'The lighting and the look of the film make the pauses speak as elegantly as the words"
– Allen Daviau A.S.C. (E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Empire Of The Sun, Bugsy, Fearless)
The American Film Institute commissioned Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography as a commemorative artefact. A film-buff’s waking dream, it gathers the very best living cinematographers to discuss their influences and the technological changes that have created the industry of imagery.
Conceived and created by Todd McCarthy, currently Variety’s chief film critic, Visions of Light affords the viewer a remarkably acute and personal first-person insight into the creative forces at work behind some of the most memorable images of the last 100 years.
Particularly noteworthy are: the late Conrad Hall (A.S.C.)’s recollections on his accidental discovery of the impact of the shadow of rain water on the face of Robert Blake in Richard Brook’s adaptation of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood; how Vittorio Storaro (A.S.C.) influenced the colour schemes and visual storytelling of Bernardo Bertolucci’s masterworks The Conformist and The Last Emperor; and how Michael Chapman (A.S.C.)and Martin Scorcese’s iconic images from Raging Bull were inspired by Life magazine stills.
That the film premiered an astonishing 17 years ago in no way dates it; in fact, it is a delight to see the likes of recently-deceased greats Sven Nykvist (Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander), Nestor Almendros (Terrence Mallick’s Days of Heaven), Charles Lang (John Sturges’ Gunfight at the O.K. Corral), John A. Alonzo (Polanski’s Chinatown) and Hall speaking of the artists that inspired them.
If you have read this far, you will probably already be familiar with names such as John Alton (A.S.C), Gregg Toland (A.S.C.) and James Wong Howe (A.S.E) – just a few of the masters that helped create the American film industry as we know it today. For anyone enchanted by the moving image, Visions of Light is a compelling, mesmerising and emotional journey through a century of film history.
