1. Mercure 1
Drayton Mercure
Mrs. Maxwell
British Literature
October 20, 2011
A Closer Look: Cinematography and Film
“Lights, camera, action!” announces the director, as the crew prepares to take the next
shot. Nearly anyone who knows anything about motion pictures is familiar with those three
words. Throughout the span of its lifetime, cinematography and film have increasingly
integrated themselves into society and have become a part of everyday life in America and
several other nations in the world. However, there is more than meets the eye when it comes to
creating a film. Moreover, the history of cinematography is underappreciated and neglected,
when in fact, events in the past developed film into the global phenomenon it is to this very day.
In order to understand the inner workings of the film industry, one must understand the
beginnings of film. Video media didn’t just start with YouTube or the FOX network. In fact,
cinematography didn’t even start with a camera. The first glimmer of film revealed itself in
Rome, approximately 1640, with Athanasius Kircher’s invention, the magic lantern, an early
form of a projector which involved a candle and a lens to project an image. The next notable
event was the creation of the kinetoscope, an early predecessor to modern day projectors, and the
visual equivalent of a phonograph. The kinetoscope was developed by Thomas Edison’s
assistant, William Kennedy Dickson. It had a single screen for one occupant and created a visual
illusion of movement by passing a strip of film past the screen in rapid succession. Often, these
films were a mere couple of seconds long and only appealed as a simple novelty (Lewis).
George Melies, a magician and theater director, would fix the problem.

2. Mercure 2
Being involved in theater as a director, Melies began to film Theater acts. He is often
credited for inventing the fundamentals of film editing that are used today, including fade in and
fade out transitions, changing artificial sets, and changing scenes. George Melies’ A Trip to the
Moon became an international hit in 1902 and the first science fiction film (Lewis).
There have been several obstacles, as well as breakthroughs, that the film industry has
encountered in the past. For instance, in film’s premature stages, synchronizing audio with video
was nearly impossible with the equipment of that era. In 1927, Warner Bros’ successfully
produced the first film with sound, The Jazz Singer, going to extreme measures and spending
incredible amounts of money. With the introduction of audio, Warner Bros’ forced its
competitors to follow in its wake and synchronize sound. Eventually, in the 1940’s, this process
was made easier through the use of the tape recorder (Lewis).
Another endeavor was to add color to videos. Before the 1930s, film had to be colored
by hand, proving itself to be impractical and time consuming. Then, in the mid thirties,
Technicolor was created and developed a technique in which three colored layers of film are
used to create a visual spectrum. Technicolor was expensive and would be replaced in the fifties
(Lewis).
After World War Two, the United States and Soviet Union were involved in an arms
race, known as the Cold War. This Cold War was the cause of the Red Scare, the national
feeling of anxiety of the supposed Communist takeover, which led to the inquisition and
blacklisting of several actors, producers, and motion picture-based companies, including
Technicolor. Blacklisting is a term used to describe the formulation of a list of names of people,
with the intent to ostracize them or inhibiting them from doing something. The people
responsible for this blacklisting were known as the House Un-American Activities Committee,

3. Mercure 3
or HUAC. HUAC believed that several works such as plays and motion pictures contained anti-
American propaganda. HUAC coerced and interrogated several playwrights, directors, actors,
entertainers, and others to establish this list. Several people listed were proven innocent and
wrongly accused. Technicolor was deemed a monopoly which gave an opportunity to Eastman
color, a cheaper, single film strip format, to take Technicolor’s place. With the rise of the
invention, the television, color became the standard for the industry. This was largely due to the
fact that after a film was shown in theaters, they would be sold for television broadcasting.
Color films were easier to sell than black and white films (Lewis).
There are three classes of film studios: majors, mini-majors, and independents. Majors
are large corporations in which they control both the production and distribution aspects of the
business. The industry is headed by six industry leaders, all of them majors: Fox, Disney,
Warner, Sony, Universal, and Paramount. Mini-minors have less power to distribute and focus
mainly on specific genres of film, for instance, action adventure movies or horror films. As an
example, Touchstone Pictures is a sub-level of Disney and creates more mature films than
Disney’s more cliché family oriented content. The independents or “indies” completely rely on
another company for distribution. For example, DreamWorks (the people who created Shrek) is
an independent studio whose films are distributed by Touchstone ("SIC 7812…” 1258)
There are a variety of jobs when it comes to making a film. Nearly an army is required to
create a final product. Making a film requires occupations involving business and finance,
administration, sales, maintenance and services, and most importantly professional production
occupations. Professional occupations include writers, editors, technicians, directors, producers
and much more. The list continues to grow as film advances in technology, which is constantly.

