While the director is often the most important person on a movie set, there is another man who makes any director look good. This is the cinematographer, also known as the director of photography. This is the man who operates the camera, ensures that the lights are right, and shoots the movie based on instructions from the director.
However, there have been movies where the director chose to bypass a cinematographer and do everything himself. In some cases, it was a former cinematographer who was getting a chance to make his own movie and in other cases, it was an experienced director who just wanted a more hands on approach to making his movie.
Army Of The Dead (2021) - Zack Snyder
- Stream on Netflix
Zack Snyder had made some of the biggest movies in Hollywood when he took on reviving the DC superhero movies and used a different DP in each of the movies. When he left the DCEU, Snyder made a movie directly for Netflix with the zombie action movie Army of the Dead.
Snyder chose to be his own cinematographer for this movie. That wasn't all either, as Snyder was also listed as the screenwriter and producer on the movie, showing he could do it all. This was Snyder's first time to work as the DP for one of his movies.
Sin City (2005) - Robert Rodriguez
- Stream on Fubo, Showtime, & Pluto TV
Robert Rodriguez has always been a DIY director since he started his career With his first movie, El Mariachi, Rodriguez did almost everything. He took that to the extreme when he built his own post-production studio at his home, showing it off on all his DVD releases.
A good example of Rodriguez's "One-Man Film Crew" filmmaking style came with Sin City where he was the director and cinematographer. He also shot it all in front of a greenscreen and did the post-production effects himself as well.
Swingers (1996) - Doug Liman
- Stream on HBO Max
Doug Liman has become a major Hollywood director, with movies like The Bourne Identity and The Edge of Tomorrow under his belt. Before this, he proved himself with his independent movie releases, starting with Swingers.
Liman didn't just serve as the DP on that breakout movie, but he returned behind the camera for both his 1990 movie Go and his 2010 movie Fair Game. Liman used a cinematographer on all his big budget movies.
Roma (2018) - Alfonso Cuaron
- Stream on Netflix
Most of Alfonso Cuaron's movies feature cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, who has won three Oscars for his work including for Cuaron's movie Gravity. However, Cuaron wanted to make something small and personal in 2018 when he directed Roma.
Cuaron, who worked as a cinematographer for his early short films, returned to the role for Roma. It was a huge success too, picking up 10 Oscar nominations, with Cuaron winning both for Best Director and Best Cinematography.
Death Proof (2007) - Quentin Tarantino
- Rent on Amazon
Quentin Tarantino has always been best known for his screenwriting, but he also has a great eye and has directed some of the best movies of the last three decades. Tarantino worked with some of the world's best cinematographers including Andrej Sekula, Guillermo Navarro, and Robert Richardson.
When it came time to make Grindhouse with Robert Rodriguez, Tarantino chose to work as his own cinematographer for the first time on Death Proof. He went back to working with cinematographers for his movies after that.
Phantom Thread (2017) - Paul Thomas Anderson
- Stream on Max Go & DirecTV
Paul Thomas Anderson worked with the same cinematographer for his first five movies, with Robert Elswit winning an Oscar for his work on There Will be Blood. However, Anderson decided to step behind the camera and DP his 2017 movie, Phantom Thread.
The movie was a critical success, with Anderson picking up an Oscar nomination for Best Director, but not for his work as a cinematographer. For his new movie, Licorice Pizza, Anderson shares the cinematography credit with Michael Bauman.
Inland Empire (2006) - David Lynch
- Unavailable to Stream
While David Lynch has used a professional DP for most of his major movies, he is no stranger to getting behind the camera himself. Lynch has directed 14 short movies outside of his major feature releases and he has worked as the cinematographer on all of them.
Lynch also worked as the cinematographer on his 2006 movie Inland Empire, which is also wrote and edited, doing it all. This was also where Lynch branched out and worked with digital video.
Ocean's Eleven (2001) - Steven Soderbergh
- Stream on HBO Max
Ocean's Eleven was a huge movie when it came out and was a blockbuster that spawned several sequels. However, it wasn't shot like a normal Hollywood movie because director Steven Soderbergh is not a normal Hollywood filmmaker.
Soderbergh is an indie filmmaker who gets to make big movies and he almost always works as his own cinematographer. He has worked as the DP on most of his movies, including the all-star Ocean's Eleven.
American History X (1998) - Tony Kaye
- Stream on Fubo, Showtime, & DirecTV
Tony Kaye made his directorial debut in 1998 and he only made one narrative movie since that time. Before American History X, Kaye worked as a television commercial and music video director. Kaye was able to get the job as the cinematographer as well as director on the movie.
However, things didn't go well. In some behind-the-scenes American History X facts, Kaye almost quit when Edward Norton demanded script changes and then he disowned the movie after it was released.
Upstream Color (2013) - Shane Carruth
- Rent on Google Play & Apple TV
Shane Carruth showed how talented he was as a director with his sci-fi time travel movie Primer. Nine years later, he was back with another sci-fi movie in Upstream Color. The movie is best described as an arthouse film and Carruth was a jack of all trades for this movie.
Carruth worked as the director, screenwriter, cinematographer, music composer, producer, and lead actor. What resulted was a critically acclaimed movie that is certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes at 86-percent.