filmmaking is more than "cinematic" images

I have a problem with this picture and this picture and this picture I took all of these they're loaded with a lot of personal feelings that are a part of me trying to process making a change to set a new goal to stop creating cinematic [Music] images if you're not a filmmaker you could substitute the word cinematic for the Pinterest and Instagram ready word aesthetic and hopefully you can still track along as I continue along my creative journey I look around at others in various stages of their own and while the internet is a great Learning Resource I feel like it misguides people on what is really truly creatively important so as I plan to take some next steps myself I think about the path I want to take and to personally shake off a lot of misguided information I picked up along the way and instead I want to focus on one thing that I know is the truth [Music] I look on Instagram occasionally and I see lots of really beautiful images I often feel jealous and start comparing myself and on many levels this work is visually and technically better than the work I'm producing and there are lots of comments calling it so cinematic this work engages it catches your eye and people click Like In the Heat of the Moment In the sweetness in the sweet to the moment but kind of like candy after a while I find myself getting a little sick of it if it doesn't satisfy something deeper it doesn't nourish you with an idea it's sort of like the art section at Ikea or some home store when was the last time you were in the art section of Ikea and it took your breath away the best you get there is oh that's cute the only people with tears in their eyes in the art section of Ikea are either toddlers or husbands who've been wandering aimlessly for an hour and a half and just want a dang hot dog so when I'm personally feeling anxiety or whatever it is when I look at this work that is super sweet and super gorgeous there is no idea this is just me sort of thinking about it for the first time but it's made the Cinematic word in the back of my head become a bit of a red flag maybe I'm just jealous and I'm trying to justify my own work compared to others and I don't think folks are intentionally using the word cinematic as a slur but I do think deeply unfortunately and I think deeply about why they're using that word it seems like they don't have any other words because the work doesn't have much else to offer them so let's detour through some semantics you can take the suffix i to mean a few things but in this case it kind of means just like like cinema cinema like not really anything but it kind of looks like something it kind of looks like an ingredient of Cinema it's kind of like a lowfat cookie when you take a bite it kind of looks like a cookie it kind of tastes like a cookie kind of feels like a cookie in your mouth but there's something missing and this stupid analogy what you're missing is butter and if there's any analogy for an idea or story that I could come up with there's nothing better to compare it to you with butter and while I'm excited that the idea of design and visual Harmony and aesthetic is becoming more valued by a wider swap the people if it's not communicating something meaningful then why is it there I've talked in videos in the past about the balance of style and substance preferring useful things over beautiful things or having a balance of the two I seem to constantly go back to a certain Brand's mouse that is a little too far on the wrong side of that balance if it's not communicating something meaningful then why does it exist it's simply content creation a title that makes me existentially sad on one hand yes things can just sit there and look pretty but on the other hand you could argue that I'm I'm not being just a stupid critical jerk and instead mourning lost opportunities if creating cinematic content ENT is your goal I don't want to dissuade you I actually want to do the opposite I want to tell you that you're so close so you're just missing one final step the story the butter the reason they'll stay we just got to take that next step I mean sometimes I I will stay for the literal butter ideally if it's layered throughout the popcorn if that's not too much to ask so maybe it's just me and I rant about this word cinematic I put it down I tell you about how it's a red flag but it is only because of personal reflection and choices that I've made I'm not looking at your work I'm not making an opinion on your work I'm making an opinion on mine and trying to change so I rant about the word cinematic but believe me I am not immune I hopped in the car the other night to take some pictures it was foggy it was pretty you know ideal situation and when I got home and when I look back at the images I could feel this like dark existential dread this like dull drone in the background of my head I remember sitting in capture one working on the shot and thinking I just wish I had a person in the photo I wish there was somebody or something a reason it just felt like a missed opportunity and of course my worst feelings were confirmed the next day when I was speaking with a friend and he said hey I saw those cool foggy photos you took the other night they just needed uh and then we just went on and talked about this Horror Story a film that we could have shot how cool would it have been to have a story ready and written so that when these things when the stars align we can gear up and go out and capture something truly special that's where I want to be moving forward to stop creating cinematic images and to start creating Cinema so back to popcorn we've all seen the screen grabs from Blade Runner from The Godfather the train Heist scene in Jesse James is mind-blowing to me but these images are made in partnership with a story it's the story that makes these films Eternal the cinematography is what we watch the story is why we watch and the intersection of these two is Cinema not every shot in these films is Instagram ambly cinematic some are front lit some are shot at High Noon some are unlit and these are all cardinal sins if you watch too much YouTube and these choices while sometimes practical generally just are serving the story that's the sign of true great cinematography it won't take you long to watch a few interviews with Roger deacons and he always comes back to the story movies have become more about the aesthetic than they have about the story and the content and what the film's trying to say I I find that really disappointing and somewhat depressing so when you're stopping at creating cinematic images you lose the story's context you're letting go of a whole dimension take a film like coherence it's a really fun watch it was shot on a Canon 5D the granddaddy to this camera it had no dynamic range way too much contrast but as you get sucked into the story the camera doesn't matter the camera like that was critical to catching lightning in the bottle I've been on shoots where it takes so long to move the big stupid camera that the magic's gone as much as I love the beautiful images and giant set pieces of Blade Runner or Doom I equally enjoy Mumble Kish films like Francis ha or blue J which I just rewatched the other day Francis H was shot on a camera worse than the cam I'm shooting this stupid Vlog on and blue jay never even had a script it started with a two-page treatment a great idea a great story and two really great actors those films are stripped down to their Essence if you have a great idea a great story it's almost all you need I was watching Monty Python with my son last week and it's hilarious how low quality it is the idea can do so much heavy lifting this demonstrates the value of not being seen so when someone asks what are you up to what are you creating what are you working on and you reply cinematic imagery beautiful aesthetic visuals A vibe that sounds depressingly boring to me sounds like something right out of Zoolander it can be silly stupid you can have fart jokes in it it can be a skit doesn't have to be a dark depressing drama it can just be something thanks for sticking around I hope you and I we the greater we us I hope we all make our aim not cinematic images but Cinema story and making images that serve a story is a completely different practice than making images that serve an [Music] algorithm does this mean you can't just hop in your car on a foggy night and take it images of of course not and I will continue to do this take my camera along with me as much as I can and wander because that is building practice and learning your craft this is an appetizer for the main course so don't miss out on the best part I feel like you can take that one step further if you're an aspiring director balance the shooting with the writing if you want to be a cinematographer search out writers and directors who have stories pull references play dry shots for your own story's purpose if you look at Wes Anderson's work if you watch any director's commentary with him he's constantly rattling off the references for every frame forget which camera has the most dynamic range forget which editing software is the best focus on making a story that only you can make I feel compelled to share this thought of mine about the word cinematic look where it got us arguably nowhere I'm sorry or thank you for being my therapy I look forward to the future where we do it for ourselves and aren't just chasing dopamine highs from multiple likes how long can you and I go on saying I could shoot a movie or I would love to shoot a movie well are you shooting a movie Jesse are you going to huh pardon I I told you I would I just got to finish a couple things things [Music] first

Channel: Jesse Senko

Views: 13,406

Keywords: Cinematography, Filmmaking, Roger deakins, Ideas, Screenwriting, Directing, Cinematic vlog, Monty python, How not to be seen, Coherence, Frances ha, Blue jay movie, Duplass, Noah baumbauch

Id: _bC9dRofW94

Length: 11min 47sec (707 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 27 2024