A cinematographer, also called the director of photography or DP, is the person responsible for how a film looks: where the camera goes, which lens it uses, how each scene is lit, and how the finished images are graded. The director decides what the film is about and what happens in each scene; the cinematographer works out how to put it on screen.
The short version: So what does a cinematographer do from day to day? Far more than operate a camera. The DP runs the camera department and directs the lighting crews, starts work months before shooting and finishes in the color suite after it. Sinners, which earned Autumn Durald Arkapaw the cinematography Oscar in March 2026 and made her the category’s first female winner, is a useful case study: her work on that film shows the whole job.
Cinematographer or director of photography?
The two titles describe the same job, and the industry uses both. The International Cinematographers Guild, IATSE Local 600, which represents camera crews in the US, uses director of photography in its job classifications and describes the person in that role as both: “The Director of Photography is an ARTIST and a TECHNICIAN.”
The letters after a cinematographer’s name in the credits are a separate thing. ASC stands for the American Society of Cinematographers, “founded in Hollywood in 1919.” It is “Neither a labor union nor a guild,” and membership “is by invitation only,” according to the society, which says it has more than 440 active members. The first documented use of the credential on screen was Sand (1920), shot by Joe August. Other countries have equivalents, which is why credits can read like a string of acronyms: Lubezki signs as ASC, AMC, for instance.
What does a cinematographer do before shooting starts?
Most of the job is preparation. The guild’s Setiquette handbook reprints a long ASC checklist of a cinematographer’s responsibilities, and the preproduction section alone runs from analyzing the script with the director to testing film stock. Some items show how practical it gets:
- Scouting locations, including the instruction to “Plot sun positions for locations” and check tide tables near the ocean.
- Agreeing on a visual style with the director and the production designer.
- Choosing and approving the crew, film stock or cameras, lab and equipment.
- Planning the lighting and rigging “with gaffer and key grip” for every stage and location.
- Shooting tests for lighting the principal actors, for wardrobe and make-up, and for any unusual rigs.
Sinners shows what that looks like on a real film. American Cinematographer reports that during “two months of prep at Second Line Stages in New Orleans,” Durald Arkapaw tested color alongside Ruth E. Carter, who designed the costumes, and Hannah Beachler, who designed the sets. The format choice came out of prep too: Durald Arkapaw and director Ryan Coogler decided on “combining 5-perf 65mm Ultra Panavision and 15-perf 65mm Imax,” and the magazine notes that no woman cinematographer had shot a feature on any 65mm film format before.
On set: lenses, light and the shot list
During the shoot the DP is the director’s closest technical partner. The ASC checklist includes the core loop of every setup: watch the rehearsal, devise the coverage with the director, “Choose lens and composition, show to director for OK,” light the scene and “Light each actor to reinforce and reveal character,” then supervise the take and approve it or go again. It also asks the DP to “Ensure proper coverage of scene for editor,” meaning enough angles that the scene can be cut together.
The guild handbook describes the DP as head of the camera department, “not only responsible for the photographic look of the production, but also for the health and safety of the crew.” It also notes the overlap with the director, and that it “often falls to the Director Of Photography to maintain the speed and tempo of the set.” One line on the ASC checklist makes the point plainly: “If director is disabled, finish day’s shooting for him or her.”
Technical limits shape creative choices. On Sinners, American Cinematographer explains, “Imax cameras are too noisy to use for sync sound,” and a roll of 15-perf 65mm gives takes of about two and a half minutes, so dialogue-heavy scenes went to the quieter Ultra Panavision cameras. The IMAX footage ended up at about 20 percent of the movie. Our explainer on why a movie’s aspect ratio changes during IMAX sequences covers what that means in the theater.
The crew a cinematographer leads
A DP rarely touches the camera on a big studio film. Under the guild’s agreement, “The minimum photographic staff on the main shooting unit of a theatrical motion picture shall be comprised of a Director of Photography, Camera Operator, Still Photographer and at least one Assistant Photographer.” On top of the camera crew, the gaffer’s electricians and the key grip’s grips carry out the lighting plan.
| Role | What they do for the cinematographer |
|---|---|
| Camera operator | Runs the camera; keeps the composition, focus and movement the DP wants |
| First assistant (1st AC) | Pulls focus, handles lenses and filters, maintains the camera |
| Second assistant (2nd AC) | Slate, marks, camera reports, reloading magazines |
| Loader | Loads and unloads film, keeps stock inventory |
| Gaffer | Head of the electrical crew; builds the lighting plan with the DP |
| Key grip | Head of the grips: rigging, camera support, shaping light |
| Colorist | Grades the finished picture with the DP in post |
The handbook calls the camera operator “the second in authority on the camera crew after the Director of Photography.” The first assistant, under the guild’s Basic Agreement definition, will “regulate all focus changes” and handle lenses, filters and diffusion; the second assistant will “handle the slates or clap sticks and reload all magazines.” Loaders serve a year before moving up to second assistant.
