Roger Deakins is one of the veterans in the film industry when it comes to cinematography. His visions have been so inspired that he’s been nominated for an Academy award a stunning 14 times now. His most current nomination will be decided in March when the Academy Awards are finally decided live on TV, but until then everyone will be crossing their fingers for him. More than anything his work is considered brilliant since he takes such an interest in what he does and comes up with a result that is nothing short of awesome. The current film that he is being nominated for, Blade Runner 2049, is as good an example of what he’s capable of when he’s at his best.
5. He typically works with the Coen Brothers.
Everyone has their favorite people they like to work with and it usually has a lot to do with the kind of chemistry they have with those individuals. It’s easy enough to be civil with people and to get along for the sake of a project but when you find someone that you really get along with then it’s that much easier to form a lasting bond. It can be called a friendship or just a personal preference in someone’s company, but whatever it is it tends to work.
4. He likes to use a simplistic lighting design, usually with one or two lights.
Lighting is something that the cinematographer is all about. The director might run the picture but the cinematographer has to deal with the lighting and how it affects the overall picture. If it doesn’t look right then they need to adjust it, if it’s not meshing well with the picture then they need to fix it, work with different angles, and make sure that they find a way to get it to work. Deakins is so good that he has his own style and only needs the bare essentials.
3. He likes to shoot with a spherical lens more often than not.
I won’t pretend to know what the difference is between a spherical lens and any other but Deakins has his own style and his own ways and it’s said that he highly prefers to work with a spherical lens. It no doubt has something to do with how the image is captured and how the lighting can affect the image.
2. He originally intended to become a painter.
To be honest this seems like it would be a natural progression from painting since it’s still a work of art. Deakins is so highly skilled at what he does that his works are in many ways very like the finest paintings ever produced by the hands of human beings, with the distinct advantage that they feature movement and the interplay of light and shadow on any set he’s working with.
1. He likes to operate the camera on his own.
This is apparently not too common among cinematographers as they seem to work very hands off and direct a great many others throughout this process. But Deakins likes to be more hands on with his techniques.
Fingers crossed for March. This could be his year.
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