Cinematographer
Cinematographer
Career Overview
Cinematographers, also called Directors of Photography, create the visual style of films, television shows, commercials, music videos, and other productions. They work closely with directors and production teams to choose cameras, lenses, lighting, composition, and camera movement, while today's productions increasingly use digital cinema cameras, drones, virtual production, motion capture, and advanced visual-effects technology.
Education
A bachelor's degree or college program in film production, cinematography, media production, broadcasting, or a related field can provide a strong foundation, but hands-on experience and a strong portfolio are extremely important. Students can begin building experience through school productions, short films, social-media projects, internships, and independent filmmaking.
Work Environment
Cinematographers can work on film and television sets, commercials, music videos, documentaries, streaming productions, and digital media projects, and the job can involve travel and long or irregular hours during production. They may use cinema cameras, drones, stabilizers, LED lighting, digital monitors, virtual-production systems, and specialized software to create the look of a project.
Future Outlook
There will continue to be opportunities for talented cinematographers as film, streaming, advertising, social media, and other forms of visual storytelling continue to produce new content. Competition can be strong, but people who combine creative vision with modern camera technology, lighting, digital production, and visual-effects skills can find opportunities across a much wider range of productions than traditional film and television alone.
Recommended High School Courses
- Computer Science
- Photography
- Computer-aided Design Competency
- English
- Digital Media
- Video Production
- Film & Television
- Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
- Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Flexibility of Closure - The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Perceptual Speed - The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
- Selective Attention - The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Visual Color Discrimination - The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
- Visualization - The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Edit audio or video recordings.
- Determine presentation subjects or content.
- Manage content of broadcasts or presentations.
- Operate communications, transmissions, or broadcasting equipment.
- Label production materials.
- Verify accuracy of data.
- Create computer-generated graphics or animation.
- Operate audio recording equipment.
- Provide information to coworkers.
- Collaborate with others to determine technical details of productions.
- Study scripts to determine project requirements.
- Coordinate activities of production personnel.
- Develop promotional materials.
- Collaborate with others to prepare or perform artistic productions.
- Determine technical requirements of productions or projects.
Schools
American Film Institute
Artcenter College Of Desi...
Artcenter College Of Desi...
California Institute Of T...
California State Universi...
Florida State University
Ithaca College
Los Angeles Film School
Loyola Marymount Universi...
New York University
Rhode Island School Of De...
Ringling College Of Art A...
San Francisco State Unive...
Savannah College Of Art A...
Syracuse University
University Of California-...
University Of North Carol...
University Of Richmond
University Of Southern Ca...
University Of Tampa
University Of The Arts
Wheaton College- Massachu...
Whitman College
Willamette University
William Woods University
Yale University
Canadore College- Coll...
Confederation College
Durham College- Oshawa...
Fanshawe College- Lond...
Humber College- Lakesh...
Humber College- North...
Lakehead University- O...
Niagara College- Wella...
Sault College
Seneca College- Seneca...
Toronto Film School
Universite De Montreal...
University Of Windsor-...
Approx Salary Expectation
Low End:
$39,000.00 /yr
Avg/Med:
$75,000.00 /yr
High End:
$135,000.00 /yr
Related Careers
References
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/.
Trend Analysis - Explorer the Market, Labour Market Information, Government of Canada https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/trend-analysis.
O*NET OnLine, National Center for O*NET Development, https://www.onetonline.org/.
Trend Analysis - Explorer the Market, Labour Market Information, Government of Canada https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/trend-analysis.
O*NET OnLine, National Center for O*NET Development, https://www.onetonline.org/.