On Sinners those names are on the record: 1st AC Ethan McDonald pulled focus, Renard Cheren flew the heavy 65mm cameras on Steadicam, and gaffer Brian Bartolini and key grip Miguel Benavides built the lighting. Bartolini described one recurring headache to the magazine: shooting from inside toward a window is “always the hardest thing for key grip Miguel Benavides and me, because we need to bring up the ambient indoor light level to match the exterior ambient level.” For the rest of the crew list, see reading film credits below the line.
After the shoot: dailies and the grade
The DP checks each day’s footage (“View previous day’s work in projected dailies with director, producer, editor, camera crew,” in the ASC list) and stays on through postproduction to approve effects shots and time the picture, which today means the digital color grade. For Sinners, Durald Arkapaw credited colorist Kostas Theodosiou at FotoKem: “Our colorist, Kostas [Theodosiou at FotoKem], was amazing in the DI at protecting our dusty black level and our filmic look throughout.”
Three cinematographers and what they say about the job
Autumn Durald Arkapaw. NPR reported that she was “only the fourth woman, and the first woman of color, to be nominated in the category” when she won for Sinners at the March 2026 ceremony, making her the first woman to win. Her stated reason for using one film stock day and night was consistency: “Seeing our nights and days on the same film stock worked to keep a consistent grain structure throughout the film.” If you have seen the film, our Sinners ending explainer walks through the story her images serve.
Emmanuel Lubezki. Gravity won him the Oscar in 2014 and Birdman a year later, so The Revenant made him, in the ASC’s words, “the first cinematographer—and filmmaker in any category—to win three consecutive Oscars.” On The Revenant, which was shot in real winter locations, he told American Cinematographer: “I wanted to absolutely kill any artifice.”
Roger Deakins. Blade Runner 2049 brought what TheWrap counted as his 14th nomination, at a point when no cinematographer had more nominations without a win. NPR’s report on the 2020 ceremony records his win for 1917, “the WWI film engineered to look like a continuous shot.” Asked about in-camera effects, Deakins said: “there’s something about doing it in camera that’s a reality you don’t get with a computer, no matter how good the work is.” His summary of the job is hard to improve on: “You have a picture of what you want, and it’s work, work, work to try and create it.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a cinematographer and a director of photography?
There is none in practice: both titles describe the head of the camera and lighting departments who designs how a film looks. The camera guild, IATSE Local 600, uses director of photography in its classifications.
Does the cinematographer operate the camera?
Sometimes on small productions, but on a studio feature a camera operator usually runs the camera while the cinematographer designs the shots and lighting. The guild’s minimum crew for a theatrical feature includes a separate camera operator.
What does ASC mean after a cinematographer’s name?
It means the person is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers, founded in 1919. Membership is by invitation, and the ASC is neither a union nor a guild.
Who was the first woman to win the Oscar for cinematography?
Autumn Durald Arkapaw, for Sinners, at the Academy Awards in March 2026. According to NPR, three women had been nominated before her and none had won.
Who has won the most consecutive cinematography Oscars?
Emmanuel Lubezki won three in a row, for Gravity, Birdman and The Revenant. According to the ASC, no filmmaker in any category had managed three straight wins before him.
Sources
- Setiquette: A Guide to Working Effectively on the Set for Each Classification in The Cinematographers Guild — International Cinematographers Guild, IATSE Local 600 (third edition, hosted by The Black and Blue), 2011
- About the ASC — American Society of Cinematographers, accessed October 11, 2026
- Sinners: Big, Bold Blues and Blood — Mark Dillon, American Cinematographer (ASC), June 2025 issue; posted February 6, 2026
- Oscars 2026 takeaways — NPR, March 16, 2026
- Third in a Row: Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC, Wins Oscar for The Revenant — American Society of Cinematographers, February 29, 2016
- Roger Deakins Doesn’t Think He’s Overdue for an Oscar – Even After 14 Nominations — TheWrap, 2018
- Oscars 2020: Parasite Takes Best Picture — NPR, February 10, 2020