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Before a scene is shot, who figures out where the camera will focus? Is that primarily the director's job -- or the cinematographer's? In this scene, I'm struc

Before a scene is shot, who figures out where the camera will focus? Is that primarily the director's job -- or the cinematographer's? In this scene, I'm struck that there are so many crucial close-ups: of Renault, Ilsa, Rick, Yvonne, and Laszlo. I'm assuming that someone planned that. Maybe with storyboards?

pokler 9y ago
I imagine it varies from movie to movie. Generally, the director of photographer is in charge of the camera and lights, but how much independence they have depends on the director.
pvg 9y ago
In the case of Casablanca, it seems a given Curtiz would have had that planned in advance and would been directly involved in the technical details of the shot. There's a bit about his style on his Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Curtiz#Directing_style https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Curtiz#Directing_style
sowbug 9y ago
I don't have an answer to your question, but I remember watching some commentary by a person involved in the making of the film. This is about the final pivotal scene where Captain Renault must quickly decide whether to implicate Rick as the killer of Strasser. The first version of the scene had the police arrive just as Renault shouts to "round up the usual suspects." Whoever was in charge of the film (I assume the director) said this was all wrong, and told the editor to instead add a dramatic sequence of short cuts back and forth between Rick and Louis, showing that Rick was desperately wondering what Louis would do -- praying he wouldn't turn him in -- and Louis was thinking basically the same thing, realizing he had the option to switch sides in the moment. As with the Marseillaise scene, this is minutes and minutes of incredible storytelling condensed into just a few frames of dialogue-free film. And apparently (finally getting to your point), it wasn't originally filmed that way; they probably had a bunch of shots of each actor glaring in various directions, and they used them in the editing room to powerful effect. If anyone has a link to the interview I'm describing, I'd appreciate watching it again.
hbosch 9y ago
I believe most times, a director will design all the shots and camera motion before shooting begins. Later he will collaborate with the director of photography and/or cinematographer to bring the vision to life. [Here's a page of Jurassic Park storyboard.](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ojWQ7No8iOE/UiknOYFNMeI/AAAAAAAAfgA/L6BwmTZPZTs/s1600/Jurassic-Park-storyboard-trex04.jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ojWQ7No8iOE/UiknOYFNMeI/AAAAAAAAfg...)

pokler 9y ago

I imagine it varies from movie to movie. Generally, the director of photographer is in charge of the camera and lights, but how much independence they have depends on the director.

pvg 9y ago

In the case of Casablanca, it seems a given Curtiz would have had that planned in advance and would been directly involved in the technical details of the shot. There's a bit about his style on his Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Curtiz#Directing_style https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Curtiz#Directing_style

sowbug 9y ago

I don't have an answer to your question, but I remember watching some commentary by a person involved in the making of the film. This is about the final pivotal scene where Captain Renault must quickly decide whether to implicate Rick as the killer of Strasser. The first version of the scene had the police arrive just as Renault shouts to "round up the usual suspects." Whoever was in charge of the film (I assume the director) said this was all wrong, and told the editor to instead add a dramatic sequence of short cuts back and forth between Rick and Louis, showing that Rick was desperately wondering what Louis would do -- praying he wouldn't turn him in -- and Louis was thinking basically the same thing, realizing he had the option to switch sides in the moment. As with the Marseillaise scene, this is minutes and minutes of incredible storytelling condensed into just a few frames of dialogue-free film. And apparently (finally getting to your point), it wasn't originally filmed that way; they probably had a bunch of shots of each actor glaring in various directions, and they used them in the editing room to powerful effect. If anyone has a link to the interview I'm describing, I'd appreciate watching it again.

hbosch 9y ago

I believe most times, a director will design all the shots and camera motion before shooting begins. Later he will collaborate with the director of photography and/or cinematographer to bring the vision to life. [Here's a page of Jurassic Park storyboard.](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ojWQ7No8iOE/UiknOYFNMeI/AAAAAAAAfgA/L6BwmTZPZTs/s1600/Jurassic-Park-storyboard-trex04.jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ojWQ7No8iOE/UiknOYFNMeI/AAAAAAAAfg...)