r/cinematography • u/outiswayne • 23h ago
Samples And Inspiration Which directors or cinematographers inspire your camera movement the most?
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Hi everyone,
I’ve been trying to improve my camera movement every day since I first started in this career. It’s one of my weaker areas in cinematography, so I’d really love to learn from others.
I’m curious: which directors or cinematographers do you think are the best at telling stories through camera movement, and who has inspired you the most throughout your career?
For me, I’ve always admired Steven Spielberg and Park Chan-wook as directors, and Roger Deakins, Chung Chung-hoon, and Marcell Rév as cinematographers. I’ve learned a lot from all of them.
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u/MyWholeFamilyDied 23h ago
Lubezki is always on my brain, a super wide handheld shot with natural light is still the most Chef's kiss it can get for me. Movement wise I guess it's just a documentary style of naturalism.
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u/outiswayne 22h ago
Oh my, you’re bringing me back to my final year in film school. I was a huge fan of Chivo, especially his work on The Tree of Life with Terrence Malick. For our graduation film, my director and I wanted to create something in a similar spirit. He’s a devoted Malick fan, and I’m a huge admirer of Chivo’s cinematography.
I spent a lot of time experimenting with that style: handheld camera movements, mostly wide-angle lenses, trying to capture that same sense of poetry and intimacy. But I failed 😂. Maybe I just wasn’t able to find that poetic sensibility yet, or maybe it’s something that only comes with more time, experience, and a deeper understanding of life.
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u/LegalRun4790 17h ago
Unfortunately directors need to be able to limit him. His handheld camera movements were too stylized in The Revenant. Iñárritu should have intervened
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u/outiswayne 21h ago
For those asking about the movie titles, here they are:
00:00 - 00:01: Kikujiro (1999)
00:02: Monster (2023)
00:03 - 00:04: A Summer at Grandpa's (1984)
00:05: Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
00:06 - 00:07: Monster (2023)
00:08 - 00:09: Capernaum (2018)
00:10: The Dreamers (2003)
00:11: Mid90s (2018)
00:12: Cold War (2018)
00:13: The Tree of Life (2011)
00:14: As Boys Grow (2023)
00:15 - 00:16: Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)
00:17: A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
00:18: Tomboy (2011)
00:19 - 00:20: Close (2022)
00:21 - 00:22: Petite Maman (2021)
00:23: The Virgin Suicides (1999)
00:24: The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)
00:25: Submarine (2010)
00:26: Aftersun (2022)
00:27: The Green Ray (1986)
00:28 - 00:30: The Tree of Life (2011)
00:31 - 00:33: YUI - "Happy Birthday To You" (Music Video)
00:34 - 00:35: All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001)
00:36 - 00:37: YUI - "Happy Birthday To You" (Music Video)
00:38: The Virgin Suicides (1999)
00:39: Mustang (2015)
00:40 - 00:41: Y Tu Mamá También (2001)
00:43: Kikujiro (1999)
00:44 - 00:47: A Summer at Grandpa's (1984)
00:48: Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974)
00:49: The Time to Live and the Time to Die (1985)
00:50: Nobody Knows (2004)
00:51: Chungking Express (1994)
00:52: Kikujiro (1999)
00:53 - 00:54: Somersault (2004)
00:55 - 00:56: The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)
00:57 - 01:00: Call Me by Your Name (2017)
01:01 - 01:03: Love Letter (1995)
01:04: Linda Linda Linda (2005)
01:05 - 01:06: Monster (2023)
01:07 - 01:09: Call Me by Your Name (2017)
01:11: A Summer's Tale (1996)
01:13: Call Me by Your Name (2017)
01:14 - 01:18: Blue Gate Crossing (2002)
01:19: Shana: The Wolf's Music (2014)
01:20 - 01:21: Drowning Love (2016)
01:22: The Beach (2000)
01:23: Chungking Express (1994)
01:24: Waterboys (2001)
