Our Scene

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I chose to research the director of photography, or the cinematographer, for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Roger Pratt is a member of the British Society of Cinematogrophers, and has been the DP for many films, which have influenced his style. Before he directed photography for Chamber of Secrets, he was nominated for 8 various awards for the following movies: Shadowlands, Frankenstein, Grey Owl, The End of the Affair, and Chocolat. 

The biggest challenge for the director of photography for this scene was making a normal-sized man look massive. Robbie Coltrane, who plays Hagrid, is only 6-foot-1. The job of making him appear well, giant, fell largely on the DP. This optical illusion was done through a technique called forced perspective. When using forced perspective, the DP used strategic vantage points and angles to trick human visual perception into believing Hagrid is huge.

Several of these tricks can be observed in this scene from The Chamber of Secrets.

• Everyone is sitting down except Hagrid, so you can't compare their heights.
• When Harry stands up to hug Hagrid, Harry's legs are blocked by the table so he could be bending his knees. 
• When they speak, the shots go back and forth between close-up shots of the speaker's face. There is no context for size. 
• When the frame is close-up on Hagrid, the camera is angled up to create the feeling that the others are looking up into the face above.
• When the frame is close-up on the others, the camera is angled down to create the feeling that Hagrid is looking down into their faces.

The DP uses a number of design principles, other than forced-perspective, in his cinematography.

• Continuity: When the frame is on a close-up, the DP uses continuity by cutting the frame off in places that suggest that there is still the rest of the body there.
• Figure/ground relationship: The DP uses figure/ground relationships between Hagrid and the great hall to establish size in another way. Because Hagrid, the figure, rises higher than torches in the background, the relationship between the figure and the ground suggest his extreme height. 
• Rule of thirds: The use of the rule of thirds can be seen in the still shot above, where Hagrid is in the top right area. This creates a more interesting shot than a static center shot would.
• Contrast: The DP obviously uses a lot of contrast in size. Big Hagrid, small everyone else. 

Another thing I learned from this assignment is how much every member in the crew have to communicate with each other to create a cohesive film. The DP has to understand the director's vision to be able to create a usable product. Everyone has to be on the same page to be able to create their parts the right way, so when they are finally placed together the final product feels right. 

My Frame

I am not a photographer by any means. I'm talking, not even selfies. My Facebook picture hasn't changed in over a year. It's bad. I grew up in a family where we didn't take pictures unless there was a person in it. Otherwise, it was useless. I needed this assignment for a number of reasons, but I think one of the most important things I learned was to stop taking pictures with a person's face smack-dab in the middle. This image still isn't the most interesting thing I've ever seen, but it is much more interesting than the one I took where the child's face is static and in the center. It works because the face of the statue, the focal point, is at an intersection of the rule of thirds grid. 

Although it is not apparent here, I took about a thousand different pictures of a hundred different things trying to find a picture that would fulfill this assignment. Along the way I learned that another huge problem the pictures I take is that I cut off the movement with my choice of angle. I usually go against the movement, so by the time one's eye gets to the edge of the frame, it ends. It dies. It seems there is nothing outside of the frame. So, now I know to use the rule of thirds rather than always putting faces in the center of the frame, and to use the gestalt principle of continuity to allow the picture to continue even where the frame ends.