REFLECTIONS…Narayankumar

As we entered the FTII as student cinematographers the 1st six  months were nothing but Still Photography as far as cinematography was concerned . We were given B/W film stock 100 ASA and asked to Still Images .. This was our beautiful beginning into the world of image exploration..People , landscape , activities , Light .. Morning Light, Evening light , Long shadows, Noon Light , Twilight .. Night every kind of light we tried to capture images .. Thus began our journey.. into an obsession with Light &Imaging..

At FTII we were fed on a liberal dose of European Cinema … I am talking about late 1980’s… It was a joy and revelation to see such realistic work of  French New wave directors like Francois Truffaut  , Eric Rohmer and Italian Neo Realism Masters like Vittorio Di Sica  .. we were heavily influenced by the school of Naturalism / Realism in Lighting .. and one of my dear cinematographers whom I admired through the films was  Mr Nestor Almendros.. who comes from a documentary background and started shooting movies for Directors like Francois Truffaut , Eric Rohmer who made extreme low budget film .. They did not want to shoot in the sets .. They rather preferred shooting on locations ..  Nestor was quite a minimalist who also loved shooting on locations and preferred light coming through windows . In later days  he beautifully shot “Days of Heaven “ for Terrence Malick .. . He is one cinematographer to be followed to study the use of Naturalism &Realism  in Lighting in movies ..

He has also written a wonderful book called  “ Man with the movie camera” .. a must read..

Nester Almendros quotes in his book

“ When it comes to lighting , one of my basic principles is that the light sources must be justified . I believe that what is functional is beautiful, that functional light is beautiful Light . I try to make sure that my light is logical rather than Aesthetic . In a natural set I use what light there is , reinforcing it when necessary. In  a studio set I imagine that the sun is shining from a certain point outside , and I decide how the light would come through the windows . The rest is easy”

“ I make all my decisions about lighting by eye , without bothering at first about footcandles and all other calculations . I size up contrasts directly , using the exposure meter only at the last minute to decide on the lens stop . Today’s emulsions are so true to life that if something looked good at first sight , it will be equally good when it is printed on film”

So much high was his influence that I started lighting by eye in the institute days.. I remember we were doing a Misc en Scene exercise where we have to shoot a Scene as a single Shot with Camera Movements with 100 ASA B/ W stock The Set was an old  Bar by the Sea Side.. we had picked up old practicals and fitted with 100W bulbs.. It was looking beautiful ..When we added baby’s and other lights the feel and effect of dim illumination at the bar seemed destroyed.. I started reducing the intensity by using dimmer till it seemed fine for the eye.. It looked perfect.. After shooting we were waiting for the negative to be developed and printed . The grader who was in the lab said.. “Narayan Bhai.. Negative me to kuchDikhNahiRahahai” Meaning My negative was too thin and nothing is seen properly. He printed and we got to see the rushes on the screen.. The feel was nice but the blacks were missing .. Hard lesson learnt .. Expose properly..

An equivalent of today’s Digital times .. do follow the histogram or false color for exposure reference..

Here are some links about Nestor Almendros  and his filmography..

http://filmmakermagazine.com/75888-lessons-in-cinematography-from-nestor-almendros/#.WYSsU9OGMb0

http://nofilmschool.com/2017/01/nestor-almendros-cinematographer

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000743/

Narayan Kumar

Cinematographer / Teacher