Roger Eaton - Cinematographer

Roger Eaton trained as a stills photographer with the likes of Lord Snowdon and Eve Arnold. He shot Naomi Campbell, Claudia Shiffer and co for Vogue. Having reached the top of his profession, Roger succumbed to the seduction of the moving image and began shooting documentaries and commercials before making cinema proper. Short films include the award-winning drama The Booth and Un Certain Disregard with Catherine Deneuve. He has worked with the Pope, The Chippendales and Diana, Princess of Wales. The feature Lava, a splice of Ealing comedy and Notting Hill carnival, is released in August 2001.

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Who is the cinematographer?
The person chiefly responsible for what you see on screen in terms of photography. This includes lighting, camerawork and the execution of the look or visual style.

What is the relationship between cinematographer and director?
A collaboration, the object of which is to enhance the cinematic art and craft within the boundaries of the director's vision. They work together to find the best way of telling the story visually. Some directors have more idea of what they are looking for visually and others will be more "hands-off", trusting the cinematographer to add to his vision.

To what extent do you as cinematographer decide how a scene is to be shot?
This depends on the director. Sometimes he or she has a very strong idea; sometimes he or she looks for more input. Some directors require more input in pre-production planning whist others prefer to throw away preconceived plans after the action has been blocked on the set.

Other factors which influence how much input the cinematographer has are: the director's level of experience; time; the sort of scene to be shot; performance; and budget.

To what extent do you as cinematographer decide on the visual style a film is to have?
Again this varies. Sometimes a cinematographer is employed for a particular style that he has produced before or on his general approach. Other times he can play more of a technical role. It depends on whether he has been booked for his artistic approach, his technical ability or his general balanced outlook with all factors. Some productions are ruled very heavily by executives and studios; others have much more freedom to be genuinely creative.