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Eight Minutes of Jurassic Park Behind the Scenes Footage
  • PhilldaagonyPhilldaagony

    I think most striking thing to me is how involved Spielberg is in camera operation! I wonder if he still does most of the camera work on his more recent films. I can't see why not. I guess the man just loves film making that much.

    Anyone know what other directors are famously hands-on versus video-village dwellers?

  • 10 Replies sorted by
  • redbaronredbaron

    That was Mint! Thanks for sharing! I like how he tells the DP to use a 21mm.

  • azza_actazza_act

    Watch the behind the scenes of saving private Ryan, he tells the DP what's lenses to use through out.

  • CRFilmsCRFilms

    Ugh...Jurassic Park one of the WORST book to film adaptations EVER!! This is why I'm glad I don't read anymore...90% of the time the movie is so much worse than the book it's such a disappointment.

    This is definitely the point I started to dislike Spielberg.

  • last_SHIFTlast_SHIFT

    Well I would say if you're walking onto a set with him, there would be no question who's 'calling the shots'. Not that I'm much of a fan, but besides his unique knack for working with child actors, he is probably one of the most technically skilled directors ever. I know it's been almost 40 years, but Jaws was an amazing movie. The beach scenes are really similiar in a lot of ways to the Normandy beach scenes in Ryan.

  • yachachayachacha

    I forget which behind the scenes I was watching, but I know I've heard Spielberg mention that Kaminski lights the scene, he sets up the camera angle and movement. After all these years, I'm sure their looks have merged together over the years, but I've noticed an evolution from Duel to Munich that is consistent and definitely more representative of Spielberg's taste in camerawork and not an interpretation by another DP.

  • last_SHIFTlast_SHIFT

    @yachacha No doubt. But the same can be said of many visually gifted Directors. If you look at Wong Kar Wai's work with Chris Doyle and Chris Doyle' work with other directors it's very clear that its the directors 'eye' that is shaping the final look.

  • EbachervilleEbacherville

    very interesting, shows how even as a "pro" you have to take the rains and do it as it should be. Obviously he had a good crew to fill his vision.

  • GabelGabel

    Oh, have to check this out! Jurassic Park is my number one favorite cinematography movie. Shot by my idol: Dean Cundey, ASC (the chubby guy with the beard and blue shirt). Read a great interview where he talked about Spielberg. He's a man who knows a lot about cinematography and has very clear ideas of how his visuals wants to be. He storyboards almost all of his shots himself and takes a lot of time to stage them (Jurassic Park is a beautifully staged movie, to this day) and also operates a lot. There's a reason Spielberg is an honorary member of SOC (Society of Camera Operators): He not only operates a lot on his films, he's also very good at it (great example is the idol sequence in Raiders, which Spielberg operated himself), so as Cundey says, you have to be able to get used to it, but once you are, it never feels odd. But that is not to say his DoPs doesn't have input. Jurassic Park is still a great film to see Dean Cundey's style, with some great subtle steadicam shots and most importantly his lighting techniques, especially of adding fill from underneath is very prevalent throughout the film.

  • jleojleo

    Stanley Kubrick did his own camerawork quite often. There's a story of how MGM executives visited a set on 2001: a space odyssey. They were shocked, thinking the production was shut down, since there were only 3 crew members on set!

  • GabelGabel

    @jleo: True, but then again Kubrick was a photographer and DP'ed many of his own films (he even "won" an Oscar for his cinematography for Spartacus, though it went to original DP Russel Metty, as he was still listed that way).

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