Movie: Visions of Light

Top 10 Billed Cast

Ernest R. Dickerson
Ernest R. Dickerson

Self

Michael Chapman
Michael Chapman

Self

Allen Daviau
Allen Daviau

Self

Caleb Deschanel
Caleb Deschanel

Self

Lisa Rinzler
Lisa Rinzler

Self

Conrad Hall
Conrad Hall

Self

William A. Fraker
William A. Fraker

Self

John Bailey
John Bailey

Self

Néstor Almendros
Néstor Almendros

Self

Charles Rosher Jr.
Charles Rosher Jr.

Self

  • HomePage

  • Overview

    Cameramen and women discuss the craft and art of cinematography and of the "DP" (the director of photography), illustrating their points with clips from 100 films, from Birth of a Nation to Do the Right Thing. Themes: the DP tells people where to look; changes in movies (the arrival of sound, color, and wide screens) required creative responses from DPs; and, these artisans constantly invent new equipment and try new things, with wonderful results. The narration takes us through the identifiable studio styles of the 30s, the emergence of noir, the New York look, and the impact of Europeans. Citizen Kane, The Conformist, and Gordon Willis get special attention.

  • Release Date

    1992-09-17

  • Average

    7

  • Rating:

    3.5 starts
  • Tagline

    The Art of Cinematography

  • Genres

  • Languages:

    English
  • Keywords

Recommendations Movies

Joe Versus the Volcano
58%

Joe Versus the Volcano(en)

1990-03-09

Hypochondriac Joe Banks finds out he has six months to live, quits his dead end job, musters the courage to ask his co-worker out on a date, and is then hired to jump into a volcano by a mysterious visitor.

Captain Phillips
75%

Captain Phillips(en)

2013-10-10

The true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.

The Lego Movie
74%

The Lego Movie(en)

2014-02-06

An ordinary Lego mini-figure, mistakenly thought to be the extraordinary MasterBuilder, is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil Lego tyrant from conquering the universe.

Ex Machina
76%

Ex Machina(en)

2015-01-21

Caleb, a coder at the world's largest internet company, wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain retreat belonging to Nathan, the reclusive CEO of the company. But when Caleb arrives at the remote location he finds that he will have to participate in a strange and fascinating experiment in which he must interact with the world's first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl.

Shutter Island
82%

Shutter Island(en)

2010-02-14

World War II soldier-turned-U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels investigates the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane, but his efforts are compromised by troubling visions and a mysterious doctor.

Titanic
79%

Titanic(en)

1997-12-18

101-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story of her life aboard the Titanic, 84 years later. A young Rose boards the ship with her mother and fiancé. Meanwhile, Jack Dawson and Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets aboard the ship. Rose tells the whole story from Titanic's departure through to its death—on its first and last voyage—on April 15, 1912.

Inside Out
79%

Inside Out(en)

2015-06-17

When 11-year-old Riley moves to a new city, her Emotions team up to help her through the transition. Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness work together, but when Joy and Sadness get lost, they must journey through unfamiliar places to get back home.

Back to the Future
83%

Back to the Future(en)

1985-07-03

Eighties teenager Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time to 1955, inadvertently disrupting his parents' first meeting and attracting his mother's romantic interest. Marty must repair the damage to history by rekindling his parents' romance and - with the help of his eccentric inventor friend Doc Brown - return to 1985.

PK
77%

PK(hi)

2014-12-18

A stranger in the city asks questions no one has asked before. Known only by his initials, the man's innocent questions and childlike curiosity take him on a journey of love, laughter and letting go.

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
74%

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood(en)

2019-07-24

Los Angeles, 1969. TV star Rick Dalton, a struggling actor specializing in westerns, and stuntman Cliff Booth, his best friend, try to survive in a constantly changing movie industry. Dalton is the neighbor of the young and promising actress and model Sharon Tate, who has just married the prestigious Polish director Roman Polanski…

American Beauty
80%

American Beauty(en)

1999-09-15

Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.

Rush
77%

Rush(en)

2013-09-02

In the 1970s, a rivalry propels race car drivers Niki Lauda and James Hunt to fame and glory — until a horrible accident threatens to end it all.

Joker
81%

Joker(en)

2019-10-01

During the 1980s, a failed stand-up comedian is driven insane and turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City while becoming an infamous psychopathic crime figure.

Django Unchained
82%

Django Unchained(en)

2012-12-25

With the help of a German bounty hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner.

In Time
70%

In Time(en)

2011-10-27

In the not-too-distant future, the aging gene has been switched off. To avoid overpopulation, time has become the currency and the way people pay for luxuries and necessities. The rich can live forever, while the rest struggle to negotiate for their immortality. A poor young man who suddenly comes into a fortune of time finds himself on the run from a corrupt police force known as the "time keepers".

Inception
84%

Inception(en)

2010-07-15

Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious.

Avatar
76%

Avatar(en)

2009-12-16

In the 22nd century, a paraplegic Marine is dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission, but becomes torn between following orders and protecting an alien civilization.

Interstellar
85%

Interstellar(en)

2014-11-05

The adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.

Forrest Gump
85%

Forrest Gump(en)

1994-06-23

A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.

Batman Begins
77%

Batman Begins(en)

2005-06-10

Driven by tragedy, billionaire Bruce Wayne dedicates his life to uncovering and defeating the corruption that plagues his home, Gotham City. Unable to work within the system, he instead creates a new identity, a symbol of fear for the criminal underworld - The Batman.

Similar Movies

Basquiat
66%

Basquiat(en)

1996-08-09

The brief life of Jean Michel Basquiat, a world renowned New York street artist struggling with fame, drugs and his identity.

Disclosure
78%

Disclosure(en)

2020-06-19

An investigation of how Hollywood's fabled stories have deeply influenced how Americans feel about transgender people, and how transgender people have been taught to feel about themselves.

