Hello everyone!
I'm a cinematographer with over a decade of industry experience. Raised just outside of Atlanta, GA, I had a love of movies and a dream of filmmaking since I was very little. As my parents like to say, I knew how to put a VHS tape in a VCR almost as soon as I could walk.
I received my Bachelor’s degree in Digital Filmmaking and Multimedia Communication from Georgia Southern University. While at GSU, I moved from Editing to find my true love in Cinematography. In 2010, I moved to Los Angeles, where I attended USC’s School of Cinematic Arts; furthering my education in Cinematography and earning an MFA in Film & Television Production.
Since then, I’ve shot over 80 projects - ranging from narrative features, series, and shorts to documentaries, commercials, and music videos. My upcoming work includes 3 narrative features, currently in post-production, as well as several narrative features and documentaries in various stages of development or production.
In 2021, I was honored with an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Cinematography for my work on the hit documentary, The Social Dilemma. The film took a unique hybrid documentary-narrative approach, and I shot the narrative sequences of the film.
As you’ve noticed, quite a bit of my work spans narrative and documentary. Which brings us to the main topic today: the differences between these types of cinematography (spoiler - not much). Of course, please don’t feel restricted to this topic alone. If other questions come to mind - whether it be lighting, cameras, lenses, or something else - ask away and I’ll do my best to answer.
As always, it’s important to remember that just as every project is different, so too is everyone’s personal journey and process. Every day, I’m continuing to learn and grow, but I hope that I can share at least a bit of that experience with you.
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Thanks for having this AMA, Jonathan Pope. Congratulations on the Emmy nomination and all of your success!!! What's the main difference between documentary cinematography and narrative cinematography?
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Hi Jonathan, thanks for being here! I’ve been working on a documentary in post and sometimes I realize I’d love to have that extra shot. When you shoot documentaries are you as a Camerman picking up additional shots as you see them knowing it might be helpful later or are your docs more scripted w shot list? Mine was def just my camera guy and I!
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Jonathan Pope thanks for hosting this! As a screenwriter, I'd love to get your take on how much direction you like to see in a script. Mine tend to be pretty sparse...but then I read scripts with lots of camera direction (admittedly, these might be the shooting scripts), so I'm curious if you see a preference in the industry for how much direction should be on the page.
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Thank you for making yourself available today, Jonathan Pope! What tips do you have for prepping for Documentary shoots? How is the prep process similar to or different from narrative projects?
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Hi Jonathan Pope - thanks a ton for this AMA. How much creative input do you have as a cinematographer into narrative projects? Thanks in advance!
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Jonathan Pope hi Jonathan, I’d like to ask you about the best way to develop the director/DP relationship, so that both are on the same page/same expectations for what the production should look and feel like? I suppose what comes to mind, in a word is, style. But of course, professional relationships too.
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Hi Jonathan Pope , thanks for sharing your time with us today! Loved The Social Dilemma and congrats on the Emmy nom!
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Maurice Vaughan Thank you! In a nutshell, we're often given fewer resources when filming documentaries than narratives - crew, gear, time, etc. Often, this is less a budgetary constraint, but rather the nature of documentaries. Unless we're filming stylized b-roll, recreations, or heavily designed intereviews, documentaries typically require a nimble approach. We must be light on our feet, able to work with available or minimally augmented light, and ready to pivot at a moment's notice. However, I often find these challenges creatively rewarding, because they require a reliance on instinct. Your creative intuition as a DP is applicable, no matter what you're filming. You may just need to think outside of the box in order to acheive it.
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Xochi Blymyer This is a great question! I'm very much of the mindset that I'd rather give my director and editor more to work with than less. During pre-production, I always discuss the style and emotion of the storytelling with the team. From there, I'm given the freedom to pick things up as I see them, but I try my best to communicate what I'm capturing and why as often as I can. So, assuming you are not limited on data, try having those early conversations with your DP about your intended stylistic approach, as well as making it clear that they are free to capture additional shots as they see fit.
