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NOAM KROLL

NOAM KROLL

NOAM KROLL

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Noam Kroll

Lumix GH3: Pre-Release Thoughts

The Lumix GH2 is one of my favourite cameras in existence today. I use it for the majority…

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noamkroll

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Just a reminder the Oscar winning animated feature

Just a reminder the Oscar winning animated feature FLOW was created using free software (Blender) and was financed as a result of director Gints Zilbalodis’ previous feature AWAY - which was made for $0 over 4 years in his bedroom.

Making a movie will never be easy, but not having the right tools is no longer an excuse.

#filmmaking #filmmaker #cinematography #cinematographer

This is guerilla filmmaking at its finest. Some of

This is guerilla filmmaking at its finest. Some of the most high production value shots in 28 DAYS LATER were captured with no permits and a skeleton crew, in shooting blocks of just 45 minutes before the city woke up.

Shout out to @real.emirhan__ for recently posting about this on X.

#filmmaking #filmmaker #cinematography #cinematographer

10 directors and their favorite films. Interesting

10 directors and their favorite films. Interesting to see the common picks, notably VERTIGO, 2001, and CITIZEN KANE.

#filmmaking #filmmaker #cinematography #cinematographer

Most people are shocked to learn that this sequenc

Most people are shocked to learn that this sequence was shot fully in color, even though the opening appears to be black and white (or sepia). To achieve the effect, Dorothy’s house and clothes were painted beige, and a body double was used for Judy Garland. This allowed for one seamless and continuous shot from “black and white” to color. And it still holds up beautifully almost a century later.

#filmmaking #filmmaker #cinematography #cinematographer

4 different films with (almost) the same palette.

4 different films with (almost) the same palette. There is a reason the teal and orange “blockbuster” look is still alive and well. Love it or hate it, it plays into one of the most important aspects of color psychology - color contrast. Our eyes are drawn to complimentary colors that are on opposite ends of the color spectrum.

In film though, not all color combinations have an equal effect. Take the example above - it works because the skin tones skew warm (which is flattering to the eye), and the shadows skew cold (which adds moodiness). If it were reversed, warm shadows would look muddy and unpleasant, and cool skin tones would look lifeless. Sometimes that’s the look you want, and there is no right and wrong. But as a rule of thumb: Warmer tones in the mid-high range tend to look best when contrasted against cooler shadows - whether you are going for a blockbuster look or not. Just remember to capture the look on set and not attempt to achieve it entirely in the grade.

#filmmaking #filmmaker #cinematography #cinematographer #colorgrading

Imagine the feeling of accidentally deleting the e

Imagine the feeling of accidentally deleting the entirety of TOY STORY 2 in the middle of production. That’s what happened in 1998 when someone mistakenly wiped Pixar’s file system, deleting what they thought was the only surviving copy of Toy Story 2. Thankfully, Pixar’s technical director Galyn Susman was working from home with her newborn baby, and had a full copy of the film that was unaffected. Ironically, even after saving the film, the studio decided to scrap it and re-created nearly the entire movie from scratch to make additional changes.

#filmmaking #filmmaker #cinematography #cinematographer

Martin Scorsese and DP Robert Richardson were so f

Martin Scorsese and DP Robert Richardson were so far ahead of their time on The Aviator. This film accurately captures three distinct film looks:

1. Technicolor two-strip
2. Technicolor three-strip
3. Classic color film stock

The finished product takes the viewer on a journey through the history of color cinematography, all while serving the story beautifully.

#filmmaking #filmmaker #cinematography #cinematographer

Even the biggest Hollywood productions sometimes h

Even the biggest Hollywood productions sometimes have to resort to DIY tactics to get the shot. This is how David Fincher captured a crucial establishing shot of Harvard University without permission, using a three headed camera rig and some innovative lighting and post.

Steven Spielberg credits LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)

Steven Spielberg credits LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962) as the single film that inspired him to become a filmmaker. And accordingly to him this sequence is among the best to ever be committed to film.

#filmmaking #filmmaker #cinematography #cinematographer

Steven Spielberg credits LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)

Steven Spielberg credits LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962) as the single film that inspired him to become a filmmaker. And accordingly to him this sequence is among the best to ever be committed to film.

#filmmaking #filmmaker #cinematography #cinematographer

If you’ve ever wondered what PSYCHO would look l

If you’ve ever wondered what PSYCHO would look like in color, here are a few shots that I colorized for fun. You can see why Hitchcock opted for monochrome, but still an interesting experiment!

#filmmaking #filmmaker #cinematography #cinematography

Find a way to make your movie. It will ever get an

Find a way to make your movie. It will ever get any easier until you build a body of work. Every project, no matter how small, has immense value.

#filmmaking #filmmaker

Ryan Coogler’s SINNERS is the first film in hist

Ryan Coogler’s SINNERS is the first film in history to mix footage from the extremely wide (and rarely used) Ultra Panavision 70 camera in 2.76:1 aspect ratio, with IMAX 70mm (which creates a 1.43:1 image). Here’s a quick comparison showing the vast difference in framing each format offers.