Django & Django: Sergio Corbucci Unchained
70%

Django & Django: Sergio Corbucci Unchained(en)

2021-11-15

A tribute to Italian filmmaker Sergio Corbucci (1926-90), presented by American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino.

The Making of Anna and the Apocalypse
0%

The Making of Anna and the Apocalypse(en)

2019-12-02

A brand new feature-length documentary featuring new interviews with the cast and crew of Anna and the Apocalypse, produced exclusively by Second SIght Films for their 2-disc Blu-ray release of the movie.

Eclectic Shorts by Eric Leiser
0%

Eclectic Shorts by Eric Leiser(en)

2006-05-30

Eric Leiser displays his boundless creativity in this short collection; A stunning compilation of works presented with a mixture of live action, stop motion animation, puppetry and pixilation techniques, produced between 2001 and 2006.

The Inspiration for 'Cars'
57%

The Inspiration for 'Cars'(en)

2006-11-07

Short featurette about the inspiration behind Pixar's "Cars".

Nice Girls Don't Stay for Breakfast
46%

Nice Girls Don't Stay for Breakfast(en)

2019-02-27

In the late 1990s, iconic photographer Bruce Weber barely managed to convince legendary actor Robert Mitchum (1917-97) to let himself be filmed simply hanging out with friends, telling anecdotes from his life and recording jazz standards.

Cole Porter in Hollywood: Too Darn Hot
0%

Cole Porter in Hollywood: Too Darn Hot(en)

2003-04-22

Ann Miller hosts this documentary short on the making of the MGM-Cole Porter hot musical "Kiss Me Kate".

To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story
79%

To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story(en)

2017-08-26

To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story is the harrowing story of a stuntman overcoming a dehumanizing childhood filled with torment and bullying in Sparks, Nevada. After surviving a near-death burn accident, he worked his way up through Hollywood, leading to his ultimate rise as Jason Voorhees in the Friday the 13th series and making countless moviegoers forever terrified of hockey masks and summer camp. Featuring interviews with cinema legends, including Bruce Campbell (Ash vs. Evil Dead), Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger), and Cassandra Peterson (Elvira: Mistress of the Dark), To Hell and Back peels off the mask of Kane Hodder, cinema's most prolific killer, in a gut-wrenching, but inspiring, documentary. After decades of watching Kane Hodder on screen, get ready to meet the man behind the mask in To Hell and Back - an uniquely human story about one of cinema's most vicious monsters.

The Lot of Fun: Hollywood’s Fun Factory
70%

The Lot of Fun: Hollywood’s Fun Factory(de)

2014-05-29

A documentary about film producer Hal Roach.

A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later
0%

A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later(en)

2011-09-16

George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan and John Williams look back at The Empire Strikes Back 30 years later.

You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story
85%

You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story(en)

2008-05-15

Jack L. Warner, Harry Warner, Albert Warner and Sam Warner were siblings who were born in Poland and emigrated to Canada near the turn of the century. In 1903, the brothers entered the budding motion picture business. In time, the Warner Brothers moved into film production and would open their own studio in 1923.

Nouvelle Vague
73%

Nouvelle Vague(fr)

2025-10-08

After writing for Cahiers du cinéma, a young Jean-Luc Godard decides making films is the best film criticism. He convinces producer Georges de Beauregard to fund a low-budget feature, and creates a treatment with fellow New Wave filmmaker François Truffaut about a gangster couple. The result? Breathless, one of the first features of the Nouvelle Vague era of French cinema.

We're Not Even Supposed to Be Here Today: 3 Decades of Clerks
87%

We're Not Even Supposed to Be Here Today: 3 Decades of Clerks(en)

2022-12-05

A documentary covering 3 decades of Clerks films

A Cock and Bull Story
61%

A Cock and Bull Story(en)

2005-07-17

Steve Coogan, an arrogant actor with low self-esteem and a complicated love life, is playing the eponymous role in an adaptation of "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman" being filmed at a stately home. He constantly spars with actor Rob Brydon, who is playing Uncle Toby and believes his role to be of equal importance to Coogan's.

At the Drive-In
73%

At the Drive-In(en)

2017-10-24

Unable to purchase a $50,000 digital projector, a group of film fanatics in rural Pennsylvania fight to keep a dying drive-in theater alive by screening only vintage 35mm film prints and working entirely for free.

If You Build It: 30 Years of Field of Dreams
0%

If You Build It: 30 Years of Field of Dreams(en)

2021-08-07

More than just a baseball movie, Academy Award®-nominated "Field of Dreams" is an enduring story of family, resilience and hope. This documentary looks at how the film was made and explores the themes that continue to resonate with audiences 32 years later. Features interviews with actors Timothy Busfield, Frank Whaley, and Dwier Brown, producer Larry Gordon, and FOX Sports' lead MLB play-by-play announcer Joe Buck.

Altman
66%

Altman(en)

2014-08-01

Robert Altman's life and career contained multitudes. This father of American independent cinema left an indelible mark, not merely on the evolution of his art form, but also on the western zeitgeist. With its use of rare interviews, representative film clips, archival images, and musings from his family and most recognizable collaborators, Altman is a dynamic and heartfelt mediation on an artist whose expression, passion and appetite knew few bounds.

Näin tehtiin Poissa
0%

Näin tehtiin Poissa(fi)

2020-12-14

Documentary film about the making of Arttu Haglund's feature film Gone.

Horror Movie: A Low Budget Nightmare
70%

Horror Movie: A Low Budget Nightmare(en)

2017-10-13

A filmmaker's lifelong dream quickly becomes his worst nightmare when he attempts to make a low budget horror film about an aborted fetus that seeks revenge on its family.