Questions to Ask a Cinematographer
For film students, interviewers and Q&A hosts talking to a cinematographer about the work, and for directors and producers meeting a director of photography before offering the job. The 58 questions run in the order a film is made: background, the script and the look, light and lenses, the director and crew, camera and budget, then the grade and the finished film. Anyone hiring can skip the first group and open with the script.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Background
How did you become a cinematographer?
Why ask it
Hardly anyone's first job is this one. Some come up through the camera or lighting crew and some shot anything for anyone who asked, so find out which step taught them the most and how long they stayed on it. A class will also want to know what paid the rent in those years.
What does a cinematographer decide that a camera operator does not?
Why ask it
Good for a general audience, which tends to picture the person holding the camera. The reply usually covers where the light comes from, which lens, how bright, and the camera, grip and lighting crews who carry it all out. Titles differ by country and by size of production, director of photography being the commonest other name, so ask how the work is split on their sets.
Which film or photograph first made you notice the lighting?
Why ask it
Hold them to one image and what they saw in it, because a list of admired names is the answer they give everywhere. What caught them then, a window, a shadow across a face, often still shows in their own frames, and you can say so if you have watched their work.
Do you have a style of your own, or should every film look different?
Why ask it
Plenty of cinematographers resist the word, on the grounds that the look belongs to the story and the director. If they say they have none, name something you keep seeing in their work, a soft side light or a camera that stays low, and see whether they own it. A director who is hiring learns here whether they would be getting a look or a collaborator.
What is the hardest shot you have ever pulled off?
Why ask it
Have them walk through it in order: what the script asked for, what stood in the way, how many people it took and how many tries. Hard can mean a long unbroken take, weather, water or ten minutes of usable light, and the kind they pick shows what they count as difficulty.
What is on your reel that you would shoot differently today?
Why ask it
A reel is the best minute of many jobs, and this question is about the judgment behind it. If you are hiring, the reason matters more than the shot they pick: it tells you what they have learned to see since.
Which job taught you the most, and was it a good film?
Why ask it
The two rarely line up. Shoots with no time and no money are where many people learn to light quickly, and someone who can say plainly what a weak film taught them tends to be easy to have on a set.
Did you study cinematography formally, and what did you only learn once you were on a set?
Why ask it
What a course costs and where it leads differ from country to country, so keep this to their own case. The second half usually produces the list a student is after: set manners, speed, how to describe a light to the person who has to rig it.
How do most of your jobs reach you: an agent, a director coming back, or the reel?
Why ask it
Students learn how the work is actually found, and anyone hiring learns who vouches for this person. Follow with which director they have shot for most often and what keeps that pairing going.
What has changed most about the job since you started?
Why ask it
Sensors that see in very little light, LED lamps that change color from a tablet and a monitor at every corner of the set are the likely candidates. The better half is what has stayed the same, so follow with what they would still need to know if all the equipment were swapped tomorrow.
What would you tell someone who wants to shoot for a living and does not own a camera?
Why ask it
Notice whether the advice is about equipment or about people. Lighting with whatever is in the house, assisting on other people's shoots and taking stills are the kinds of answer to expect, and the follow-up is which of those they did themselves.
Script and look
On a first read of a script, what are you looking for?
Why ask it
A cinematographer reads for things a general reader skips: how many scenes are at night, how much happens outdoors, where the story turns and the picture ought to turn with it. If you are hiring, the scene they bring up without being asked is the one they can already see, and it is a fair place to start the rest of the meeting.
What makes you turn a script down?
Why ask it
For an interviewer the answer is about taste. For a director it is fair warning, because the reasons run from the story itself to a schedule that cannot hold the scenes as written, and the second kind is worth hearing before you send yours.
What have you shot that is closest to this film, and what would you do differently here?
Why ask it
A hiring question, and only fair once they have read the script. Closest might mean the budget, the genre, the number of night scenes or a cast of children, so let them say which. Then watch that film from start to finish, because a reel cannot show whether a look held for ninety minutes.
How do you and a director arrive at the look of a film?
Why ask it
The process is more revealing than the adjectives. Find out what was physically on the table: photographs, a painting, one film watched together, a rule such as no camera movement until the last act. The telling part is what happened when the two of them brought pictures that disagreed.
How do you plan a look that changes as the story does?
Why ask it
Some films shift lens length, contrast or color as a character changes, and because scenes are shot out of order the plan has to exist on paper. Get them to name one scene where the shift can be seen and what they did to make it.
How do you settle on an aspect ratio?
