What Directors Do Vs What Cinematographers Do

INTRODUCTION

In modern cinema the authorship of a movie is always attributed to the director. And much of a movie is made up of how the visual information is presented in shots. 

However, most directors don’t directly operate a camera, pick out the camera gear or determine how each scene is lit. This is usually overseen by the cinematographer, otherwise called the director of photography. 

This begs the question: how much of the look of each film is created by the director and how much is the look influenced by the cinematographer? The answer is…well, it depends.

Some directors like Stanley Kubrick were famous for having a large hand in the cinematography choices - from framing and shot selection all the way to picking out what individual lenses would be used. 

While other directors may be far more concerned with working on the script and the performance of the actors, and leave many of the photographic choices up to the DP.

Normally though, the answer is somewhere in between these two extremes.

VISUAL LANGUAGE

In order to determine the authorship of a film’s look, it helps to define all the individual elements and creative choices which go into creating a visual language.

Each frame is due to a compilation of choices. This includes: what shot size is used, how the shot is angled and framed, how the actors are blocked within that frame, the arrangement of the production design and what is placed in front of the camera, the choice of medium and aspect ratio, how the camera moves, the choice of lens, how it is lit, graded, and how each shot is placed next to each other and paced through the editing.

There are no doubt other creative choices that also go into creating a visual language, but these are some of the main ones to think about.

Although some directors and some cinematographers may have a hand in guiding each one of those choices, many of these decisions are controlled more strongly by either the director or the DP. 

CREW STRUCTURE

The decision making process on a film set is similar in many ways to how a company operates. It is headed by the director, the CEO, who manages an overall vision and direction, and has to make lots of small decisions quickly to manage the project of making a film.

Below the director are other ‘executives’, who also have a large impact on the film, but who occupy a more specialised role. For example the producer, or CFO, who focuses more on the niche of the finances. 

Or the cinematographer, the CTO, who is responsible for overseeing how technology is used to capture the film.

Then there are loads of other department heads that occupy leadership roles that are increasingly specialised: like the production manager, or the focus puller. 

This analogy isn’t perfect but you get the idea. So, let’s unpack this a bit further by breaking down what a director does versus what a cinematographer does and which visual decisions each is usually responsible for.     

WHAT A DIRECTOR DOES VS. WHAT A DP DOES

Creating shots and shot sizes is hugely important in establishing the look. Typically directors and cinematographers collaborate on this, but I’d say more often than not director’s have a stronger say in this, especially in the more structured world of TV commercials - where each shot is storyboarded ahead of shooting.

On larger Studio series or films where shooting time is quite expensive, many directors will create a storyboard in pre-production, which will be passed on to the DP when they come onboard. 

Even on less expensive movies directors often like to use this technique to express their vision, keep to schedule and not overshoot a lot of coverage. For example, the Coen brothers are known for using storyboards and being quite particular about each frame which is shot.

However, other directors, such as Steve McQueen, prefer to work in a more collaborative fashion, coming up with shots with the DP and choosing how they want to cover scenes once they are in the location with the actors. 

Choosing whether to move the camera and how to do so is built into this decision about creating shots. Often directors will determine what kind of camera moves they would like to build into the shots, such as a push in, or lateral tracking motion. 

The cinematographer will then take those ideas and work out the best way to practically execute those moves: whether that be with a gimbal, a Steadicam, a dolly or handheld on a rickshaw.

In other words taking the overall tonal direction and making it happen practically.  

Which lens, particularly which focal length is chosen, has an effect on how the shot looks. This is an area where the cinematographer usually controls this choice more than the director.

However, some directors may like to lean into using particular lenses for a trademark look, for example the Safdies have often used long, telephoto lenses on their films, which helps elevate the tense, voyeuristic tone. 

While in other cases the cinematographer may bring a look to the table based on their lens selection, such as Emmanuel Lubezki’s work, which is known for using extremely wide angle lenses close up to characters. He’s used this technique in different films, working for different directors.     