I've taken this mindset into many of my narrative projects as well. I'm constantly on the lookout for moments - a character anxiously tapping their foot, sunlight casting interesting shadows on a wall, etc. - that I feel might elevate the emotion or mood of the storytelling. However, the communication about what I'm rolling on and when become even more critical for narrative, as these moments need to be logged and accounted for.
One last thing that I'll mention, which applies to both narrative and documentary: Have some sort of secret signal or gesture among the crew that indicates "roll on this", without having to say a word. This is particularly useful when filming with children or non-actors, as they'll often give you some of their best stuff when they think the cameras are not rolling.
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Jonathan Jordan Great question!
Just like directing, there is no one way to write scripts. Anyone that tells you otherwise is probably trying to sell you something. At the end of the day, focus on telling a good story in an entertaining way.
My personal opinion is to include any information that you think is critical to understanding the intended style and tone of the story and the world that these characters inhabit. Regarding camera, while you don't necessarily need to worry about the shots themselves, it's important to think about what the shots need to capture. Always keep your emotional and story beats in mind.
For instance, if it's important to know that the camera moves from point A to B and focuses on subject C, or HOW it moves, include it. Otherwise, I don't pay too much attention to camera directions in a script, if it seems superfluous. Camera decisions are not locked in and will evolve heavily as the film moves through prep and into production.
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Ashley Renee Smith Thank you for the question, Ashley! As always, this can vary greatly from project to project. For both narrative and documentary, it's critical to understand the director's vision for the story and help them to form a visual language for how it will be told. From there, consider the budget, circumstances, and parameters of the project. A few questions that you could ask:
- What time of day will the film take place? If there is a lot of night or low-light work, consider a camera that performs well in those conditions.
- For documentaries, will there ever be a need to film in a location where discretion is necessary. If so, consider a camera that is low-profile and does not draw much attention.
- Will you be filming stylized interviews or varite? Consider how each of these affect your lighting needs.
No matter the project, a Cinematographer's job remains the same: Colaborate with the Director and team to help bring the overall storytelling vision to life. So questions that will help you understand that vision, in whatever form it might take, are critical. I'm of the mindset that there is no such thing as too much communication in filmmaking.
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Leonardo Ramirez Thanks for being here, Leonardo! On narrative projects, I'm almost always involved in most creative decisions, particularly as they relate to my department, camera and lighting. As filmmaking is highly collaborative, and no department operates in isolation, I also work heavily with the Production Designer, chiming in on things like the color or texture of walls and textiles, the selection of on-camera lighting, and more. The degree to which I am involved can vary, as some directors have a very clear creative vision that simply needs executing, whereas other directors might need more help in fleshing out their visual storytelling choices. With my long-term collaborators, I am often involved well before prep officially begins, whether that be providing script notes or brainstorming early visual ideas.
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Jonathan Pope Thanks so much Jonathan. Love the collaboration!!
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Leonardo Ramirez My pleasure!
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Geoff Hall Good question. In a weird way, collaborating with a director for the first time is a little like dating. When meeting a new director, I like to get to know them as a person before I dive into the creative conversation. This allows me to get a sense for what they might be like to work with - Do we have any shared life experiences? Are they receptive to new ideas? Will they think my (often dumb) jokes are funny? Kidding about that last one...sort of.
This will often organically transition into the creative conversation. When reading a script for the first time, I will make notes, both for style and story. From there, I like to pull my own visual references. However, unless asked otherwise, I prefer to discuss the how the director sees the film first. While each particular DP is hired for a specific (and hopefully creative) reason, it's important that the director's vision be respected and protected.
In getting to your question more specifically about establishing a clear visual language and understand, I find it helpful to discuss the emotion of a story. How do we want the audience to feel at different moments of the story? How does that translate to color, movement, composition, etc? Every collaboration has its own approach, but I personally like to create a document that lays out our storytelling "rules".