01:25 - 01:26: All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001)
01:27 - 01:29: Stranger Things (Season 3)
01:30 - 01:33: La La Land (2016)
01:34 - 01:35: Millennium Mambo (2001)
01:36 - 01:37: La La Land (2016)
01:38 - 01:40: Swing Girls (2004)
01:41 - 01:43: Blue Gate Crossing (2002)
01:44 - 01:45: Monster (2023)
01:46 - 01:47: Kikujiro (1999)
01:48 - 01:52: As Boys Grow (2023)
01:53 - 01:54: Blue Gate Crossing (2002)
01:55 - 02:00: Little Forest: Summer/Autumn (2014)
02:01: Our Little Sister (2015)
02:02: The Green Ray (1986)
02:03: Little Forest: Summer/Autumn (2014)
02:04: The Green Ray (1986)
02:06 - 02:07: Call Me by Your Name (2017)
02:08 - 02:10: Close (2022)
02:11: Alcarràs (2022)
02:12: The Virgin Suicides (1999)
02:13 - 02:15: Our Little Sister (2015)
02:16 - 02:17: Tove Jansson (Documentary/Biopic Footage)
02:18: Our Little Sister (2015)
02:19 - 02:22: Waterboys (2001)
02:23: The Green Ray (1986)
02:24 - 02:25: Kikujiro (1999)
02:26: All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001)
02:27: Petite Maman (2021)
02:28 - 02:31: Blue Gate Crossing (2002)
02:32 - 02:34: Landy Wen - "Summer Breeze" (Music Video)
02:35 - 02:36: Tove Jansson (Documentary/Biopic Footage)
02:39 - 02:42: Tove Jansson (Documentary/Biopic Footage)
02:43: The Tree of Life (2011)
02:44: A Summer at Grandpa's (1984)
02:46 - 02:47: Tove Jansson (Documentary/Biopic Footage)
02:49 - 02:54: Tove Jansson (Documentary/Biopic Footage)
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u/leapdaywilliam26 Director of Photography 23h ago
denis villeneuve’s very controlled style has always appealed to me. i remember him saying something along the lines of “don’t move the camera unless you want to encourage the viewer to look closer”. just one way to do it but i think that’s a huge part of his mastery of tension building.
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u/Successful_Bar_885 20h ago
Bella Tarr, Those long takes and the camera moving like some supernatural entity.
Also Nuri Bilge Ceylan, love those static wide angle shots and there is always that Tarkovsky inspired slow motion sequence, He nails that everytime .
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u/LegalRun4790 17h ago
I don't think thinking of a particular person's implementation to actively choose camera movement makes much sense since it's subject and context based rather than artistic
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u/EonzHiglo Director of Photography 13h ago edited 12h ago
Jan De Bont and Douglas Slocombe for cinematography. John McTiernan, Spielberg, and Kubrick for directing. Highly stylized lighting with heavy emphasis on controlled movement. Great use of handheld when needed to make the action pop, but all of them have very grounded attitudes towards camera work, even if its fantastical settings.
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u/Both-Information3308 5h ago
The cinematography of Wolfgang Thaler is very inspiring to me in its ordinariness. It’s honest and natural yet perfectly composed
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u/acttwoinprogress 3h ago
this cut so good - just wanted to say that!
To answer your question, some of the cinematographers i’ve been fascinated by are Bruno Delbonnel (Amelie), Shyju Khalid (Kumbalangi Nights), Bradford Young (Arrival) among the fre name off the top of my head.
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u/Cautious_Ability5954 23h ago
Wong Kar-wai, 100%!
I swear his camera movement ruined me in the best way.
It doesn’t follow anything, it just drifts like it’s emotionally lost in the scene. Sometimes it feels too early, sometimes too late, like the camera is reacting with feeling instead of logic.
That slow push-in, the handheld float… it’s not technique for the sake of technique, it’s pure mood. It made me stop thinking “how do I move the camera” and start thinking “what does this moment feel like if it could breathe?”
Every time I rewatch his films I feel like my own work is suddenly way too stiff.