Have you ever wondered how filmmakers create amazing imagery? The art of making films—of getting the perfect framing of the action—is called cinematography, and it’s an essential part of the visuals that make up a good movie.
Great cinematography comes in many forms, whether it be the back-and-forth shots of an intense conversation or long shots where the camera follows actors through an entire scene. Other important aspects of cinematography include the composition (how much space a given element takes in the frame), the focus (what is clear and crisp), and the color.

Not sure where to start?
Some amazing examples of great cinematography available in the Music & Media Collections or through our streaming services include:

Citizen Kane (also available on streaming) is a breakthrough film—it established many essentials of cinematography still in use today, such as the use of angles and shadows.

Wondrous combinations of bright colors saturate The Fall, where the story delves into surreal imagery as reality and fantasy blur.

The lack of color is just as impactful as its presence, and Roma’s beautiful black and white cinematography lingers in the long shot.

Fast-paced martial arts meet sweeping views of the Chinese landscape in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Pan’s Labyrinth (also available on streaming), a historical-fantasy film set during the Spanish Civil War, plays with light and shadow as the main character escapes into a fantasy world.

By Jayde Hoppe

It’s a great time to explore Digitalia Film Library, a streaming video database that offers a wide selection of multilingual and multi-national titles!
This collection of films and documentaries from Europe, North America, and Latin America features diverse subject areas in the arts, history, anthropology, nature, health, and so much more! Search by feature films and documentaries, check out new content, or search by genre from comedy and musicals, to drama and action. In addition to films, Digitalia also offers television shows and silent films. Try out one of these exciting selections!

Tercer Mundo (Third World) is a Chilean film from director César Caro Cruz. Part comedy, part science fiction, this film follows three twenty-somethings, discontented with their lives, who encounter a mystifying eclipse, a beautiful amulet, and maybe the end of the world.

Chagall – Malevich is a partly fictional biography of the Russian painter Marc Chagall told in the style of a folklore ballad. The colorful story depicts Chagall’s time in Vitebskin (Vitebsk, Russia) from 1917-18 when he formed the Academy of Modern Art and often clashed artistically with avant-garde artist and teacher Kazimir Malevich.

Witty and fast-paced, Carmo, Hit the Road is a drama and romance that tells the story a young woman tired of being stuck in the same old town. After rescuing a handicapped Spanish smuggler, she joins him on a reckless journey through Brazil.

Tuaregs: The Warriors of the Dunes is a fascinating documentary about a group of nomadic people lead by women who brave a treacherous life in the Sahara desert. Often referred to as the “Blue Men”, this term is derived from the indigo they use to dye their veils, which also stains their skin. They live lives without borders, governed by values of honor and hospitality, and lead their salt caravans through the Tenere, also called the “Anvil of the Sun”.

Galicia and Portugal are two territories with a common goal: to utilize the communal, uncultivated woodland to generate economic, environmental, and social wealth for their villages. Using luminous footage of the landscape, En todas as mans (In Everyone’s Hands) is a documentary that examines the real struggle the inhabitants of these territories face.

The eclectic documentary Cravan vs Cravan tells the story of Oscar Wilde’s nephew Arthur Cravan who disappeared in 1918 without a trace. Director Frank Nicotra, also a boxer and artist like Cravan himself, investigates the poet’s mysterious disappearance. He travels to Switzerland, Mexico, Paris, London, and Barcelona, visiting the worlds of boxing, art, and society intrigue to discover more about who Arthur Cravan was.

By Sarah Pavey