4,346]

Strilo wrote:

This thread has done very well in reminding me why I stayed away from jwfan.net for so long. Bitter angry relentless negativity.  

Certainly no negativity towards Kaminski here . He's victoriously winning this poll.

----------------

Alex Cremers

[CYPHER 1]

Janusz Kaminski all the way! I think this guy is fantastic and he brings so much creativity and technical excellence to his work with Spielberg. Obviously Spielberg has a great sense of visual style and I believe Kaminski does an excellent job bringing this to the screen, along with considerable input of his own.

I concede that a lot of the criticisms made of Kaminski's work in this thread are valid - most of his images are very washed out and he does extensively (and sometimes inappropriately) backlight many scenes. However I don't personally find these techniques disagreeable and I think they suit the overall tone of the film or scenes in which they are employed. And as Ross pointed out, cinematography isn't all about the use of colour: camera movement and the framing of images are equally as important and Kaminski certainly excells in both departments. Saving Private Ryan and Minority Report in particular are replete with such amazing images and dynamic, exquisitely captured action sequences.

As such I think Kaminski will be more than up for the challenge of Indiana Jones 4, especially in the inevitable action setpieces although I am a little worried about his preference for a limited, muted colour palette. He will probably have to subbordinate his own individual idiosyncrasies in deference to the style, tone and atmosphere established by previous DOPs in this series.

CYPHER