ULAGHAM

All was simple in the last millennium.  The cinematographer selected the composition of the frame, exposed the film according to the light-meter, checked printing lights during the dailies, and worked with the colorist on the Hazeltine (an "ancient" film-based color correction machine) in the preparation for the first answer print. Undoubtedly and unquestionably, the Director of Photography was in charge of imagery.  In that time, Cinematography and Imagery were synonyms. Rarely would anyone dare to get into the framing and lighting part of the movie, other than the director. Except for the Indian Film Industry, every other country's film industry had a Cinematographer team and a Lighting team separate, which is still in practice. The Cinematographer will tell the mood of the picture and the Lighting team is responsible for the usage of lights. There are a lot of people in Cinematography team like the gaffer, focus puller, assistants. Times have changed now.

Sounds like a contradiction in terms, doesn’t it? There are those who have deep reservations about applying the noir label to any film not shot in black and white. In the age of color film, the high-contrast black and white of classic film noir has something to teach every filmmaker. In purely visual terms, film noir inhabits a landscape of shadows and high contrast photography. Effects such as those are much more difficult to achieve when shooting on color stock, although it’s certainly not impossible. Some call it a genre, others a movement, or even a fashion statement, but however one defines noir, with its signature femmes fatales, wisecracking tough guys, and dramatic, high-contrast cinematography, its appeal never seems to wane. Though its origins are in German expressionism and French crime films of the thirties, film noir has always been a distinctly American film movement, influenced and shaped as it was by American pulp fiction, wartime gender politics