Shadows, Light, and Cinematography through the lens of The Godfather

When I began this blog I thought in terms of iPhone filmmaking an iPhone filmmaking alone. I had not considered the fact that filmmaking is filmmaking no matter what device you decide to record images with. now a few years later, having gone through the wars of filmmaking I understand better that the rules are the rules no matter what piece of equipment you decide to use as your primary tool for recording video.

This will remain an iPhone filmmaking blog but for the time being, I’m going to focus on the greater world of filmmaking at Large. What I mean by that is that I am going to talk about the basics of filmmaking. I’m going to share with you my understanding of what goes into making a quality film from start to finish.

This next series of articles is going to be focused on cinematography. not only how we capture images but why we capture those images and in the order that we choose to capture them.

Filmmaking is The Art of Storytelling. we are telling visual stories to the audience but each one of us who made a narrative film in the past understands that it begins and ends on the page in written form. We will get to how to write a screenplay at a later date. right now we are going to study some of the Masters of The Craft of filmmaking. From studying their technique to studying why they shoot their films in a certain way to how they shoot their films in that way. their reasons for lighting a scene in a certain way their reasons for picking a lens to record the footage they’re going to record that day. the relationship between light and darkness and how they manipulate this relationship tell a story that is behind the story of the film we think that we are seeing. For instance, have you ever watched The Godfather? There is a narrative story that is being told from start to finish and it is an amazing story. also underneath there the cinematographer it’s sending us subtle messages along the way about each and every character and how they relate to one another from scene to scene. The way characters are framed or how they are positioned in shadow and light that is brighter or more focused tells us about what’s going on inside said character. in the movie The Godfather for instance this is done Time After Time with the character of Michael Corleone. No character during the last 50 years has had a more unique relationship with light, shadow, and positioning in front of the camera as it relates to the other characters around him than Michael Corleone. Many filmmakers consider this particular film a masterclass and the Art of cinematography.
Today we’re going to take a few minutes to look at some of the things that make this film so special. today we’re going to examine the cinematography of The Godfather.

This is the next thing that we’re going to take a look at the scene is about light and shadows.

This is the next scene that we’re going to look at.

Thank you I hope that you have enjoyed this and I look forward to your next visit to this blog please take a moment to bookmark this and if you can to share this post with a friend thank you very much and have a wonderful day.

BONUS CLIP.