4. Mercure 4
For instance, the percent change in number of Multi-media artists and animators employed is
predicted to increase by 29 percent by 2018 ("Motion Picture and Video Industries").
In order for this army to work together in the most efficient way, most films follow a
method of production. The steps are followed in this order: Pre production, production, and post
production.
Pre-production is the point in time when all of the ideas and concepts of the film come
together, sort of like “blue-prints.” Along with budget planning, the screenplay is formulated,
including actor’s dialogues, settings, and the actors themselves. At that point, the production
manager creates a production board, a visual abstract that reflects the most productive and
efficient way to produce the film. From there, the director becomes familiar with the main theme
or story intended to be communicated through the film, and begins to visualize each scene and
work with the actors to make them more believable (Boruszhowski, 333). The director and
director of photography collaborate with one another to start storyboarding, a process in which
illustrations are created in sequence of the story in order to communicate the way the film is
intended to be shot. The director of photography is also in charge of hiring camera operators,
crew, and assistants. The director also works with the production designer so that the designer
can collect the correct materials, such as props and wardrobes. When it comes to filming, scenes
can be shot in two places: a sound stage or an actual location. If they are filming in an actual
location, the directors and designer must find the perfect spot to film and acquire the appropriate
paperwork and permits to work there (Boruszhowski, 334).
Once pre-production is finished, actual production commences. Production is the literal
shooting of the film. Before the cameras start rolling, everyone rehearses their part. Then, at the
beginning of each shot, a slate is filmed so that specific shot can be identified. Once a take is

5. Mercure 5
made that seems sufficient, the crew goes on to the next shot needing filming. There can be
several takes of just one shot, as well as many thousands of shots in a film. At the end of the day,
a “daily” is made. “Dailies” are work prints made for screenings shot daily (Boruszhowski, 334).
The entire process of filming shots can easily take up to eight weeks. After production is
finished, the team begins post-production. During the entire span of filming, an editorial team is
at work compiling footage and organizing shots. Once the team makes their cut of the film, a
music editor inserts pre-recorded music to complete the cut for it to be viewed by preview
audiences. The cut can be tested by audiences several times and several changes can be made to
correct imperfections found. Automated dialogue editors scrutinize for imperfect dialogue. If
there is a mistake or just bad quality in the first recording, an actor can re-record lines. These
new lines are then edited back into the scene and can be synchronized to the actor’s mouth.
Sound designers can optionally be employed to insert sound effects, like gunfire and other
sounds. A music editor then plans sections of music throughout the film. A composer attempts
to capture the theme of each part in his pieces. More often than not, an orchestra is selected to
play and record the pieces. Next, the film is sent to a mixing studio; where engineers mix
meticulously mix the audio with the video. The negatives are then cut to match the final cut by
the negative matcher and the final cut is sent to a film lab for adjustment of brightness and color
and a master cut is created. A finished film has been made (Boruszhowski, 335).
Not only is video media a source of entertainment. It has been embedded and engrained
into today’s business, education, politics, and global communication. Film production has
become an ancient tradition and a true artisan craft as well as a capstone of current technology.
Its processes of creation are as nearly astounding as the entertainment it provides and the
information it distributes.

6. Mercure 6
Works Cited
Lewis, Scott M. "Motion Pictures." The Gale Encyclopedia of Science. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and
Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. 3rd ed. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 2649-2654. Gale Virtual
Reference Library. Web. 15 Sep. 2011.
"Motion Picture and Video Industries." Career Guide to Industries, 2010-11 Edition. BLS
Publishing, 17 Dec. 2009. Web. 15 Sept. 2011.
<http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs038.htm>.
"SIC 7812 Motion Picture and Videotape Production." Encyclopedia of American Industries. Ed.
Lynn M. Pearce. 4th ed. Vol. 2: Service & Non-Manufacturing Industries. Detroit: Gale,
2005. 1256-1265. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 16 Sep. 2011
BORUSZKOWSKI, LILLY ANN. "Film Industry, Production Process of." Encyclopedia of
Communication and Information. Ed. Jorge Reina Schement. Vol. 1. New York:
Macmillan Reference USA, 2002. 332-337. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 26
Sep. 2011.