This is something I've been wondering for a while and it's if the "creative eye" for getting amazing shots/angles is a talent that you're born with or something that can be learned. Personally, I feel that the creative eye applies to anyone who has the slightest interest in movies, photography and even mathematics (The Fibonacci Sequence). The thing is that trying to learn to capture creative moments on film isn't something that can be explained through words or a tutorial video. It's more of an emotional aspect that brings fourth a creative perspective and then later executed with a camera and I think everyone is capable of doing that if their slightest interest is triggered by inspiration. Your thoughts? Also sorry if my English confused any of you.
Cinematography : The Creative Eye by Enrique Bartolo
The Creative Eye
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Honestly? I think for some, it can be taught to a point, but for the most part, it's talent. Case in point: every 5x7 ever taken by my mother has the subject either cut off or making up about 1% of the entire photographed space. As technology made zoom as easy as a swipe, she's gotten much better with framing, but it's clear she's not a photographer. Just someone with a camera. I know a lot of people like this. Now I can and have tried to instruct on better techniques, but where I can see light and shadow, or color and movement, she replicates what her eyes see whereas a photographer or cinematographer can find a way to make even the mundane beautiful.
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I agree with Robert - I feel some of the technical aspects can be taught, but it boils down to talent. My opinion is that a creative mind just "sees it" differently than others. I mean, look at Fellini, Hitchcock, Tarantino, Coen Brothers...that is innate.
Not so much talent, as much as a mind that can internalize rules of thumb, templates, patterns, and has a passion to learn and study the process and apply a serious attention to detail. There are a lot of rules, more than the basics. I think Robert's mother is more interested in and distracted by the world she is photographing than the process which is required.
agree, I think you can teach someone how to be a working dp, camera operator as say, tv, does pretty much standard shots, tights, a wide, coverage etc, but to be a creative with camera, as in all arts, writing, example, I knew a lady with a masters degree in literature, she was higly skilled in putting together prose, poetry, very tight, concise, but nothing she wrote had any meat or bones......as you can't teach imagination....
It takes practice and analyzing. There is no shame in learning from others work. Look at the backgrounds of films, look at whats in the shot, and how they relate. Translate that into yours and soon it may become second nature.
But that doesn't mean that if you weren't "born" with it, you can't learn it at all. I've seen some really average people grow into really talented ones, after years of dedication and hard work!