Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to David Belitz. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
David, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
Learning the craft of cinematography is the most complex and in depth art form that I’ve learned so far. From an early age, I’ve taken it upon myself to learn many different types of visual arts, from traditional painting and drawing to digital art and photography. When you apply yourself to so many different kinds of art you learn to notice similarities in execution, but learning to interpret and manipulate an image recorded in the real world as apposed to one created from scratch turned out to be a huge learning curve. In many art forms, shading is done in either an additive (as in traditional drawing and painting) or subtractive application (as in print making). Cinematography is essentially an art form that utilizes both systems. At it’s core cinematography (and photography for that matter) uses a careful balance between light and shadow, composition and movement in it’s application of stylistic elements. Composition, color theory and other aspects of 2d design came pretty easily to me with my experience in traditional art, but learning the tools of lighting and camera took years of practice and study. As many cinematographers will tell you, this process is never-ending and ever-evolving! New equipment and advances in technique are constantly developing and creating possibilities, so learning the craft of cinematography is a life-long endeavor even for the masters!
David, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I have been working in the film industry for about 8 years now under various titles as I’ve climbed up the ladders and found my comfort zones, but these days I’m working mostly as a camera operator and a cinematographer. For those who may not know, a cinematographer essentially is in charge of all the specifically photographic components that go into making a film, tv show, commercial, etc. This includes anything to do with lighting, camera work and managing all the crew and equipment involved in those two departments. I take the most pride in bringing my artistic background into the mix to enhance the emotional core of a project with compositional, color, tonality and other concepts I’ve learned through other visual arts.
Recently I have also taken the first steps of launching a new business! It’s all still in the development stage, but the concept is essentially an online gallery of landscape, wildlife and general nature photography in which half of each sale of a print, calendar, or any other future product is donated to a conservation non-profit of the buyers choice. We’ll have representation from all types of different biomes so people can choose to help in whatever areas they are passionate about whether that be ocean, African plains, rainforest, etc. I will include a small library of my own work as well as the work of photographers based in different biomes around the world! This project is one that is very close to my heart so I’m putting in a lot of effort to make sure we have a successful launch. I have been testing the process privately with my own work and the numbers seem to work out well. I’m passionate about nature conservation, so to be able to use my photography to help on that front even in a minor way is a dream come true! As the company hasn’t officially launched yet, I cannot release much about it, but if anyone is interested in keeping up with the progress, you can follow me @davidbcinema on instagram where I’ll be posting about it when the time comes.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
One lesson I had to unlearn early on is that to be a cinematographer, you had to give up a lot of sleep and work insane hours to do the job successfully. While long hours are a real issue on film sets, I had to learn the importance of prioritizing sleep and balancing rest with the amount of work required for a project. I was lucky enough to learn this lesson while I was still in film school. During the prep for my final project, for which I was the cinematographer, I stayed up until dawn many times while over-prepping camera and lighting plots, shot lists and all sorts of prep tools. I’m a firm believer that good movies are made in prep, but the problem with that experience was that the script kept getting drastically rewritten. Over and over I would spend days compiling so much prep material thinking I couldn’t make it through the shoot without all of it. On the first day of the shoot, I walked into the morning meeting with the crew more tired than I had ever been. Our lab instructor at the time, James Neihouse, ASC, came up to me after the meeting and said something that would change how I managed stress and rest for the rest of my career. He asked, and I may be paraphrasing here, “what does the crew need more, a detailed shot list or a DP who’s awake and ready to lead the team?” For my current projects, while in prep, production and post I always make sure to keep a careful balance of effort and mental clarity. I’m especially weary of spending valuable prep time on things that may change down the line, always starting with broad stroke tonal conversations with directors and other collaborators before getting into the specifics. Experience has also taught me to have confidence in flexibility and improvisation on set. With that confidence, I can use the prep material as a guideline without relying too heavily on sticking to a shot list if something spontaneous happens on the day.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Recently, a film I shot called What I Knew He Could Be finished it’s festival run for the season at Desertscape IFF in southern Utah. One of the stars of the film, who used to live near the festival location, texted us a while after the screening. It read, “My friend just called me, saw the film last night. Her brother died from an overdose. She cried and thank(ed) me for my part in the film. Thank you guys for making something that helps people.” That was one of the most obvious ways that my work has made an impact on someone’s life. I think the most rewarding part of working in film is seeing people’s stories being represented on screen. When someone walks away from a film I shot and thinks something like, “seeing that on screen made me feel a bit less alone and more validated in my struggles,” that’s when I know the film does what it’s supposed to. With my photography work, I’m able to give back and help protect the natural world, if only in a small way, all while sharing the beautiful places in need of protection. It can be difficult to see the impact that I’ve made since it’s still on a small scale but the pursuit of growing the business and expanding donations is rewarding enough to keep at it!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.davidbdp.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidbcinema/