Last year when I was shooting a project the topic of style came up and a lecturer of mine commented that I had a specific style but didn’t say what it was. What did they mean? I was under the impression I had no style, I just shot what made sense from project to project, I am surely too early in my career to have a style and since then, this idea has plagued me. What is my style? This thesis looks to answer this question, but more specifically the question:
Can a DoP have a style? And if so, what is mine?
To do this I will be using statistical information gathered myself about the films I have shot during my time at the University of Lincoln with a specific analysis of my final year project Off-Track (2024). I will use the information gained here along with theory, studies done and opinions from some of the industry’s top practitioners on the subject to answer this question. By considering the aspects of cinematography I favour and those I avoid, I hope to improve myself as a cinematographer and help my peers learn how to understand their own styles more as well.
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