Hold onto your bootstraps, it’s going to get stereotypical up in here. 

Cinematographers as a breed are purists. 

We like whiskey neat and black coffee.  We’d shoot to film if you let us and only use optical viewfinders.  We like the artistry of Steadicam and Fisher dollies and would love to flat out reject your MōVI gimbal crap.

Cinematographers compromise. 

On one project you have to weigh budget against the needs and wants of your director or the client.  After that balancing act is done, hopefully 80 or 90% of your creative process and technical desires for the film are left.  Often times it’s closer to 50. 

Let me explain how I feel about it. 

I didn’t used to like IPAs.  I thought they were bitter. The hoppy thing didn’t sit right with me. Being that I live in NY, I figured out quickly that they were the best bang for your buck and haven’t looked back since.  Now, any other beer I have doesn’t really taste like a BEER. 

Once I fell in love with a pitbull named Olive, every other dog breed doesn’t seem DOG enough.  

Theses dumb opinions of mine have very similar logic to how I feel about not shooting on film, knockoff steadi, LED lights, monitor focusing, as well as most elements of the dreaded “videography.”

Now if you handed me a cold Pilsner on a hot day, I’d shut up and drink it.  

Am I losing you with the analogy?

What I’m trying to say is planning a shoot in Pre Production is all about the tools, the codec, the workflow.  And yes, there is a better, cleaner, purer way to shoot.  But in the end a camera is just a tool and it comes down to the person behind it.