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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Most Played Out Trends in Cinematography Today

Most Played Out Trends in Cinematography Today

  • The "Hey everyone, look how wide open my lens can get!" rack focus

    Votes: 48 41.4%

  • The "We rented a dolly for the day, and we know how to use it!" scene

    Votes: 19 16.4%

  • The "JJ Abrams is my hero!" lens flares

    Votes: 25 21.6%

  • Other

    Votes: 24 20.7%
  • Total voters
    116
I think we have to face the fact that we are living in the post Videocopilot/Cinema5D world and now more than ever we are going to be exposed to people who are just setting out with filmmaking. I really don't get annoyed when I look on Vimeo and see the camera is shaking, lens flares fill the screen and the main actor looks like an umpa lumpa. These people are just setting out and trying some of the basic techniques that are suppose to make your projects more "cinematic" (and we've all been there). It's easy to get a bit snobbish and forget that when you were starting out you probably made just as many of these cliche mistakes. The only difference now is that these people have a distribution platform; the internet.

Having said that, when a big budget production uses some of these techniques in the same fashion it annoys me to no end. One that really gets on my nerves is the use of ultra slow motion!!! These people get paid an awful lot of money to do a job that most of us would kill for. The least they could do is to put time into developing some originality in their cinematography rather than either copying a popular franchise, or using gimmicks make a good trailer.
 
I see a lot of "oners" with a lot of movement of late. Not just in feature/TV narrative, but also short form digital content. I suppose motorised gimbals have something to do with that, there are certainly a lot of hand-off type shots being performed. In general, a majority of these shots seem like a gimmick at best, or something that detracts from the core experience at worst. For the former, gimmicks are cool and can be of themselves form an experience. But more troubling are situations where the filmmakers go for a long shot just because they want to show off, rather than what the material really demands. I love the idea of the uncut shot, but it should be used judiciously, just like any conspicuous technique. Also, they need not have so much movement, or any at all. Curiously enough, the last time I was on this thread I think I was complaining about over cutting and random coverage. I suppose that still exists but probably peaked in the early part of this decade.

Some more - aerial shots everywhere, and low-contrast log-like grading.
 
The log-y look. AKA where blacks aren't black. For some reason I want to produce something with that look but I find it difficult because it's not to my style.
 
  • I get that using off-camera key makes our coverage easier but really, whats wrong with camera side key? It worked for Rembrandt.
  • I think I've heard the song "Intro" by XX on every other demo reel in 2014, also, I love The Music Bed as much as the next guy but let's mix it up a little and show some diversity in the artists or tracks we use.
  • Lastly, I'm even guilty of this but can we stop mimicking the hand gliding over wheat shot from Gladiator? Isn't it time to retire this shot?

All in good fun guys : )
 
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Slightly off topic, but I found an amazing video series called "Every Frame a Painting" and one of the videos is about Jackie Chan's opinions on directing action comedy and a lot of his opinions are relevant to this conversation. I remember loving Jackie Chan movies when I was a kid and it looks like I have a great reason to revisit them as an adult!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1PCtIaM_GQ

P.S. You should really watch this whole video series. Tony Zhou has a ton of great things to say about filmmaking!
 
Not a camera trick, but libidinous people calling "fashion shoot" any images involving some half naked women, or "short film" any test or hollyday footage, are boring. And people adding logos and credits all over (and sometimes for a longer time than what will be showed) for any random amateurish vimeo/youtube videos like if it were star wars.
 
Marcus Friedlander said:
You should really watch this whole video series. Tony Zhou has a ton of great things to say about filmmaking!
Click to expand...
I agree. His comments on Michael Bay are spot-on -- both critical of his flaws and appreciative of his skills.
 
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