Cinematography is an underrated and always essential part of any film, with cinematographers rarely getting the credit they deserve for making movies look the way they do. A cinematographer is instrumental in considering various things for a film’s visuals, essentially"composing every shot"and considering all the things"in the frame that demand attention."
And sure, a writer and/or director can decide what images will be filmed in the first place, but the cinematographer’s the person who helps get each image looking the way the writer and/or director intended. Certain cinematographers have worked on various types of films throughout their careers, as the following examples demonstrate. The following cinematographers in particular have been responsible for making some very different-looking movies, highlighting just how skilled they are at their craft.
10Peter Deming - ‘Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery’ (1997) & ‘Mulholland Drive’ (2001)
Watching anAustin Powersimmediately before or after aDavid Lynchmovie would be enough to make anyone’s head spin. TheAustin Powersmovies are broadly comedic spy movie spoofs, and David Lynch’s films are frequent nightmares or fever dreams on celluloid, packed with mysteries and surreal images.
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They feel like polar opposites, but cinematographerPeter Demingties the two together, given he was the cinematographer for the firstAustin Powersmovie and David Lynch’sMulholland Drive. One captures kitschy 1960s sights and colors, which heightens the spoof elements, and the other has some terrifying, dark, and strange imagery that’s incredibly hard to shake.
9Janusz Kaminski - ‘Saving Private Ryan’ (1998) & ‘Cool as Ice’ (1991)
Janusz Kaminskiis a Polish cinematographer best known for working withSteven Spielbergon multiple films over the course of many years, starting with 1993’sSchindler’s List. He shot the recentThe Fabelmans, and many films in between, including the tense, gritty, and handheld-camera-dominatedclassic war movieSaving Private Ryan.
Kaminski hasn’t exclusively worked on Spielberg movies, though, and one of his pre-Spielberg credits stands out in particular against the sorts of movies he’d worked on from 1993 onward. That movie was 1991’sCool as Ice, a rom-com that starsVanilla Iceas a rapper who falls for a young woman in a small town whose family is in witness protection. It is not very Spielberg-esque, it’s fair to say.
8Jack Cardiff - ‘The Red Shoes’ (1948) & ‘Conan the Destroyer’ (1984)
With a life that spanned almost an entire century - from 1914 to 2009 - and a career that lasted approximately 70 years, it’s natural thatJack Cardiffwould’ve tackled some very different films in his time as a cinematographer. He was active in England during the earlier years of his career, with one of the most visually dazzling films he photographed being the 1948 music/drama filmThe Red Shoes.
Some 36 years later, he was also the cinematographer for theConan the Barbariansequel,Conan the Destroyer. It’s fair to say that the action/fantasy movie isn’t quite in the league ofThe Red Shoes, but it speaks to Cardiff’s talents as a cinematographer that he was able to successfully work on both.
7Sven Nykvist - ‘Scenes from a Marriage’ (1974) & ‘Mixed Nuts’ (1994)
Ingmar Bergmanwas a Swedish filmmakerknown for having a distinct visual style, with much of the credit also having to go to his regular cinematographer,Sven Nykvist. Nykvist didn’t shoot every Bergman movie, but he worked on many, including the dreary, stark, and often cold-lookingScenes from a Marriage, which was about a married couple going through a drawn-out divorce.
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Nykvist didn’t work exclusively with Bergman, and nor did he only work in Sweden, with him also being the credited cinematographer for a mostly forgotten 1990s comedy calledMixed Nuts. It has a shockinglylow Metacritic score of 14/100, which is a far cry from the kinds of critical acclaim many Bergman films -Scenes from a Marriageincluded - received.
6Dion Beebe - ‘Collateral’ (2004) & ‘The Little Mermaid’ (2023)
Anyone who’s seenCollateralwill attest to the fact that it’s a dark, sleek, eye-popping movie. It all matches the dark crime/thriller story being told, with it being set in Los Angeles at night and following a cab driver (Jamie Foxx) who’s taken hostage by a contract killer (Tom Cruisein a rare villainous role) for an extended amount of time.