Why ask it
It sounds technical and the answer is about story: how many people share the frame, how much landscape there is, where the film will be watched. A producer should raise it before any talk of cameras, and check what the broadcaster or distributor requires for delivery.
How much do you shot-list or storyboard, and what happens to the list on the day?
Why ask it
Some arrive with every setup drawn and others with a floor plan and three shots they will not give up. Find out which shots get marked as untouchable before the day starts, because that mark is what survives a schedule that slips. A director who storyboards everything should say so at this point.
What do you look for on a location scout that nobody else is checking?
Why ask it
The sun's path through the day, where the power comes from, the height of the ceiling, what sits outside the windows and where the trucks can park. A location they talked a production out of makes a better story than one they liked.
What do you ask the production designer for before anything is built or painted?
Why ask it
Wall colors, lamps that appear in shot, windows that open and ceilings that lift off are all decided in the art department long before a light is switched on. The thing to hear is how early that conversation starts, because the late version of it costs money.
What do you test before the first day of shooting?
Why ask it
Lenses on the actual faces, makeup and costume under the planned light, and one pass through the whole chain to a finished image are the usual candidates. When a production says there is no time for tests, ask which one they would still insist on.
Light and lenses
How do you decide where the light in a scene comes from?
Why ask it
Answers tend to begin with a source that could really be in the room: a window, a lamp, a television. The harder case is a scene with nothing believable to motivate it, a cellar or the inside of a car on an unlit road, so bring that one up next.
When do you work with natural light, and when do you fight it?
Why ask it
Available light costs less in equipment and more in time, because the sun keeps moving while the scene stays put. Clouds and a long dialogue scene make matching an everyday problem, so have them describe what they do when the close-ups no longer match the wide shot from an hour before.
How do you choose lenses for a project?
Why ask it
Steer past the brand names to the reasons: how a lens draws a face, how it flares, how near it lets the camera sit to an actor. The focal length they reached for most on their last job, and why, is the short version of the whole answer.
When you compose a shot, what are you keeping out of the frame?
Why ask it
Composition is the part of the job an audience sees and seldom has words for. Bring a still from their work if you can and have them talk through it: why the actor sits at the edge, how much room is left above the head, what was cleared off the table. For a class it is the one answer that can be tried on a phone the same afternoon.
How do you light actors with very different skin tones in the same frame?
Why ask it
Actors notice whether a cinematographer has thought about this, and so do audiences. Listen for specifics: where exposure is set, how soft the source is and where it sits, and how much is worked out with the makeup department in tests.
When should the camera move, and when should it stay still?
Why ask it
Handheld, a dolly, a crane and a stabilizer each tell the audience something different, and 'whatever serves the story' is the answer to get past. Pick one move from their work and ask what the scene would have lost as a locked-off shot.
How do you light a night exterior so it does not look lit?
Why ask it
Night exteriors are where lighting budgets tend to go. The reply covers taste, meaning how dark is too dark, and logistics such as lifts, big sources and whatever the streetlights give for free. The version of the story to get is the night the money would not stretch to the big lamp.
When have you pushed to shoot on film, and what did it change on set?
Why ask it
The romance of film is the dull half of this. The useful half is what it did to the day: a magazine that runs out in the middle of a take, no true image to play back, a laboratory and its turnaround. Whether a lab is within reach depends on where the shoot is, so a director who is tempted should raise that early.
How dark are you willing to let a scene go?
Why ask it
Underexposure is a matter of taste on which financiers and broadcasters hold opinions too. Find out whether anyone has made them brighten a scene after the fact, and what they now do on set so the detail is there if somebody insists.
What is the simplest setup you have used for a shot people praise?
Why ask it
A useful corrective for students who assume every admired image needed a truck of equipment. One lamp and a bedsheet is the sort of answer that comes back, and the follow-up is why it was enough.
Director and crew
What do you need from a director to do your best work?
Why ask it
The answers worth having are concrete: the blocking decided before lighting starts, real time together in prep, honesty about what a scene is for. If you are the director, hold that list against how you actually work.
What do you do when you and the director disagree about a shot while the crew stands waiting?
Why ask it
Listen for a method. Shooting the director's version first, saying it once and letting go, or saving the argument for the drive home are all workable. A story in which they turned out to be wrong is the best sign of all.
Would you rather work with a director who draws every frame or one who only knows how the scene should feel?
Why ask it
Follow it by asking which kind got their best work, since the preference and the result are not always the same director. For someone hiring, the answer says how much of the visual plan this person expects to carry.
Do you operate the camera yourself, and what changes when you do not?
