Director of Photography

The director of photography (or "DP" in industry lingo) is the artist who defines the individual shots, decides how to light a subject, dolly movements, which lenses to use, etc. He oversees a group of camera operators and interfaces with the sound editor, director and other people. He is responsible for accurately capturing the visual aspects of the scene. The DP is very much like a head chef in a restaurant (who often does little cooking, but is responsible for the coordination of ingredients and execution of the line cooks in creating a dish).

So how does this differ from a cinematographer?

It doesn't. It just puts the word "director" in the person's title. Note that most DPs will often put their society affiliation behind their name (e.g., ASC, BSC).

The DP's level of responsibility varies quite a bit depending on what director they're working with. I've read that some directors prefer to control almost every aspect of the shot, lighting included (Jim Cameron comes to mind, although I could be misremembering); while other directors prefer to let the DP handle the technical details while they 'work' the actors.

Russ makes an excellent observation, but micromanagement is not restricted to 35mm motion picture photography. If I remember correctly, Jim Cameron himself was a cinematographer before, so naturally he would want to provide his input.

Some directors just sit in their chairs and leave the "driving" to others. It's just a management style, that's all.

The director of photography is the director's collaborator and more often, confidant. The director is the visionary, the storyteller. The DOP is the craftsman responsible for translating this vision and story into moving pictures. He is an artist, supervisor and technician rolled into one entity. As an artist, he must deal everyday with the art, set, costume and property departments, etc., to assure that their contributions are consistent with the overall tone and visual style of the project at hand. As supervisor, he is the personnel manager and chief motivational force of the film production crew. Their response to his direction can determine whether the film stays on schedule and on budget, more importantly, it determines the quality of what finally ends up on the screen. As a technician, he is responsible for capturing the "look and visual style" of the project into celluloid. As such, he decides on the lighting, camera & accessories & grip (camera, lighting & set rigs and riggings) requirements of the production. Amidst all these, he creates. Outside of the director, he is normally the single most important force on the production set.

I hope this helps.

It is also used a lot in American television. It's the badge that separates the guys/gals who shoot film either for documentaries, or superior soaps, from those who shoot crappy video B-Roll of Heidi Fleisch for Hard Copy. Everywhere else in the world, theyre cameramen/women.