Research

 ESSAY RESEARCH:

Name of essay: The Cinematography of Roger Deakins and How His Visual Storytelling is so iconic.

What is cinematography?

Cinematography is the art of photography and visual storytelling in a motion picture or television show. Cinematography ranges on all on-screen visual elements, including lighting, framing, composition, camera motion, camera angles, film selection, lens choices, depth of field, zoom, focus, colour and exposure. The cinematographer's role is to basically decide the way the scene will look.   

Roger Deakins is an English cinematographer best known for his work on the films of the Coen brothers, Sam Mendes, and Denis Villeneuve. He will be the backbone of the essay and I will talk about his developments in film and his use of astute use of camera work and film knowledge. I will continually relate back to the thesis about how Roger Deakins is so distinctive but also compare with other cinematographers such as Caleb Deschanel who has done the likes of The Black Stallion ( 1979).

Deakins' first feature film in America as a cinematographer was Mountains of the Moon (1990). He began his collaboration with the Coen brothers in 1991 on the film Barton Fink. He received his first major award from the American Society of Cinematographers for his outstanding achievement in cinematography for the internationally praised major motion picture The Shawshank Redemption (1994).

He is also known for his work in The Assassination of Jesse James by Coward Robert Ford (2007), No Country for Old Men (2007), True Grit (2010), Skyfall (2012), Sicario (2015), and Blade Runner 2049 (2017).

Changing the question, I was originally going to go with how distinctive is Roger Deakins, however, he doesn't have a style, matches his work and knowledge and blends them with each piece of film he makes. And this is what I need to talk about.

The reasons why I am putting dates after naming every film is so when it comes to the essay I will put in the dates also. 

To structure the essay well I need to write as if they have never heard of the person is key. This is what I am aiming to do well because it keeps a good flow throughout the piece. 

Reviewing the films I will talk about.

Reviewing the films I will talk about will help me dig deeper into the spectrum of film knowledge that Deakins hold. I actually had to watch true grit as I thought it would be a great piece to talk about in my camera movement section.

the reader 

The Reader is a decent dark and sad drama. The best part about this movie is probably the cinematography and for me, that is very good news. This is probably some of Deakins’ best work and I know that that is a really big statement, but from what I’ve seen this is some of his best. Every shot is filled with colour, darkness, excitement, and depth and it looks outstanding, I need to talk about how it will work in my essay, one scene I really like is when they are in a bathtub, Deakins knows that this feels intimate. This is what I need to talk about and how it makes Deakins iconic. This will come under the mise en scene section.

Bladerunner 2049

Blade runner tells an intensely personal and lonely story, and the resolution is one that really bucks the trend of much of the popular sci-fi/fantasy to be released in the past decade the cinematography is unbelievable and the visual storytelling by Deakins is incredibly in-depth. I need to talk about how Deakins created this dystopian world and didn't overdo it. I love that about it and coupled with the psychedelic soundtrack and visuals, and the great performances from the entire cast, I'm willing to call this a masterpiece. It's an experience that's both intensely personal and extremely relevant, and almost everything about it is new and innovative. It doesn't depend on any preexisting lore or nostalgia to make you enjoy it. This will come under the mise en scene section. 

kundun

Although ''kundun'' is controversial Deakins had a big role in the way the film looked. Deakins comes to earth and really tells the story with every shot. Since the Dalai Lama’s story is about his journey to spiritualism, Deakins opted for rounder mise en scène. Viewers are meant to feel at ease and unthreatened as the story moves forward, mirroring the protagonist’s arc. In this film, Scorsese stepped away from his usual violent mob dramas and into a story characterized by serenity.

Fargo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pfUsN6NQBw -  I watched Fargo with Deakins commentary to really get an insight into his work.

- Ironically, Fargo was shot during one of the warmest winters on record, and as a result, the crew had to work around when and where there would be snow (shooting scenes that required snow first and saving interiors for later).

- The style is very simple, restrained, and minimalist. Deakins describes the camera as "observational": most of the shots are simple one- or two-shots with few overs (i.e. shot-reverse-shot) and almost no tracks, cranes, zooms, or perspective shots. There is an abundance of oners (i.e. long takes), but they're never flashy and don't call attention to themselves. If you think about it, this is really the ideal way to shoot such simple people, and the lack of pompous showmanship is actually quite refreshing (especially in contrast to the recent Birdman).

Structuring an essay

Most essays have the basic structure of introduction, main body and conclusion. 

I am going to break the essay into 4 sections 

-  Craft of Roger Deakins.

-  mise en scene

- Lighting 

- camera movement.

Introduction

The introduction should cover two main themes:

Any background information the reader will need to make sense of your essay - Introducing the cinematographer and the development of his career.  Also briefly talk about what cinematography is 

A road-map of how you are going to answer the question, with your main points and basic conclusion included.

The first paragraph should start with a topic sentence which states the point of the paragraph clearly. Usually, this is the first sentence in the paragraph (although sometimes it can be the second sentence, with the first being something that links it to the previous paragraph). A good way to plan an essay is to write out a list of your topic sentences. This will enable you to see how the argument develops and where extra ones are needed etc. - e.g for me I should start with the build of deakins.

The topic sentence should be followed by sentences containing evidence to back the point up. You cannot just say that something is true without any supporting information. Remember that as an undergraduate, you are not the expert; your word is not enough.

Evidence will usually be in the form of information from other sources like books, academic journals or reputable websites. This could be a direct quotation but is usually best written in your own words. When providing information from other sources, you must provide in-text citations that link to your bibliography (or footnotes if using). Evidence could also be your own data or your own experiences (especially in reflective essays).

The last section of the paragraph should be your own analysis of why the point is relevant to the essay. How does it help you answer the question? How does it develop your argument? Basically – ‘So what?’  It is here that you develop criticality and your own academic voice (and so achieve higher grades).

It may be useful (although not essential) to use a sentence at the end or your paragraph to link to the next one. Sometimes this link is better placed at the beginning of the following paragraph instead. It is there to help make your argument flow.

There are many acronyms to help you remember paragraph structure like PEE(L) [Point, Evidence, Explanation (Link)] or TEA(L) [Topic, Evidence, Analysis (Link)] or WEED [What is it about? Evidence, Examples and Do say 'so what?].  Pick the one you remember best!

credit = https://canvas.hull.ac.uk/courses/778/pages/basic-essay-structure

   

Introduction to cinematography and Roger Deakins:

Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, kìnema "movement" and γράφειν, gràphein "to write") is the art of motion-picture photography and filming either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as film stock. ( https://www.google.com/search?q=cinematography&oq=cinematography&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i59j69i60j69i65j69i60j69i65j69i60j69i65.14957j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 )

I want to start the essay with the craft of roger Deakins, what I mean by that is like the early days for him. It will be brief however include the start of his career such as his documentaries.

 

This youtube video will help me understand the development of Deakins and how he uses a camera. This will benefit the introduction to the essay and give me the backbone to work on.

Roger Deakins is one of the most highly rated cinematographers in modern era film. From prisoners to Bladerunner 2049 he has created some of the most visually stunning films.

For my essay, I need to understand why Roger Deakins is so distinctive and so highly rated in the film industry. 

He is an absolutely fantastic photographer, as well as a great storyteller (in other words a great 'visual' storyteller). I want to talk about his history slightly about his storytelling and his use of picture taking.