Reversing the “Male Gaze” | 5 Female Cinematographers Taking Charge in the Film Industry
One of the most vital crew members behind a film is the director of photography, aka the person behind the camera who captures each scene in a way they believe works best for the film.
Did you know that less than 5% of cinematographers in Hollywood are women? Because of this, the “male gaze” has been prominent in Hollywood for years. The “male gaze” refers to the objectification of women on screen, or the story being told from solely a male perspective.
“Reversing” the male gaze does not necessarily mean having a “female gaze”, but rather providing an alternative perspective or outlook on the film. Every person has their own subjective gaze based on their life experiences, and having more female cinematographers represented in Hollywood will naturally bring a unique perspective on films in the future.
For the last century that the Oscars have been held, how many women do you think have won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography? Well… if you guessed one or more, you would be wrong. The answer is zero.
Despite having no female cinematographers represented at the Oscars, there are plenty of highly talented and successful women out there. Here are 5 female cinematographers who are taking charge and making their mark on the film industry.
#1 | Reed Morano
Morano is an American cinematographer and director. In 2013, she joined the American Society of Cinematographers. At the time she joined, she was both the youngest member and 1 of only 12 women in the ASC, which has over 300 active members. Reed started her career as a cinematographer and often shoots her own films that she also directs.
The first feature that she both filmed and directed, Meadowland, won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography. Reed has a unique vision and utilizes specific color palettes in her films.
Reed’s most recent feature film, I Think We’re Alone Now and stars Peter Dinklage, won the Special Jury Prize for Excellence in Filmmaking at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.
#2 | Rachel Morrison
After 90 years of the Academy Awards, Rachel Morrison was the first woman to ever be nominated for an Oscar. She was nominated for her cinematography in the film Mudbound.
Morrison previously mentioned in an interview that men often get more opportunities to work on higher budget films. Therefore, she had to work on at least ten small-budget projects before working on a big-budget film.
After years of hard work, she recently worked as the cinematographer on Black Panther. In Black Panther, she utilizes POV shots where the audience feels as if they are right in the scene. She believed that Marvel films tend to highlight action but lack the storytelling aspect in the cinematography. Therefore, her goal was to bring more attention to detail and provide her own personal touch to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
#3 | Greta Zozula
Zozula’s most recent work in cinematography was featured on the film The Half of It, which won the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature at Tribeca Film Festival 2020. The film is also streaming on Netflix currently, which provides it an even larger audience.
In The Half of It, Zozula captures beautiful, clean shots. She utilizes reflections in mirrors and water which provides a visually interesting frame, and also illustrates the inner reflection of the characters.
Her shots are also very symmetrical, resulting in a clean and balanced frame. Taking inspiration from paintings, she utilizes specific textures and lighting setups in her shots. She focuses more on the emotional details of a scene rather than the technical ones, which provides a powerful image on screen that brings out the emotion of the story.
#4 | Natasha Brier
Natasha Braier is an Argentinian cinematographer. She moved to Los Angeles where she started her career in the film industry. Her big break was on the feature film Glue. Glue won various awards and Braier was praised for its visually striking look. Braier also won the Golden Camera 300 award for her work on The Milk of Sorrow in 2009. In 2017, she won the Robert Award for Best Cinematography for her work on The Neon Demon.
In 2019, she worked as the cinematographer on the feature film Honey Boy, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Vision and Craft Award. Braier’s camerawork on Honey Boy flowed with the actors as they moved throughout the space, allowing them to improvise in the scene. The movement of the camera gave the film a documentary-style look, which made the story feel even more authentic.
Braier was able to constantly experiment and improvise with lighting and camera movement to achieve an authentic yet visually striking look. She tells stories in a less traditional way, providing a poetic visual experience rather than a conventional narrative, allowing the viewer to project their own meaning on the image.
#5 | Autumn Durald
Autumn Durald is an American cinematographer who first had her big break on the film Palo Alto in 2013. One of the more recent projects she worked on was the feature film The Sun Is Also a Star.
In this film, Durald did a great job of capturing New York City. It was almost as if the city itself was a main character in the film.
She utilized low angles that look up at the buildings with wide lenses to capture the colossal essence of the iconic buildings. This illustrated the enormity of the city, which emphasized the “fate” of the two main characters meeting amongst the millions of people that surround them.
These female cinematographers are inspiring in what they have accomplished. It is important to highlight and celebrate the women within the film industry. They have made it in a field that has been notoriously male dominated and created beautiful stories visually that will be an example to all future filmmakers. The cinematographers mentioned here, along with many others, provide other women inspiration and motivation that they too, can make their own mark in the industry.
Originally published at https://thebtake.com on August 3, 2020 by Gianna Cullen.
