Cinematography is the art and craft of making motion pictures by capturing a story visually. It involves recording moving images of an action in front of a camera. Cinematographers use a lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sensor or light-sensitive material inside the movie camera. These exposures are created sequentially and preserved for later processing and viewing as a motion picture. Capturing images with an electronic image sensor produces an electrical charge for each pixel in the image, which is electronically processed and stored in a video file for subsequent processing or display. Images captured with photographic emulsion result in a series of invisible latent images on the film stock, which are chemically "developed" into a visible image. The images on the film stock are projected for viewing in the same motion picture.
Cinematography involves various techniques such as the general composition of a scene, the lighting of the set or location, the choice of cameras, lenses, filters, and film stock, the camera angle and movements, and the integration of any special effects. The cinematographer, first cameraman, lighting cameraman, or director of photography is responsible for achieving the photographic images and effects desired by the director. The DP works closely with the director to realize their vision of how the film should look.
