When you think about some of the most famous figures associated with film, who do you think of? The answer, for most people reading this, would mainly consist of A-list actors of current times and legends of the past like Dwayne Johnson, Robert Downey Jr, Tom Hanks and Al Pacino. For some readers prolific and acclaimed directors like Stanley Kubrick, Christopher Nolan and Steven Spielberg would come up. But actors and directors, along with maybe Roger Deakins, would mostly be the extent of the layman’s knowledge of influential and great cinematic figures. This is a shame, because there is as much talent at work behind the camera as there is in front of it.
One of the most underappreciated and least recognized responsibilities is that of the screenwriter. Many directors do write their own films, but this is often not the case. People attribute the entirety of the greatness of a film to its actors and director, without giving the screenwriter much. For example, Taxi Driver is so closely associated with Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, but it would be nothing without Paul Schrader’s screenplay. Directors might be the ones choosing how to present the story, but screenwriters are the ones behind the substance itself. The ingenious idiosyncratic styles of screenwriters such as Charlie Kaufman, Aaron Sorkin, Paul Schrader and Eric Roth aren’t nearly recognized to the same degree as those of directors such as Wes Anderson, Alfred Hitchcock, Quentin Tarantino, Stanley Kubrick.
Unfortunately, people are more generally quick to recognize the talent in front of the camera than that behind it. While acting is one of the most important aspects of filmmaking, some of the most iconic moments in film history would have been nothing without their impeccable editing, cinematography, set design, visual effects artists and lighting. Last year some news came out about how Disney, the company that owns the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is the biggest blockbuster franchise in the world, has been mistreating their visual effects artists and giving them difficult deadlines, and it really showed in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder. Even a job that isn’t often in the spotlight can have tremendous effects on the viewing experience. Great cinematographers such as Roger Deakins, Hoyte Van Hoytema, Robert Yeoman and Emmanuel Lubezki are responsible for some of the most breathtaking, beautiful and difficult technical achievements in film. So much of the personality of directors such as Wes Anderson and Edgar Wright comes from their set design and editing, respectively, yet the talents behind these aspects are rarely mentioned or credited.
Even the actors and performances that are widely recognized are often not those that require the most talent. People applaud the flashiest performances with the most explosive and dramatic emotional outbursts or moments, but it takes as much talent and much more restraint to give a subtle, subdued performance. People focus more on acting than reacting, but a reaction shot portraying how a character receives certain emotions can be just as important to the dramatic weight of the scene as a monologue. Being able to realistically portray what a character is feeling and thinking beneath the surface is an aspect of acting that should be more widely celebrated.
In conclusion, while it is inevitable and unavoidable that the spotlight will belong to the actors, the only people whose work is directly presented and is the main focus, and directors, who are generally attributed to the creation of the film, you should take it upon yourself to find out more about the legends of lesser discussed categories like editing and cinematography. Maybe next time, instead of checking out the new Tom Cruise movie, you’ll make your next choice based on the screenwriter or cinematographer.