Job description:

A cinematographer, also known as a Director of Photography, is in charge of the camera and the lighting crew. They’re the person responsible for creating the look, colour, lighting, and for framing of every single shot in a film. The cinematographer may also act as the camera operator on more low-budget productions.

Inspiration: Sayombhu Mukdeeprom

Working on the lush Italian-set love story Call Me by Your Name in his second collaboration with director Luca Guadagnino, cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom was met with an unusual request- to shoot the entire film with one lens.

In point of fact, Guadagnino’s ask was in keeping with Mukdeeprom’s own aesthetic interests, though he had never met a director with whom he could explore this visual idea. Taken from the filming practices of David Cronenberg, the idea was to craft a “neutral perspective,” supporting a sense of intimacy and realism while intruding as little as possible on the reality the actors were living.

Sayombhu Mukdeeprom quotes, “The producer asked me, should there be some other, wider lens? Just in case? I said ‘No, no. I want to tie my hand to this approach, because this is how I work,” the DP says. “I think if you want to limit yourself to something, you struggle inside your idea.”

Sayombhu claims that he had previously shot one movie in Italy so he knew what he would encounter in the film. He tried to figure out, technically, what were the most important things, which was that it needed a very good exposure point. He says, “When I called for a test, what I needed to do was find the right exposure for the very wide dynamic range of the scene. I had to put myself in extreme conditions to try to find the sweet spot, and that gave me confidence about everything.”

Why it inspired me:

My inspiration for my cinematography role is Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, his use simplistic cinematography. The use of shot sizes (extreme long shots, long shots and medium long shots etc) show off the beautiful scenery and transitions. The still scenes of one object or location tie in to the realistic and visual beauty to the film.

Examples:

Sayombhu Mukdeeprom manages to skilfully soften the artificial light within the frame in a way that is both mesmerizing and realistic to watch. Its filled with lucid shots of characters, that portray vulnerability and emotion.