Photo by Gibbs Frazeur

During the pandemic, I have taken on learning about flying a drone and just this past week jumped into using a gimbal with a camera to create a video.

I wanted a much smoother video than I was getting without a gimbal. Now with my Nikon Z6, which has image stabilization paired with my DJI Ronin SC, I will end up with much more usable video.

Most of us are familiar with the concept of the learning curve. As we know, it isn’t a straight path to continued success.

The cool thing these days is that, for anything you’re interested in learning about, there’s likely someone who has created a YouTube channel to help you understand it as well. As I was learning how to fly my drone and use the Gimbal, everyone kept saying it needed a more “cinematic look.”

Frankly, it was being tossed around so much in all the videos that I realized many people were adding their interpretation of this.

For years, the classic 4:3 (or 1.33:1/1.37:1) aspect ratio was the standard TV format for older tube-based TVs. The more comprehensive formats (1.85 and 2.35) were perceived as “movie formats,” while 4:3 was viewed as a “TV format.” In the early 2000s, 16:9 (1.78) televisions entered the market and changed the aspect ratio landscape forever. No longer was widescreen a format only for film; now it was also a television format.

Most would say that the 16:9 format is a cinematic format. However, the 2:35 is the gold standard of the cinema. You may notice that many movies were shot on a Panavision camera. Most production houses rent them because they are so expensive. They created anamorphic projection lenses during the widescreen boom in the 1950s.

I was often seen in my YouTube tutorials using an Anamorphic lens on a drone camera and then applying software to stretch out the photo. All who are discussing this lens emphasize that it makes your video more cinematic.

Before the digital era, all movies were shot on film, and the cameras captured this at 24 frames per second, or 24 fps. Since we had become accustomed to seeing this in the movies, people associated the feel of 24 fps with cinema. While now we can shoot up to 240 fps with some camera gear, it has a different look than the 24 fps.

To put it another way, there are some technical aspects you can employ to enhance the cinematic appearance of your end product. A wide screen and 24 fps are the “old school” way of seeing things.

The other way “Cinematic” is used is much more subjective. Most were using this to make their work look professional and sound more credible. Here are some tips.

Here are everyday things they say make your footage look amateurish:

• Jerky motion
• Crooked horizons
• Exposure
• Color Temperature
• Too long of clips
• Not enough variety of clips
• No Storyline

One key I can say will determine your success in shooting cinematically is your depth of knowledge of movies through the years. I have discovered one thing throughout my life’s journey so far. Most of the great visual storytellers are students of the trade.

One great movie to give you a taste of what it takes to make movies and their history is the documentary “Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story.”

The best part of the movie to me was that Harold was the guy creating the cinematic moments in movie history by pre-visualizing them by drawing storyboards that people like Alfred Hitchcock would use.

So, when you hear people talking about something being Cinematic, they could be referring to the technical aspects, or they could be talking about the aesthetic. I can tell you that if you look at their work, and it is outstanding, then you know they know what it means to shoot cinematically. If you examine their work and it isn’t captivating, they don’t truly understand cinema, as they claim to do.

To become a true cinematographer, the key is to study the work of all the master cinematographers in the industry.

Just learning the terms in the industry will expose you to a palette of storytelling techniques.

Here are just a few terms that one would benefit from knowing the meaning of.