Filmmaker Bio: Vittorio Storaro
Now we know what a cinematographer does (if you didn’t read my previous post check it out it’s called “What is Cinematography?), let’s get to know one of my favorite’s Mr. Vittorio Storaro. What you don’t know his name? Well pull up your boots it’s about to get real deep with the knowledge and trust me when your done reading this you will be like oh yeah good old Vittorio we go way back. (P.S. I am sure you have seen his work and now you will know who to thank for all those classics.) So let’s dive into his life and theories on how to rock the cinematography game…
Vittorio Storaro was born in Rome in 1940 with film in his blood…well, sort of his dad was a film projectionist. He picked up a camera at a very early age and fell in love with photography. His love for photography would lead him to film and his enrollment in the national Italian film school when he turned 18. Spending his early career as a camera operator and also studying the great artists he saw in many galleries Storaro would develop a unique eye and philosophy on the utilization of color in film. During the ’60s and early ’70s, he worked with great directors such as Bertolucci as well as Dario Argento (A future article will shed light on this Italian master) on Argento’s first film “The Bird with the Crystal Plumage” in 1970.
In 1979, Storaro would work for the first time with American auteur director, Francis Ford Coppola on the classic “Apocalypse Now” (check out my upcoming cinematography review of this masterpiece) and this film would earn him his first Oscar win. He would go on to work with Coppola several times and is still cranking out works of art. so what makes him one of the masters, I guess now that we know a little about him we should dive into his theories and his trademark style…
Storaro’s use of light and dark to convey a story and emotion was spurred on by his love of art. He spent many years studying the masters finding his muse with Goethe’s theory of color. Goethe hypothesized that color could elicit emotion and the use of chiaroscuro would do the same. Storaro took this concept and melded it with the film medium creating his signature use of light and shadow. Storaro constructed his shots with this in mind opting to leave the decision of focal length and blocking to the director many times so that he could go all-in on the lighting and color design. Of all his trademark’s this is the one that shines the most and is why I think he could quite possibly be one the finest cinematographers of all time. If you have never seen one of Storaro’s film I highly suggest starting with either Argento’s “The Bird with the Crystal Plumage” or Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now”, but as always this is all only my geekin’ opinion.
(This article contains affiliate links.)
If you need more geeky content then make sure to check out My Geekin’ Opinion on Instagram too!
