Image Makers is directed by Daniel Raim, written by Michael Sragow and with cinematography by Asulu Austad. It is a brisk and mostly superficial introduction to cinematographers, with a justified emphasis on the true pioneers such as Billy Bitzer, longtime cinematographer for D. W. Griffith, including information on how he lit the gigantic sets on Intolerance (1916) with hidden torches. People are beginning to realize the importance of directors and this documentary should help them become aware of those who photographed the films; included are William Daniels (MGM and Greta Garbo), Charles Rosher (Mary Pickford), Roland Totheroh (who worked exclusively for Charlie Chaplin for thirty years), Gregg Toland (John Ford and Orson Welles), James Wong Howe (freelance for Lang, Hawks, Fuller, et al.)
It would have been nice if there had been more information on how these cinematographers solved particular problems, especially as technical details became more complex. For example, Gregg Toland did special effects on Citizen Kane (1941) right in the camera, even though by then most special effects were done by optical printing, which Toland rightly felt degraded image quality. For instance the shot of Susan's suicide has the foreground and background in focus and Susan in the middle out of focus. This was done as an in-camera matte shot, with the foreground and background filmed separately by rewinding the negative.
It becomes clear in Image Makers that it is practically impossible to separate the contributions of the cinematographer from those of the director or even who suggested what, though the director and sometimes the producer usually have the final say. Further detailed documentaries would be welcome, not only about cinematographers but also about writers, composers, production designers and all others who work on films.
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