Just read a beautiful interview with him in the book Cinematography Screencraft. I am going to be DP’ing next week and was looking for some practical inspiration. Here’s what Ingmar Bergman (as well as occasionally Polanski, Tarkovsky and Allen)’s cinematographer has to say:
I have tried to avoid using direct light, working mainly with bounced light in my quest to stop a film looking lit.
When we came to film persona, we virtually discarded the medium shot. We went from wide shots to close-ups and vice versa.
I like to see reflections in the eyes – which irritates some directors, but is true to life.
I always aim to catch light in the eyes, because I feel they are the mirror of the soul.
I make a point of not annoying actors with light meters or by shining light in their eyes, and I will always tell them what I am doing.
The actors give me inspiration when I light them.
Good actors react to their lighting: the personality connection between the cinematographer and the actor is so important.
I start by asking myself how I can help the audience to look at the right thing: is it the actors, or the dialogue, or the mood, and so on.
Fanny and Alexander was shot with the same zoom lens throughout its six hour running time.
