What is Great Cinematography?

A tour through the greatest cinematography I've ever seen in film, and why beauty is more than just stylistic choice.

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Music Credits:
(0:00) A Shadow on Wigmore Street by Duke Herrington
(1:19) Ambiance by Johannes Bornlof
(2:30) Unfinished Stories by Lennon Hutton
(4:15) Strings Attached by Flint
(12:09) DOX by Lennon Hutton

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#ThomasFlight #videoessay
0:00 What Is Great Cinematography?
04:13 Light
15:10 Composition
19:41 Movement
21:41 Beauty

[micahstailey]

My great-grandfather, Alfred Junge, was the production designer on Black Narcissus (as well as A Matter of Life and Death) and won an Oscar for his work. Thank you for recognizing this beautiful film.

[OldBluesChapterandVerse]

“It’s hard to be cynical when you’re looking at something beautiful.” So freaking true, my friend. Thank you for reminding me of that.

[sanjaysami]

Very honoured to be mentioned in this video !

[mrink]

Good cinematography is seamless, when you're watching a movie, you don't notice how good it is. But on a rewatch, or in a video like this that highlights it, I just realized how beautiful and well-shot these scenes are

[LikeStoriesofOld]

I loved this! Was expecting some beautiful shots (which you obviously delivered on), but I found the writing to be equally astounding; the section on beauty especially was just amazing in how it articulated that ineffable quality of cinema that is so vital to its essence yet so hard to put into words... but somehow you made it seem easy!

[Malcolm___]

My all-time favorite bit of cinematography is Deakins' shot of the descent into the arroyo in Sicario. Just a shockingly cool and beautiful moment.

[rahulpiratla]

the script for this video was so eloquent and beautifully written - that, paired with the wonderful choice of music and the fantastic visuals from your selection of movies honestly made me quite emotional while also giving me a surge of inspiration to one day create images like this. thanks for creating such a wonderful video essay!

[SolamenteVees]

I’m a wildlife photographer, have won a few awards… but the depth of artistry in filmmaking is worlds ahead of what I do. I love your channel & content.

[rics]

I love when Cinematography reflects the inner architecture of the character. Movie 'Tar' is a great example. Excellent cinematography.

[marquesmartinez]

The shot in The Graduate when his girlfriend realizes the truth of who Ben is seeing…that rack focus may be my favorite single shot in all of cinema

[jonathankim]

Decision to Leave has some of the best, most creative cinematography I've ever seen. Would've loved to see some of those shots in the Movement portion of the video. As always, great content breaking down what makes cinema what it is.

[Scarface_Sam]

Great video. Some of my favorites are:

- The Double Life of Veronique
- Playtime
- Le Samourai
- Roma
- Past Lives

[BatSignalJammer]

Bro I'm not lying when I say that this was one of the most inspiring videos I've watched on cinematography. It makes me wanna go out and take some damn good pictures/videos

[TheMixCurator]

Wong Kar-wai's lighting and feel to many of his films are incredible. Believe a number of scenes from Chungking Express were shot without permits, and with members of the public walking into shots. Well worth going through all of his filmography (esp if you get the scan versions of the film prints - the colour palette is so good - reminds me of old Kodak film)
Another film that I thought was beautifully shot was Alfonso Cuarón's Roma (2018). There's a scene on the rooftops were all the maids are cleaning bed sheets, and its stuck with me for years.

[TheaMaddieL]

I recently watched Portrait of a Lady on Fire and thought the cinematography was excellent. The shots are so well chosen.

[swampert]

In The Mood For Love might be the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Loved the homage to it in Everything Everywhere All At Once.

[jacobpaint]

For some reason Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse came to mind as a film of which I was impacted by the cinematography. As much as I personally enjoyed it, it’s not an easy film to recommend to people. The lighting and composition were amazing and there were many powerful if fleeting shots that were so thoughtfully composed that it might be the sort of film that could make you feel quite differently each time you watch it, depending on when you happen to blink.

[katehunter]

A Hidden Life is one of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen, in a visual sense, as is the French Dispatch. In a more emotional sense Wings of Desire, The Tree of Life, and American Beauty were exceptionally beautiful. Each of these landed for me at very different points in my life, so they were probably communicating something I was ready to hear and see at those points. I also really appreciate the grubby beauty in Down by Law, which is probably the movie I've rewatched more than any other.

[jemkeen]

23:13 as a current architecture student, this is all I needed to hear to confirm my willingness to try and pursue a career in film

[TheBeird]

I saw Solaris and Stalker for the first time this year and was really taken aback by them. Something about the way they were shot made me think the two films were grounded yet heightened at the same time