The cinematographer

Alan K. Rode

Another main attribute of The Killing is a cast of legendary character actors that I'll be discussing as the movie proceeds. The great Lucien Ballard was the director of photography, but it was Kubrick who chose every lens, arranged every setup, and every shot. More about that later. The art director was Ruth Sobotka, who was married to Kubrick during the production of The Killing, and more about that later as well.

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Alan K. Rode

And as Sterling Hayden grabs a bottle of suds, check out this tracking shot following him through the apartment. The design of this shot, using the lens and other aspects of the photography, created tension between Kubrick and his DOP, Lucien Ballard. Second build, Coleen Gray, is getting dressed. Since the production code couldn't show them in bed together, this shot of her finishing dressing with an assist from Hayden establishes the intimacy of their relationship.

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Alan K. Rode

Lucien Ballard was a legendary Hollywood cameraman who began with Joseph von Sternberg, who was probably the only director before Kubrick who could light a set by himself. Kubrick himself literally knew everything about lighting and photography, beginning with working as a photographer for Look magazine for four years before he embarked on a career as a filmmaker. British cinematographer Jeffrey Unsworth, who shot 2001,

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As the family leaves the film, we get actual night shots of the Champs-Élysées, Paris' grandest street, particularly at night at Christmas time. The Doinelves own a modest little Renault, and as Truffaut's own low-budget production could not afford the usual studio's process shot, in which rear projection is traditionally used to simulate a car ride, Truffaut actually had cinematographer Henri Decas mount the camera on the hood of the car while Albert Rémy really drove through the streets.

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The questions were actually put to Jean-Pierre Léo by Jacqueline Descartes, the cinematographer's wife, who was perched beside the camera as it was being operated by Jean Rabier.

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David Kalat

Time to give proper respect to cameraman Masayo Tamai, who, along with Eiji Tsuburaya, was one of the founders of what is now known as the Japanese Society of Cinematographers. It's been through a number of name changes since when they banded together. Tamai is also the cinematographer behind Mikio Naruse's When a Woman Ascends the Stairs.

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