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Copyright by Robert Christopher Lucas 2011 The Dissertation Committee for Robert Christopher Lucas Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Crafting Digital Cinema: Cinematographers in Contemporary Hollywood Committee: Thomas Schatz, Supervisor Sharon Strover Nancy Schiesari Bruce Hunt James Hay Crafting Digital Cinema: Cinematographers in Contemporary Hollywood by Robert Christopher Lucas, B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin August 2011 Dedication For Julie Acknowledgements I am very grateful for my committee members‟ support through this long process. Thomas Schatz showed unflagging confidence in the project‟s value and in my ability to finish it. Sharon Strover offered feedback and encouragement at key moments and generously provided workspace in the crucial last months. James Hay was a wonderful source of challenging questions and reassurance. Bruce Hunt and Nancy Schiesari provided new perspectives on this subject that I greatly appreciated. Also, William Christ and Jennifer Henderson kindly hired me to teach at Trinity University for several semesters running and another Trinity colleague, Patrick Keating, helped invigorate this project with his research and our conversations. My graduate colleagues Kyle Barnett, Avi Santo, Hollis Griffin, Alison Perlman, and Holly Custard have encouraged me with welcome feedback and timely commiseration. The cinematographers and filmmakers that spoke with me were remarkably generous with their time. There are too many to thank here, but Curtis Clark, the chairman of the ASC Technology Committee, deserves a special mention for sharing his unique perspective and great knowledge. For hosting all of my trips to Los Angeles with utmost hospitality, I must acknowledge the Donahoe family, Gerry, Mara, Malcolm, and Zoe. My parents, Carlotta and Richard Lucas, know what a long, bumpy track I‟ve taken to this degree and I appreciate their love and belief immensely. Finally, the writing of this document is bound into the story of my family, my wife Julie Gillis and our boys Owen and Evan. Much love and thanks to them for their forbearance, encouragement, and daily doses of laughter and shenanigans. v Crafting Digital Cinema: Cinematographers in Contemporary Hollywood Publication No._____________ Robert Christopher Lucas, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2011 Supervisor: Thomas Schatz In the late 1990s, motion picture and television production began a process of rapid digitalization with profound implications for cinematographers in Hollywood, as new tools for “digital cinematography” became part of the traditional production process. This transition came in three waves, starting with a post-production technique, the digital intermediate, then the use of high-definition video and digital production cameras, and finally digital exhibition. This dissertation shows how cinematographers responded to the technical and aesthetic challenges presented by digital production tools as they replaced elements of the film-based, photochemical workflow. Using trade publications, mainstream press sources, and in-depth interviews with cinematographers and filmmakers, I chronicle this transition between 1998 and 2005, analyzing how cinematographers‟ responded to and utilized these new digital technologies. I analyze demonstration texts, promotional videos, and feature films, including Pleasantville, O Brother Where Art Thou, Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, The Anniversary Party, Personal Velocity, and Collateral, all of which played a role in establishing a discourse vi and practice of digital cinematography among cinematographers, producers and directors. The challenges presented by new collaborators such as the colorist and digital imaging technician are also examined. I discuss cinematographers‟ work with standards-setting groups such as the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the studio consortium Digital Cinema Initiatives, describing it as an effort to protect “film-look” and establish look-management as a prominent feature of their craft practice. In an era when digitalization has made motion pictures more malleable and mobile than ever before, this study shows how cinematographers attempted to preserve their historical, craft-based sense of masterful cinematography and a structure of authority that privileges the cinematographer as “guardian of the image.” vii Table of Contents List of Figures ........................................................................................................ xi Chapter 1: Crafting Digital Cinema .........................................................................1 The Motion Picture Production Process .........................................................5 Digitalization and the Production Process ......................................................7 Defining Cinematography .............................................................................13 Labor, Craft, and Profession in Creative Industries ......................................18 Technology, Labor and Authority .................................................................21 Technology and Film Style ...........................................................................27 Research Method and Procedures .................................................................35 Structure of the Study ...................................................................................42 Reflexivity, Autonomy, and Craft Authority ................................................54 Chapter 2: Art and Cinematographers ...................................................................58 Craft, Art, and Aesthetics ..............................................................................60 Media Studies and Aesthetics .......................................................................63 The Tissue of Craft Relationships .................................................................66 Painting with Light .......................................................................................77 Classical Aesthetics and Cinematography ....................................................83 Covering, Motivating, Establishing, and Continuity ....................................86 The Politics of Cinematography ...................................................................89 Chapter 3: Cinematographers in Hollywood .........................................................93 Cinematography in the Pre-institutional Era .................................................97 Cinematography under the Director Unit and Central Producer Systems ....99 Cinematographers, the Studio Era and the Coming of Sound. ...................104 Cinematography in the 1950s .....................................................................108 Cinematographers and Generational Transitions ........................................112 Cinematographers in New Hollywood. .......................................................116 Cinematographers and Digital Cinema .......................................................118 viii Conclusion ..................................................................................................120 Chapter 4: Cinematographers and the Digital Intermediate ................................122 The Origins of the Digital Intermediate ......................................................126 Color and Cinematography .........................................................................129 Cinematographers in the Laboratory ..........................................................132 Four Threats to Cinematographer Authority ...............................................135 Promises of the Digital Intermediate ..........................................................145 Conclusion ..................................................................................................147 Chapter 5: The Digital Intermediate and Craft Authority in Practice ..................150 Digital Intermediate in the late 1990s .........................................................154 The DI in Pleasantville and O Brother Where Art Thou? ..........................156 Representations of Authority I: John Lindley .............................................165 Representations of Authority II: Roger Deakins ........................................173 Conclusion ..................................................................................................181 Chapter 6: Cinematographers and Digital Acquisition ........................................188 Negotiating A “Digital” Cinema on Video .................................................191 Development of the “Digital” Camera ........................................................194 The “Film is Dead” fight .............................................................................200 Cinematographers versus Sony ...................................................................211 The Meaning of A Movie Camera ..............................................................217 From Video to Digital Data Cameras .........................................................237 Conclusion ..................................................................................................239 Chapter 7: Digital Acquisition and Craft Authority in Practice ..........................241