Blocking, or how actors are placed or moved within a scene, is a visual component that is also entirely determined by the director in most cases. They will work with the actors and walk through the scene, while the cinematographer watches and thinks about camera placement. 

Occasionally DPs may provide suggestions to the director if they think that certain movements or positionings may not work visually - but more often than not they will try to work with whatever blocking the director puts forth.

Another part of the process which is mainly controlled by the director is the production and costume design - which is done in collaboration with the art director and costume designer. When pitching a film or commercial, a director’s treatment will often include direction about the kinds of locations, colour palettes and costume which they envision.

However, some director’s may also be open to collaboration with the cinematographer, particularly when it comes to crafting a colour palette.

The palette can also be influenced by lighting. This is a factor controlled almost entirely by cinematographers, and is probably the biggest stylistic part of the look that they bring to the table.

The easiest way to see this is to look at the work of directors, who have worked with different cinematographers on different projects.

These are all night scenes in films by the same director: Luca Guadagnino. Two of them were shot by cinematographer Yorick Le Saux, which feature toppy lighting, a darker exposure and a more muted, darker palette. 

The other two were shot by cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom and feature a more vibrant, earthy palette, a brighter, side key light and hanging practical bulbs in the background.

Or how about these films from Quentin Tarantino. Two were shot by Andrzej Sekuła and are lit with hard light from cooler HMIs through windows. These are cut in the background to have different areas of hard light and shadow.

While the other two were lit by cinematographer Robert Richardson, which have more warmth in the skin tones, and are cooler in the shadows. Both use his table spotlight technique: where he fires a hard light rigged in the ceiling into the table, which then bounces a softer warmer light onto the actor’s faces. 

 Again, same director, but subtly different looks from different DPs. 

However, occasionally directors will communicate a specific lighting style across multiple films to the different DPs that they work with. For example, Terrance Malick’s exclusive use of natural light and emphasis on filming in golden hour. 

The choice of medium is one that is probably equally contributed to by directors and cinematographers. By this I mean the choice of whether to shoot digitally or on film, in large format or Super35, with spherical or anamorphic lenses.

These overarching decisions about medium are usually made by the DP and director based on their artistic and practical merits. The further technical nuances of that choice, such as which large format camera to shoot on, or which anamorphic lens to use will then almost always be made by the cinematographer.

Choosing the visual language of how shots are juxtaposed and paced in the edit is almost 100% done by the director and editor. The only input a DP may have in this regard is when they provide guidance about shooting a scene in a very specific way during production - such as using a long take, or shooting with very limited coverage - which leaves the director minimal cutting options in the edit.

Once the final cut enters the grade in post production, on average I’d say the director has slightly more control than the DP. But, not always. Some DPs like to expose and shoot digitally on set with a specially built LUT. This LUT is later used as the basis of the look in the grade. 

Some cinematographers also push to always be present in the grade, as how the footage is shaped in post production hugely contributes to how a film looks.

A good example of this is how the Coen brothers work with two different cinematographers: Roger Deakins and Bruno Delbonnel. 

Whether working digitally with a LUT, or with film in the DI, Deakins tends to favour a more saturated, vibrant, contrasty, look with warmer skin tones and deeper, darker shadows.

While Delbonnel is known for crafting a specific look in post with his film negative that is lower in saturation, cooler in both the highlights and the shadows, and quite often introduces heavy layers of diffusion on top of the image to give it a more of a dreamy look.

CONCLUSION

Ultimately, the creation of the images is a balancing act which is dependent on the input of multiple collaborators - from the director to the DP to the production designer. 

Directors tend towards providing more of a conceptual guidance about how a movie looks, while cines generally are more about taking those ideas and visually executing them by working with technical crew and equipment.

A DP working for a good director, shooting a good story, will make their work look better. And as a director you want someone who will help you to enhance and photographically bring your vision to life.

Regardless of who does what, the most important thing is to find great collaborators and be open to at least hearing what ideas they bring to the table.