Film Is Still Magical And Digital Is Fantastic.

Taken from The Summer edition of "Behind The Lens" DoP Alex Ryle

Behind the Lens speaks to DoP Alex Ryle about the advancements in camera technology and how his interest is in being a story collaborator.

What’s the difference between a DoP and a Cinema photographer?

Sometimes there’s no difference as its mostly down to the level of experience of the individual. Also, I think particularly in in the UK and Western Europe there's a lot of confusion at the moment because terms have come to mean more than what they used to. There was a very clear definition and a Director of Photography (DoP) was the person who shot film but it’s slightly muddled now. Technically speaking the jobs/roles are very similar in many respects but there's a very big difference between simple technical competence and good visual storytelling, and visual storytelling is the key to all of this I think. The cameras ability to enhance to tell stories is the key to all this. I know how this sounds but the jobs are the ‘same’ but equally different (if that makes any sense which I hope it does) and it’s only with a good technical background and, vitally, experience it really counts. Because good cinematography has very little to do with pretty pictures it's all about the camera showing or hiding from the viewers and enhancing the story.

There will be readers just starting out on their careers. What advice can you give them?

Well I think your advice to anybody at whatever point they are in their career is it that you just got to keep going, keep shooting as much and keep using your imagination and always putting as much as you can whatever it is you're doing. It really doesn't matter whether it's a tiny corporate video or an enormous film, you’re hired to make the very best, you can visually, so take everything seriously irrespective of the level you’re working at. I’ve never felt ‘the level I’m at’ is it for me and so I put everything I can into my work and then examine harshly and honestly and ask ‘what could I have done better there?’ At what point could that have been better? You’re always going to make mistakes and mistakes is the only way you'll learn really. 

Tell us about the fun and not so fun of shooting on Film vs Digital?

Film is still magical and nothing’s quite like it for me and not just for the picture quality or anything else we know about but the focus it gives the work on set. You shoot a roll of film, as opposed to filling a media card, and it really means something as it cost so much more, so rehearsal is vital in film as opposed to digital because it costs and means more. So the effort and focus for film I find is higher than when shooting on digital. So there is a temptation to rush in with digital projects and that doesn’t happen in film and I suppose that’s a shame, not that I am a luddite or nostalgic for film. It’s just the way it is. However, on the flip side there's nothing more terrifying than waiting for the rushes reports in the morning and the 5.30am phone call from the lab saying there’s train tracks crash down and all of yesterday's or neg damage and that was slightly unnerving however, that really didn’t happen that often and as film is reviving we have lost a part of the skills, in particular for assistants. This is because I think it probably seems archaic to new shooters of film. Digital is fantastic, it gives so more possibilities but it’s only a tool and has to be used in the right way. Simply because it exists doesn't mean that an art form is going to improve and doesn't mean it's going to be great but equally just because this doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to help you to do your job either so it really is a case of ‘right tool / right job’

Any scary moments in your younger days? 

Well a few but thankfully not that many. The fear was always the film being damaged or exposed or whatever. It’s strange that people think of clapper loaders being a ‘junior role’, and I suppose in the hierarchal system they perhaps are but they are often very experienced staff and ultimately, you would only ever be afforded the opportunity when you were ready to do it and you already had lots of experience by that point because if that role goes wrong everybody else’s work is all for nought.

What is your digital camera of choice?

Well I shoot on what is best for the job and yes I like Arri and I Red’s but other companies like Sony cameras have come on leaps and bounds. They are one of the ground breakers with the HDW-900 which funnily enough, when I tested it was cheaper to shooting 16mm so we went for 16mm rather than the Sony. Now we have the Sony Venice and that seems a totally new development as I've had a quick test of it and it seems impressive along with many other digital cinema cameras. I've seen the Alexa LF and had a quick test and it's a super system that’s really there to stop the gap for the Netflix/Amazon market. But even the cheaper cameras have great image quality, it’s mostly down to usability which is where it becomes a problem. The Reds, Arri’s, Panavision’s etc are all so good they’re probably in their own level but the problem with the level below that is that the cameras are perhaps too similar. I’ve shot on the Canon C100 as a B-Camera but the labyrinth of menus and submenus just take too much time to go through. It needs to work right there and then! I don’t want to control a camera with an iPhone or be slowed down. 

What about you Alex? What’s your niche? 

Too tricky to answer! I do miniatures, free from drama, cooperate. I want to tell a story and I’m not a kit snob so I don’t have a ‘go to Alex for commercials’ for example. What I’m interested in is being a story collaborator and not just a dry technician. 

Do you agree that TV/Video content is now rivalling cinema film? From the ‘Sopranos’ onwards has TV and so-on over taken cinema? 

There was snobbery about the labels of being in drama, or film or whatever and yes there’s prestige of the cinema but now there’s much more scope to tell intricate stories. On the flip side of that, there is a sense that our attention spans are shortening across the board and we’re sucked in by the amazing spectacle but the story is being subsumed by the spectacle but we need to be careful not ‘show off’ just because the technology is there. Like drones for example – I’m already bored of them! When technology settles down we need to look at the stories we’re making and trying to tell. It all goes back to the story!

We’re nearly done but some quick off-putting questions for you. First answer please! ‘Game of Thrones’ Vs ‘The Last Jedi’?

Game of Thrones has been more engaging I’d say.

The most recent ‘Twin Peaks’ Vs ‘Rocky (1)’?

Its like comparing Apples with Oranges. I enjoyed them both immensely! 

All of the ‘Three Colours’ series Vs ‘Sopranos’?

Its weird you choose those to compare because actually there are I see a lot of parallels in a funny way because of the intricacy of the storytelling in particular at the end of The Sopranos and they could have all been directed by Krzysztof Kie?lowski. No doubt there’s someone laughing at my response to this!