Cinematography

Cinema is a delicate art form, that can inspire and mystify. While yes my friend, cinematography is an important element to proper film technique, it has turned into a crutch over the last few decades as images can be tailored to wow with more intensity. We find that there is, or was, for the duration of the nineties and into this millenial era, an interest by the average and even rabid fan of cinema to see moving images like never before. But the emphasis has been shifted from a balance of depth and imagery amongst a moving tapestry of emotion and story telling, into a greater reliance on simple images. This though, has been shifting yet again, as the integration of digital mapping and of simulated camera work has come to a fairly level plateau, individuals are in need of other elements to accept a film as proper, and well constructed. We have a generation of film makers who have little to no appreciation of the subtlety that can be executed through cinema, and who were reared on Spielberg, Lucas, Zemeckis, Cameron and the likes. The problem is, is that this generation begat from the afore mentioned trio, were captivated solely on visual progression, and were perhaps unaware of the necessary inclusion of a rich, and layered story to accompany these visuals. Spielberg, Lucas, Cameron and Zemeckis were all masters at developing stories using classic archetypes dating back to Grecian and Roman Epics and placing contemporary figures into the roles of the heroes and villians. These approaches work. They are the most elemental bases to a strong story, and therefor translates into the form of cinema well. Most of these stories resonate with strong imagery, and since technology has caught up to the imaginations of auteurs, the possibilities to meld quality genuine story telling with the images of our dreams has reached the point where film makers could craft incredible works, that stimulate and fascinate all of our emotions and senses. And what are we left with? Film makers like Francis Lawrence, Michael Bay, Roland Emmerich, who are all video directors, with little to no understanding of what quality film making should be. But those hopes for ground breaking cinema lie in the hands of those few talented individuals who understand not only how to merge visuals and story, but to ensure they are both applicable and worthy of one another. Peter Jackson (LOTR, King Kong), Robert Rodriguez (Sin City), Richard Linklater (Waking Life, Scanner Darkly), David Fincher (Zodiac, Fight Club) are all young talent in terms of directors who are crafting spectacular films. And who else? Shocker, but three of the four who inspired the revolution of visual command by directors: Spielberg, Zemeckis and Cameron. And Lucas? Well sadly, he fell into the shallow depths of those directors now despised by true cinema geeks as another vacuous realm that can breed no heart into the visuals. So in summary, particualrly to your suggestion about the understanding of formulaic film making: You are completely uneducated to make such an assumption regarding film technique. Francis Lawrence has little to no talent in cinema, but can have a great career in commercials and music videos, because those two mediums do not require talent beyond by the books technique.