Wally Pfister gives his thoughts on cinematography

[projektmetaphor]

baked.

[sixamsedna]

one of my favorite DP's out there

[viniciusb]

Yada, yada, yada. Guess who chose the equipment (Imax cameras) to shoot The Dark Knight? The director.

[CenyddRos]

@viniciusb Wally Pfister has shot all of Nolan's studio films.

[drumking1006]

This joker is crazy!!! I heard that he was talking about doing the next Batman in all Imax!! I love this guy!!!!

[batrama310]

@drumking1006 I think the studio wants 3-D....something Wally and Chris had frowned upon since people first mentioned it, but IMAX would be amazing.

[HaMacKnight]

Wally Pfister and Gordon Willis have to be not just my favorite in this field... but also two of the best.

[bobb328]

He's one of the best living today but it's not on the level of Lawrence of Arabia. The whole point of cinematography is to make it look as natural as possible, not just to be beautiful so it can be beautiful like most people think. Look at A Serious Man, amazing cinematography by Deakins and is doesn't try to look pretty, just natural. I did really like the photography on The Dark Knight though.

[EnzoTheBaker]

Whoever just said TDK's cinematography is on the level of Lawrence of Arabia must be taking classes in comedy.

[rotkerid786]

I don't know about it being the most stunning since Lawrence of Arabia, but it was beautiful. I love Pfister's cinematography because I can never notice it. It doesn't have to be as wild as Sergei Urusevski's work, as I am sure many others would have done on this film.

[NeroBlack2200]

It's my considered opinion that Mr. Pfister's work on The Dark Knight is among the most stunning seen since Lawrence of Arabia.

[godfatherofwiseguys]

i think what you're referring to is the canvas or scope. Lawrence of Arabia is about Scope and Size. i see your point. TDK's Cinematography is somehow like LoA. it i also one of Nolan's favs. i mean, just replace the buildings with sands and mountains and you have LoA. somehow, the buildings are seen almost always in the background. the IMAX photography definitely reminded me of LoA.

[godfatherofwiseguys]

that being said. i don't share your opinion that Pfister's work in TDK is the most stunning since Lawrence Of Arabia. i may be just 18 but i have seen LoA and IMO there are much stunning Cinematography i've seen in the past 5 years. Deakins' work in Jesse James is STUNNING! plus his usual work with the Coens is almost always the best of the year. Lubezki's work on Children Of Men is stunning too.

[NeroBlack2200]

I'm also referring to the fact that Pfister did something in motion picture cinematography that's never been done before, which is the use of the IMAX camera.

I did enjoy Deakins' work on Jesse James, though.

[AlrightFrasier]

Met him today, he was really really friendly! Inception is going to be fantastic!

[vousmonde]

Wally is the best

[SeptemberGroup]

yep..Pfister's tha shyt!!!

[kevsignal]

Mr pfister should have won the oscar for the dark knight.he was absoloutely robbed. it was one of the most incredibly presented films i ever seen.

that scene with the joker hanging out of the police car? stunning to watch.

[TemplarReturns]

That scene was great, Joker hanging his head out of the cop car, reveling in the madness he created, but the interrogation scene between Joker and Gordon as well. That scene reminded me of Apocalypse Now where willard goes to meet Kurtz for the first time. I remember hearing a podcast between Pfister and Daryn Okada, ASC where Mr Pfister stated that when Batman turns on the lights in that scene, he pushed the film to around 2 stops.

[peteagassi]

@kevsignal Totally agree. But instead, Slumdog Millionaire won for best cinematography. That movie looked like it was shot by a semi-retarded film student, who then vomited all over the negative and then projected it on the screen.

[GIANTfromSIBERIA]

@peteagassi Slumdog was actually not shot to film, it was shot using the digital RED ONE camera. In fact it was one of the first big budget films to be shot digital which is probably the reason that it won.

[VanillaAlces]

@kevsignal If anyone was robbed in 2008 it was Roger Deakins. The only reason he lost was because his votes were spit between his two nominations. Pfister wasn't even nominated.

[TheTeenForce]

@VanillaAlces Clearly Pfister wasn't nominated in the 2008 Oscars...'The Dark Knight' wasn't out yet. He was nominated in 2009 for best cinematography and lost to Anthony Dod Mantle for 'Slumdog Millionaire'. For someone to say Pfister was robbed would be completely legitimate.

[DylanPenev]

@kevsignal well at least he got the Oscar for "Inception"