#filmmaking #filmmaker #cinematography #cinematographer #

SINNERS is the first movie ever to mix the IMAX 70

SINNERS is the first movie ever to mix the IMAX 70mm format with Ultra Panavision 70 in the same film.

These screenshots show the full 1.43:1 aspect ratio, captured on 15 perf 65mm film (which runs horizontally through the IMAX camera to achieve the highest resolution of any format).

The Ultra Panavision 70 shots have a vastly different widescreen ratio of 2.76:1, creating an incredibly unqiue viewing experience as the edit cuts between shots that are very wide and very tall. But only a handful of IMAX theaters allowed viewers to get the full experience. Regular theatrical screenings and digital formats crop the IMAX shots to appear wider and lessen the effect.

Brilliant work by Ryan Coogler and DP Autumn Davis Arkapaw.

#filmmaking #filmmaker #cinematography #cinematographer graphy

Only 2 narrative features were ever produced in CI

Only 2 narrative features were ever produced in CINERAMA, including “How The West Was Won” - which used it to brilliant effect way back in 1962. The Cinerama system used a special 3 camera rig (shooting left, right, and center) to capture some of the widest images ever produced at the time. Each of the 3 film strips were played back simultaneously using independent projectors on wide, curved screens like the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood. While it was soon replaced by Ultra Panavision 70, anamorphic glass, and other advancements that made widescreen capture simpler, the few Cinerama films that actually got made have a special visual quality that has never been fully replicated.

Several other “travelogue” films were also produced in this format, including the first ever Cinerama film “This is Cinerama” in 1952.

#filmmaking #filmmaker #cinematography #cinematographer

Love these references from “Playtime” (1967) t

Love these references from “Playtime” (1967) that directly inspired the production design and aesthetic of “Severance” over half a century later. Such an innovative film that was lightyears ahead of its time and was truly original in every sense.

#filmmaking #filmmaker #cinematography #cinematographer

Every film runs into issues at some point, even th

Every film runs into issues at some point, even the biggest Hollywood features. The best filmmakers know how to turn problems into opportunities instead of letting them destroy the creative process. While in post for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” DP Robert Richardson and Quentin Tarantino decided to work with this footage that was severely damaged in the lab and lean into the aesthetic for stylistic effect, rather than re-shooting.

#filmmaking #filmmaker #cinematography #cinematographer

Red is the most psychologically associative color

Red is the most psychologically associative color in cinema, and can be used to trigger a “fight or flight” response in the brain. This is one of the many reasons it’s used so extensively in horror. But it’s even more effective when used with restraint, as seen here in “We Need To Talk About Kevin”.

This is one of the most haunting films of the century, and accomplishes so much without having to show violence on screen. The subtle red cues in production design and lighting build throughout the film and create an anticipation of violence that is scarier in our minds than it could ever be on screen. Casual viewers may not even notice it, but they definitely feel it on a subconscious level.

Worth noting, red can also of course signify many other things (love, power, obsession, etc.), and is an incredibly powerful storytelling tool across the spectrum of genres.

#filmmaking #filmmaker #cinematography #cinematographer

Fun fact: Ridley Scott had to borrow Stanley Kubri

Fun fact: Ridley Scott had to borrow Stanley Kubrick’s aerial footage from “The Shining” to complete the theatrical cut of “Blade Runner” in 1982. The studio felt the original ending was too dark and bleak, so at the last minute they decided to add some footage of Deckard and Rachel driving off into the countryside.

But Ridley and his team hadn’t shot any scenic footage or aerials that could work, so he turned to Stanley Kubrick who generously shared leftover footage from “The Shining” to complete the theatrical cut.

10 years later, Ridley Scott removed the footage and accompanying voiceover for the director’s cut, fully restoring his original vision for a darker and more ambiguous ending.

#filmmaking #filmmaker #cinematography #cinematographer

Not sure any film was ahead of its time more than

Not sure any film was ahead of its time more than “The American Friend”, at least in terms of color, mood, and atmosphere. Made in 1977 it’s now nearly 50 years old, but still has some of the most innovative use of color that surpasses the vast majority of films today. Directed by Wim Wenders and shot by Robby Müller, as they laid the groundwork for “Paris, Texas” - made 7 years later. Both films mixed natural and artificial light, while leveraging vivid saturation and colored gels to capture stunning golden hour, blue hour, and warm interior tungsten scenes.

My favorite sequences pair colored artificial light sources with daylight spilling in through windows. It creates such a unique “in-between” aesthetic that is truly original. Almost 5 decades later and it still holds up.

This film also of course predates “The Talented Mr. Ripley”, and was the first adaptation of the novel “Ripley’s Game”.

#filmmaking #filmmaker #cinematography #cinematographer

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