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Hello, Anxyk. I am a still photographer with experience mostly in street photo. For me, the soul of cinematography is not about the fancy camera movements or the latest equipment. I´d rather focus on you walking around the place where you live, explore different places to see how light affects the environment at different hours of the day. Is it very sunny? Is it cloudy? Is there a foggy landscape? Is it night, surrounded by all sorts of sources of light, like neon, buildings, lampposts?
It won´t hurt learning the basic technical aspects of photography to know how to control your camera to achieve what you set out to with intention. Experiment and get to know your camera (even if it is the one on you phone); learn every little control in it so when it comes to facing a challenge, you know how to use it like a second language.
Don´t get carried away with videos about the latest gear and expensive or fancy accessories. If you sit in the outdoors regularly, study light; study photographs that you like and why you like them: what do they make you feel… Study paintings by the old masters and figure out the light and how it affects the life in those paintings. Of course, if you love movies, try watching the great old black and white movies, for instance, film noir and old westerns.
Going back to the beginning, speaking about camera movement, ask yourself: do I need to move the camera to tell this particular story and if you do, with what intention? Nowadays, I feel that the visuals are so frenetic: crazy fast edits, extreme camera movement shot from unlikely angles (who´s P.O.V. is this shot?).
I feel that watching silent films, too, is of great value. See how the language evolved.
There is a great documentary that I feel is great: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVns3k-NGAo
Here are a few other conversations that you might find helpful:
The best.
I love all of those filmmakers Roger mentions. I was born in 1976, living in the north of México, in one of the most dangerous cities in the world, and I am a film buff (that is and has been my safety route); I have learned more about the human condition with those masters. Huston, Ozu, Melville, Bresson, Cassavetes, Buñuel. and the list goes on…
Other art forms like music, painting; just observing ordinary life, really, has had a major impact in how I understand films and life. That has played a major role. For instance, I am an amateur street/still photographer, and when it comes to writing, one book: “In the Blink of an Eye,” by the great Walter Murch, has been a big landmark for me when it comes to writing. It is a book about film editing, but, the soul of the conversation applies to storytelling and intuition, with a heart. Look it up.
There is always some new experience in many art forms of expression to learn from. So, thank you for this forum and let´s keep the ball rolling. Cheers to all of you.
