Movies for Photographers

Another film to watch is The Good German. Reportedly shot in black and white on pre war lenses to give the correct look a la The Third Man.

"The film was shot in black-and-white and is designed to imitate the appearance of film noir from the 1940s, although it also includes material – such as sex scenes and swearing – that would have been prohibited by the Production Code. Its poster is an homage to the poster for the classic film Casablanca (1942, also a Warner Bros. film), as is the closing scene at an airport. The DVD release presents the film in the 1.33:1 aspect ratio which declined in use from about 1953, though the theatrical release, and other DVD Releases, used the slightly more modern but still unusual 1.66:1 ratio. The film received mixed reviews and grossed $5.9 million worldwide against a budget of $32 million."


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The Cook The Thief His Wife and Her Lover by Peter Greenaway.

Incredible sense of colour and compostion and a deeply evocative story... what's not to like!?...
 
There's a tv series on Amazon called The Collection. Post WWII Paris, and the photographer shoots a lot like an Avedon/Doisneau hybrid with a Rolleiflex. The (faked) presentation of his shooting perspective, through the viewfinder, is really well done.

And, of course, there's the Sebastiao Salgado documentary, The Salt of the Earth.
And the Richard Avedon documentary, Darkness and Light.

For sheer creativity, i love The Grand Budapest Hotel by Wes Anderson.
 
Any film made/shot by Haskell Wexler or any film made by Stanley Kubrick. Particularly "Barry Lyndon".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haskell_Wexler

http://filmmakermagazine.com/93683-...arry-lyndon-using-natural-light/#.WeLMc2Be4mg


Kubrick's f/0.7 lenses now available for rent
https://www.dpreview.com/articles/9...es-now-available-for-rent-but-start-saving-up


"When you here the Stanley Kubrick you think of images. One of the many reasons Kubrick was such a remarkable filmmaker was that he came to the film industry after years working as a professional photographer for publications like Look magazine. There he learned about composition, light and of course lenses."

"Stanley lit mostly with natural light when he could–because of his photojournalism career. Sometimes the flicker of a candle is all the light he would have, which led to the use of a the legendary Zeiss lens designed for NASA as a way shooting the deep darkness of space–Kubrick used it for the evening dining room scenes in Barry Lyndon in order to capture candlelight on the slower film stocks of the day."

https://indiefilmhustle.com/stanley-kubrick-lenses/
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I don't think any understanding of cinema/photographic technique is complete without seeing the work of cinematographers/filmmakers: Conrad Hall, Gabriel Fiqueroa, Vilmos Zsigmond, Stan Brakhage, Bruce Baillie, Gregory Markopolous, and George Kuchar.

And of course there is the quintessential photographer's thriller, Blow-Up (1966) by Michaelangelo Antonioni (lots of Nikon F porn in that one)

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Any film made/shot by Haskell Wexler or any film made by Stanley Kubrick. Particularly "Barry Lyndon".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haskell_Wexler

http://filmmakermagazine.com/93683-...arry-lyndon-using-natural-light/#.WeLMc2Be4mg


Kubrick's f/0.7 lenses now available for rent
https://www.dpreview.com/articles/9...es-now-available-for-rent-but-start-saving-up


"When you here the Stanley Kubrick you think of images. One of the many reasons Kubrick was such a remarkable filmmaker was that he came to the film industry after years working as a professional photographer for publications like Look magazine. There he learned about composition, light and of course lenses."

"Stanley lit mostly with natural light when he could–because of his photojournalism career. Sometimes the flicker of a candle is all the light he would have, which led to the use of a the legendary Zeiss lens designed for NASA as a way shooting the deep darkness of space–Kubrick used it for the evening dining room scenes in Barry Lyndon in order to capture candlelight on the slower film stocks of the day."

https://indiefilmhustle.com/stanley-kubrick-lenses/
X

In general Kubrick was a fanatic who was obsessive for details. In addition to shooting more or less wholly in available light including candle light for many interior scenes he wanted the film to look authentic in its period details. For example he arranged for hundreds if not thousands of military uniforms to be made and what got me us that the British red coats were dyed in the original organic natural dies. it shows very clearly in the final result as modern crimson is much more vivid, colorful and much less authentic.The movie is a cinematic wonder.
 
Camera Buff by Krzysztof Kieslowski

Everlasting Moments by Jan Troell

For the visuals
Apocalypse Now by Coppola

Citizen Kane by Orson Wells

The Man Who Wasn't There The Coen Brothers

Kubrik was a genius. Most anything that he directed.
 
for the street photographers out there, the surreptitious footage and street scenes in "under the skin" are a real treat!
 
Everybody Street by Cheryl Dunn
Interviews with Bruce Davidson, Jill Freedman, Boogie, Meyerowitz and many others along with a lot of history.

Also for visuals Raging Bull by Martin Scorsese
 
Days of Heaven by Terrence Malick. I think it won the Academy award for Cinematography (Nestor Almendros). The soundtrack (Ennio Morricone) is also a masterpiece...
 
Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love by Wong-Kar Wai (eternally grateful to my gf for having introduced me to WKW)
The Shining by Kubrick
Stranger Than Paradise, Jim Jarmusch
 
I stop movies all the time to capture a still when I find the photography inspiring.

If you like japanese photography do not miss anything from these directors -

Seijun Suzuki (Tokyo Drifter)

Shohei Imamura (The Eel , Intentions of Murder, The Insect Woman)

also

Pasolini
 
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