I began my career as a newspaper photojournalist working first as an intern during the summers while in college in the mid to late 1970s. My newspaper career was short-lived following graduation — just about seven years.
I then became a magazine freelancer — writing and photography. I rode that horse for about 10 years before starting graduate school in 1995. At the dawn of the new millennium, I left film cameras behind and got into the whole digital thing. I loved it from the start. No more fixer stains on my clothes 🙂
I also started shooting digital video mostly for fun. But as I began teaching journalism at Missouri State University (2004 to 2022), I also began shooting digital video seriously for the first time. I was, as it turned out, the one guy in the department with enough adjacent skills to teach the print students how to produce news for the internet, including all the things — photo, video, audio, graphics, etc.
Then I got the fat idea to start a documentary program at MSU because, well, I was interested in pushing past the newsy stuff into the long form stuff. I was also watching a lot of Vice content back then.
One thing struck me immediately: I found myself composing as if shooting stills. Further, I found myself moving the camera in such a way that I could hold composition. I did these things because it seemed natural and normal to me. Still does, although I now know all about standard camera movements and their use.
In earlier posts in this series (see below), and in my artistic approach, I mention two visual influences on my visual style: the documentary photography of the mid 20th century and the cinematography of fiction film director Terrence Malick.
The pictures I’ve posted here are the promotional stills for my latest film Os Marnotos (The Saltworkers). One of the things you’ll notice in the trailer (and the film once it hits YouTube or a film festival near you), is that in each of these shots I have used camera movement to hold the composition — allowing the action to take place within the frame. I do follow action sometimes. I do use camera movements to scan scenes in various ways. But, mostly, I fix a composition as I would in still photography and then stick with it as long as the scene — and the action within the scene — allows.
Is this a good way to do things? I don’t know. This is part of my visual style. It is what it is. It is what I do. I like it. It suits me. Maybe give it a try if you’re searching for something in the development of your own visual style.
Posts in this series:
Rejecting Digital Perfection | Frame by Frame (rhetorica.net)
How Does Malick Look | Frame by Frame (rhetorica.net)
From Coverage to a Visual Style | Frame by Frame (rhetorica.net)
Where I Differ With the Dogma | Frame by Frame (rhetorica.net)
Visual Style Conveyed in Words — Maybe | Frame by Frame (rhetorica.net)