Lawrence Sher discusses an important truth about collaboration on set: directors don’t necessarily need to understand cinematography or think like cinematographers. Lawrence explains why that responsibility belongs to the DP - translating story, emotion, and intention into visual language, while freeing the director to focus on performances, pacing, and the bigger picture. A great breakdown of trust, roles, and why strong cinematography is about removing technical burden from the director, not adding to it.
An insightful segment for cinematographers, directors, and anyone interested in how high-level collaboration actually works on set.
Thanks for sharing the video, Pat Alexander. I used to think directors did what cinematographers do. I've been learning more about cinematography so I can improve as a screenwriter.
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I think this is partially true. I agree that a director, even one who comes from cinematography, doesn’t need to understand the technical side of image capture — just as an architect doesn’t need to understand engineering in order to design a building. That’s the responsibility of the engineers involved in the construction.
The problem is that there’s often confusion about what cinematography actually is. If a director doesn’t understand that, I believe the entire work will be affected in the end. Cinematography is a language. You can remove sound, you can remove dialogue, even actors — but if you remove the camera, there is no film.
Screenwriters need to understand cinematography, just like directors do. That doesn’t mean they need to describe camera movements or worry about where the light stands will be placed. But if cinematography is a language, not understanding it is the same as writing without understanding grammar.
The director is the guardian of the story, responsible for keeping the narrative on track — not only in terms of coherence, but also its themes. If the screenwriter and the director are creating the mise-en-scène, the image already exists in their minds. An initial sketch is formed, whether in words or drawings — and that is already cinematography. The director of photography and their team then transform that sketch into reality, or suggest changes so it can actually be photographed.
Cinematography is not just about lenses or lighting. It’s about semiotics — using those tools to strengthen the narrative. A director or screenwriter who doesn’t understand this concept will face serious problems during production.
What Lawrence highlights in the video, and what I think is most important, is collaboration. Personally, when I’m on set, I prefer to work with a DP who is aligned with the story, the narrative, and the themes. That leads to the inverse question: does a DP or cinematographer need to understand narrative and theme? Absolutely.
It’s essential for a director to understand cinematography and to care about it — maybe not while solving technical problems on set, but throughout the entire creative process that leads to the set. A director can choose not to know, but that often leads to conflicts and results that don’t match what was originally envisioned.