Why ask it
Some cinematographers will not give up the eyepiece, and others would sooner stand at the monitor beside the director. A producer should hear the answer before budgeting, since it decides whether an operator has to be hired, and local crew agreements may have a say in it.
What do you hand to your gaffer, and what do you keep for yourself?
Why ask it
One cinematographer describes a mood and lets the gaffer pick every lamp; another specifies each unit and where it stands. A student gets a clear picture of the lighting department from this, and a producer learns how much the choice of gaffer will matter.
Who do you bring with you, and what happens when you cannot?
Why ask it
Many have a focus puller, gaffer or key grip they ask for by name. Whether a production can hire those people turns on budget, travel and the crewing rules where it shoots, so raise it before an offer and ask who they would trust locally.
How do you and the first assistant director build a day around the light?
Why ask it
The schedule shapes the image as much as any lamp does: which way a room faces at ten in the morning, what time the night work can begin. A day they had reordered, and what the change saved, is the example to get.
How fast do you work, and what do you give up to go faster?
Why ask it
Every producer wants to ask this, and the second half is what makes it fair. Someone who can name the trade, fewer setups, simpler and softer sources, a second camera, has a plan. 'I am just quick' has told you very little.
What do actors need from the camera department that people do not expect?
Why ask it
Marks they can find without looking down, a clear eyeline, light that lets them move, a quiet word about where the edge of frame is. In a hiring meeting, notice whether performers come into the answer at all.
When do you ask for a second camera, and when do you refuse one?
Why ask it
Two cameras save time and tend to flatten the light, because few setups look right from two angles at once. Their line between a scene that gains from it and one that suffers shows what they will trade for speed.
How do you plan shots that will be finished in visual effects?
Why ask it
Effects artists need clean plates, measurements and lighting that matches something not yet there. Find out how early they like to talk to the effects supervisor, and have them pick a shot of theirs where the join cannot be seen.
What do you do when a day has been scheduled longer than is safe for the crew?
Why ask it
Working hours, rest between days and night work are governed by local rules and agreements, so ask what applies where they shoot. The part that belongs to them is personal: who they speak to, and whether they have ever stopped a shot.
Camera and budget
What decides which camera a film is shot on?
Why ask it
A considered answer starts with where the film will be shown and how it will be finished, then gets to weight, low light and what the rental house has on the shelf. If a model name comes first and no reasons follow, ask what the second choice would have been.
Do you own your equipment, and how is it charged to the production?
Why ask it
Some cinematographers rent their own camera package to the job and others own nothing on principle. Kit fees, insurance and who pays for damage vary by country and by contract, so ask how they normally handle it and have it written down.
If the budget for your department were cut by a third, what would you protect?
Why ask it
For a producer this may be the most useful question in the meeting. The answer ranks their priorities out loud: a crew member, lenses ahead of the camera body, an extra shooting day ahead of any equipment at all.
Having read this script, where would you spend the lighting money?
Why ask it
Only for a cinematographer who has been sent the script. A reply that points at the night scenes or the one big interior shows that the work has already begun in their head.
What does a small crew stop you from doing?
Why ask it
Low-budget films are often planned around shots that take four people when the production has two. Tell them the crew you can actually pay for, have them cross out what it rules out, and hear what they would offer in its place.
How do you look after the footage between the camera and the edit?
Why ask it
On a larger shoot a digital imaging technician often handles the copies, the checks and the look on the monitors. On a small one the job can land on whoever is free, which is how files go missing, so ask how many copies they want before a card is wiped.
What is your rate, and which days does it cover?
Why ask it
Scouting, testing, travel and the grade may or may not be paid days. Rates, overtime and minimums depend on the country, any union agreement and the kind of production, so ask them or their agent how it is normally done there instead of assuming.
Are you free for prep and the grade as well as the shoot dates?
Why ask it
A cinematographer who arrives the night before and leaves at wrap has been hired for half the job. Go through the dates for scouts, tests and color sessions, and ask what happens if another offer lands on top of them.
The finished film
How involved are you in the color grade?
Why ask it
It runs from sitting in on every session to sending notes on a link, and the choice is not always theirs. A producer should say what the budget allows and ask whether those days are expected to be paid, since practice differs from one production to the next.
Do you build the look before the shoot or find it in the grade?
Why ask it
A look set in prep and loaded into the monitors means the director, the editor and the financiers watch something near the final image for months. Ask what happens when people grow attached to dailies that were never meant to be final.
How do you work with a colorist you did not choose?
Why ask it
The post house, and with it the colorist, is often picked by the production. The answer shows how they give notes: reference stills, being in the room, or leaving the colorist alone for a first pass.
What have you rescued in the grade, and what could it not save?
