INTRODUCTION

Federico Fellini, an influential Italian film director known for his integration of fantasy and baroque images proclaimed that "Films are light." Indeed, the creation of a film integrates many aspects of light into it. Technically, the developing process involves capturing light onto film using photosensitive chemicals and the replaying of these recorded films requires the projection of light in a dark theatre. The contrast of light and dark results in interpretable images and motion that depict a story on a screen. 

In addition to the technical aspects of film, the images and motion shown on screen is thoroughly encoded by light, masterfully crafted into shots by the cinematographer. Lighting is the fundamental domain of the cinematographer and creates moods that add depth to the telling of the story. To a cinematographer, light is a changing element in life, and the ability of a cinematographer to see light and to remember its changing states is like a musician memorizing lyrical melodies. Playing back and capturing the lighting in the form of film becomes a collaborative art between the cinematographer, camera operator and director, and individual talents and personalities decide the final outcome. Furthermore, on set, light enhances or diminishes the efforts of the people who create fantastical scenes using backdrops, props, costumes and makeup. Ultimately, the angle of light, its intensity, quality- whether it is hard or soft- and its colour all combine together to create a masterpiece that depicts the cinematographer's palette styles that may characterize certain periods or unique film studios.

 The term Cinematographer has been contested as either being the director of photography or the camera operator, but the term's definition has been commonly interchangeable as the role is commonly held by the same person. For the purpose of this research paper; the term Cinematographer will infer the common title, which is the person responsible for filming and lighting the motion picture.