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Why Raiders of the Lost Ark Still Looks like a Billion Bucks

wolfcrow breaks down Douglas Slocombe's lighting choices, arguing the film's high-contrast, warm-toned cinematography sells scale more than the production value itself does.

wolfcrow · 8 min · Intermediate · CIN · Cinematography · 2018

What you take away

Learn how hard, motivated lighting can make a modest set read as a real location.

Watch it

Filed under

The films in this lesson

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Films to study for light

Oscar winners for cinematography

Books on cinematography

Kit for this lesson

Aputure F10 Barndoors — Cuts the spill off a Fresnel — the cheapest control there is
Aputure MC Pro — Pocket RGBWW — an eye light that fits in a pocket
Aputure Light Dome Mini III — The Dome for small rooms and small fixtures
Amaran COB 60x S — Small, battery-friendly, a good first fixture
Sony FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM II — The wide end of the same set
Canon RF 50mm F1.2 L USM — The portrait-adjacent normal

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Depth of field | Virtual Cameras | Computer animation | Khan Academy — Khan Academy Labs · 3m · Intermediate
Roger Deakins on "Learning to Light" — Cinematography Techniques Ep. 1 — StudioBinder · 9m · Intermediate
Shooting “Moonrise Kingdom" (with Wes Anderson & Robert Yeoman) — Cinematographers on cinematography · 17m · Advanced
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