Why ask it
The list of what can be fixed afterward is shorter than students hope: color and contrast bend a long way, soft focus and a light that was never there mostly do not. One shot they still wish they had gotten right on the day makes the point better than any rule.
How do you make sure the image holds up in a theater, on a television and on a phone?
Why ask it
Much of the audience watches on a screen the cinematographer never saw. Two things to find out: which version gets graded first, and whether they have sat through the finished film on an ordinary set at home.
Which shot in the finished film is furthest from what you planned?
Why ask it
It works well late in a Q&A, because it arrives with a story about weather, luck or a mistake someone decided to keep. Ask whether they would plan it the accidental way now.
What do you see in your own films that the audience never notices?
Why ask it
Usually it is the compromise: the setup lit in ten minutes, the lens that was not in the budget. The reply is candid more often than polished, which makes it a good last question, so leave time for it.
Getting more from a conversation with a cinematographer
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before you talk
Watch ten minutes with the sound off
Pick one piece of their work and watch a stretch of it muted. Without dialogue you start to see where the light comes from, how close the camera sits to the actors and when it moves. You arrive with questions about particular scenes, which is what separates a good conversation with a cinematographer from a list of general ones.
Bring three frames
Pause on three shots you want to ask about and note roughly where they fall. 'The kitchen scene, when she switches the lamp off' gets a real answer and 'your lighting' does not. Many cinematographers keep stills from their work on a phone, so 'can you show me the shot you mean?' is a fair request, and it gives a quiet guest something to talk from.
Know who works under them
A cinematographer runs three crews: camera, lighting and grip. Look up the operator, the focus puller, the gaffer and the key grip in the credits, and the colorist while you are there, so that you do not praise the cinematographer for a move an operator designed or ask about a grade they could not attend. How the work is divided between grips and electricians differs between countries, so ask how their sets do it. 'Cinematographer' and 'director of photography' describe the same job on most productions; use whichever one their own credit uses.
For a class, a podcast or a screening
A student with half an hour
Open in Background, take two or three from Light and lenses, and close with the advice about starting without a camera. Ask for the simplest version of everything, and ask what a first-year student could try this week with one lamp. Leave rates and equipment billing out unless they bring them up.
A room that has just watched the film
Tie each question to a scene the audience can still picture. Script and look, Light and lenses and The finished film give the best material. Four or five questions fill twenty minutes once the stories start, and the last two on the page are written to end on.
Stop them when a term goes past you
Key, fill, practical, stop, negative fill, dailies: the vocabulary arrives quickly. 'What does that mean on a set?' costs you nothing, and people who light for a living spend half their day explaining it to directors and producers anyway. If you were lost at a word, so was the back row.
If you are hiring a director of photography
Send the script before the meeting
A director or producer who is hiring should send the script, or at least a few scenes, several days ahead. The questions under Script and look and Camera and budget only work when the cinematographer has something real to react to, and how they react is most of what you are there to find out.
Leave money until both sides want the job
Begin with Script and look, since their reading of your film is the reason for the meeting. Move to Director and crew to learn how the two of you would get through a day, and keep Camera and budget for the end. Put the same five or six questions to every candidate so the answers can be compared afterward.
Talk to people who stood next to them
A director and a first assistant director from an earlier job can tell you what a reel cannot: whether the days were finished, how the crew was spoken to at hour eleven, how changes were taken. Ask the cinematographer for those names and see how readily they come.
Spend half a day shooting something together
A camera test, a walk around the main location or one page of the script with stand-ins shows how the two of you talk when there is a frame to look at. Disagreements that surface there cost an afternoon. The same ones found in week two cost a great deal more.
Write down what was agreed
Dates including prep and the grade, the rate, whose equipment is being rented and at what price, the credit, and who else they are bringing. What a contract has to contain depends on where you are, so have a producer or a lawyer who knows local practice look it over before anyone signs.
What to listen for
Reasons count for more than model names
A reply that stops at a camera or a set of lenses has told you what was rented. The useful part is the because: this lens for how it treats a face, this camera for a night scene with almost no light. When the reason is missing, ask what the alternative was and why it lost.
Notice who else is in the story
The job is done through a crew. Someone who names the gaffer, the grip and the focus puller when describing a hard shot is describing how the work really happened, and is showing you how they treat the people they depend on. For a hiring director that is worth as much as the images.
Treat pay and rules as local
Day rates, working hours, equipment rental and union membership differ by country, by region and by the size of the production. Take what you hear as one person's experience in one place. For anything you intend to act on, ask the production office, an agent or the local guild how it works where you are shooting.