From there, it's all about communication, communication, communication. Oh, did I mention communication? Allowing the each other space and freedom to speak up when some thing is working, when new ideas come to mind, or when something is not working. Ideally, the bulk of these conversations are happening in prep, but as is the nature of filmmaking, trial and error is an important part of the process.
With my long-time collaborators (and now friends), we have learned and grown over numerous projects to the point that we can sometimes communicate our feelings with so little as a look.
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Jonathan Pope thank you Jonathan. That’s really helpful. I’ve taken a screen shot of your answer! I like your transition from personal knowledge of each other, leading to a good working relationship. It’s a great place to start.
Visual language. I love this focus on the emotion of the story, which to me would open up a discussion of visual style and puts the groundworks in place before a scene is shot. Great stuff.
By the way, I checked out your site. I loved your reel, it’s just full of great shots (yes, that was the idea, Geoff!) It gives me a great snapshot of you and your visual language skills. Thanks again for your answers and for doing this AMA.
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Jonathan Pope Okay, so a final question from me, I promise. I know this breaks from the theme of this AMA, but…
When considering ‘experimental’ short films, as a DP do you go into it thinking this will take longer than a narrative film? When estimating the length of the shoot, how would you work out the days necessary to cover each scene/page?
Thanks for the answer, Jonathan Pope. I didn't know crews are given fewer resources when filming documentaries than narratives, and I didn't know why. Thanks again for having this AMA. Incredible answers!
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Geoff Hall Thank you so much for the kind words!
To answer your second question - can you be a little more specific about what would you classify as "experimental"? I wouldn't say that I've ever thought that an experimental film would take longer than a narrative film, simply by it being experimental. Regardless of the film, everything really starts at the script level. Beyond page count, some things that I look out for are:
- Number of locations (will there be company moves? These can really chew through the produciton day)
- Day vs night scenes & interior vs exterior (how much lighting/gear do I need to be considering?)
- Is the script dialogue heavy? This can take more or less time, depending on the rhythm of the dialogue and the amount of coverage the director wants.
- Are there action, VFX, and/or SFX? This inherently requires more time to shoot, particularly when working on smaller budgets.
From the script, it becomes a conversation with the director about their vision for the project. Obviously, this can affect the schedule conversation greatly depending on the scope of what they want to acheive. In conjunction with the budget and needs of all departments, all of these can affect how many days are needed.
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Maurice Vaughan Happy to help! To circle back to my answer, crew/resource limitations are common for documentaries, but there are of course acceptions. Nearly everything comes down to the needs of the story, the scope of the director's vision, and the budget.
Gotcha, Jonathan Pope. Thanks for the extra insight.
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What interesting questions, answers, and comments from all here. Jonathan, your wide-ranging background and experience certainly come through with insights and advice. I especially like the idea of a 'special signal' to the crew to keep filming. Back in the 80's/90's the director Leslie Dektor did that on commercials and it soon became a "thing". Certainly like you note, it can be helpful to capture times and doings that aren't necessarily on the shot list but do support the mood and message. Thanks for all the helpful advice!
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Jonathan - Yes, on the signal to roll! Even on scripted shows I've worked on, sometimes I see the camera pointing at a great sunset or something cool happening that gets filmed maybe while we are waiting for something. And some of these make it into the final cut. That's fun!
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Parabéns pela experiência! Jonatan Papa, dizem que bons cineastas vêm da Geórgia? Gostaria de saber mais sobre isso.
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Jonathan Pope thank you, Jonathan. The screenplay title is called “Breathe” and I wrote it during last year’s November Write Club. It’s on my bio page.
It’s a poetical conversation between a young poet and her older self, so there is a rhythm to it, that you wouldn’t get with say a drama. So not ‘dialogue heavy’ more dialogue light!!
It’s set in a forest, so it is location over studio shoot. There may be one shot which calls for SFX.
Thanks for your reply and apologies that I’ve only just seen your reply.