CinematographerDion Beebehelped directorMichael ManngetCollaterallooking the distinct way it does, with Beebe also being the cinematographer for something completely else entirely: the live-action/CGI remake ofThe Little Mermaid(2023). The settings, colors used, and overall aesthetics almost couldn’t be any more different between the two films.
5Emmanuel Lubezki - ‘The Revenant’ (2015) & ‘The Cat in the Hat’ (2003)
Emmanuel Lubezkihas been behind some of the most jaw-droppingly amazing-looking films in recent years, and is one of the most celebrated cinematographers of the 21st century so far. Sci-fi movies likeChildren of MenandGravitymight not have looked as great without him, and 2015’sThe Revenantmight be his most visually intensework as a cinematographer.
Emmanuel Lubezki was also behind the infamous live-action version ofThe Cat in the Hatfrom 2003, which is a movie filled with uncanny imagery and borderline horror scenes shot during the daytime. To some, it might well be more horrifying than the scenes Lubezki photographed inThe Revenant, so perhaps the two movies aren’t so mismatched after all…
4Wally Pfister - ‘Breakfast with Einstein’ (1998) & ‘Inception’ (2010)
Wally Pfisteris best known for the various collaborations he had with directorChristopher Nolan, as he served as Nolan’s cinematographer for seven films in a row, between 2000 and 2012. This includedInception, which wasone of the greatest films of its year, and featured some of the most spectacular-looking images in the history of sci-fi/action movies.
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Towards the start of Pfister’s career, he was working on very different movies, though, including the TV movieBreakfast with Einstein(1998). The premise of this particular film involvedAlbert Einstein’smind being put into the body of a family dog, with comedy ensuing as a result. It was made just 12 years before the blockbuster that wasInception, with the differences between the two being night and day.
3Vittorio Storaro - ‘Apocalypse Now’ (1979) & ‘Exorcist: The Beginning’ (2004)
ThoughApocalypse Nowwas largelyFrancis Ford Coppola’svision, the work of cinematographerVittorio Storarocan’t be overlooked, and he played a key role in making the war film intothe classic it’s now regarded as. It’s a film packed with haunting visuals and surreal, horrific imagery, all shown to highlight how nightmarish war can be.
Storaro was in his 30s during the production ofApocalypse Now, and he’s had a career that’s continued for decades since. One film he worked on was 2004’sExorcist: The Beginning, which was yet another movie in theExorcistseries, and one that wasn’t particularly well-received by any means; certainly not anywhere close to something as groundbreaking and critically beloved asApocalypse Now.
2Robert Richardson - ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ (2021) & ‘A Few Good Men’ (1992)
Robert Richardsonis a cinematographer with a truly eclectic career overall, making it genuinely hard to pick a pair of movies he’s worked on that seem particularly at odds. This is inevitable when someone shoots multiple films for directors likeMartin ScorseseandQuentin Tarantino, whose films are widely praised for how visually unique they can look.
One of Richardson’s most recent credits clashes fairly aggressively with one of his older credits, though, with the two films that clash here beingVenom: Let There Be CarnageandA Few Good Men. One’s a noisy, CGI-heavy, dark, and goofy-looking superhero movie, and the other’s a slick yet grounded movie that takes place largely in ordinary settings, like courtrooms. And both were shot by Robert Richardson.
1Rodrigo Prieto - ‘The Irishman’ (2019) & ‘Barbie’ (2023)
There’s been a great deal of publicity surroundingOppenheimerandBarbiebeingreleased on the same day in 2023, all the while looking like completely different movies. It’s made for some solid memes and observations, and also interesting is looking at some of the other movies shot by the cinematographer behindBarbie,Rodrigo Prieto.
Like Robert Richardson, he’s shot numerous movies for Martin Scorsese (includingThe Wolf of Wall Street, which also featuresBarbiestarMargot Robbiein her breakout role). One of those films was thelong, bleak, and desaturated-lookingThe Irishman, which is a completely different kind of film toBarbie, demonstrating the versatility of Prieto’s skills as a cinematographer.
