We've talked about Cinefii's bite-sized dailies a couple of times before. For those who are unfamiliar with these fantastic little videos, they are short "bite-sized" interviews with the most accomplished DP's in the world, in which they expound on all sorts of questions about the art and technology of cinematography. Since we last wrote about these videos a couple of months ago, a veritable plethora of new videos have been published. So without any further ado, here's Bruno Delbonnel, Sean Bobbitt, Vilmos Zsigmond, and Chris Doyle to drop some mad cinematography knowledge on you!
One of the questions that is often asked by Cinefii is what advice these titans of cinematography would give to budding DP's. A good portion of the time, the answers are the same: find and define your own cinematographic voice, using your life experiences as a guide to that end.
Here's acclaimed French cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel, of Amelie fame, with his advice for aspiring cinematographers:
And here's Sean Bobbitt, who's shot a few of my favorite films of the last few years (Hunger, Shame, and The Place Beyond The Pines) with how his life experiences have shaped him as a cinematographer.
Here is Vilmos Zsigmond, one of the most famed and prolific cinematographers of the past 40 years, with some different advice for aspiring cinematographers:
Lastly, here's Christopher Doyle, who we've featured a number of times, with what is perhaps one of the most enlightening views yet on the future of digital filmmaking:
For me, these videos are a goldmine of cinematography knowledge, even though much of the advice given is similar and somewhat vague. However, it's through hearing advice like this again and again that we can internalize it and begin to live the advice, instead of just acknowledging it.
For more of Cinefii's Bite-Sized Dailies, check out their page. Be sure to check back often, as it is updated with new videos regularly.
What do you guys think? Do you agree with the notion that the most important thing budding cinematographers can do is to define their own voice? What other advice would you give to aspiring DP's? Let us know in the comments!
