Today's Best Cinematographers

Emmanuel Lubezki

The Revenant

Birdman

The Tree of Life

Children of Men

Rodrigo Prieto

Silence

Argo

State of Play

Babel

Brokeback Mountain

Amores Perros

Greig Fraser

Lion

Rogue One

Foxcatcher

Zero Dark Thirty

Killing Them Softly

Bradford Young

Arrival

Selma

A Most Violent Year

Pawn Sacrifice

Ain't Them Bodies Saints

Linus Sandgren

La Lan Land

Joy

American Hustle

Upcoming films with these cinematographers

Song to Song
Directed by Terrance Malick and cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki
Ryan Gosling, Natalie Portman, Rooney Mara, and Michael Fassbender

Mary Magdalene

Directed by Garth Davis (Lion) and cinematography by Greig Fraser (Lion).
Rooney Mara, Ariane Labed, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Joaquin Phoenix

Sriracha Documentary - DSLR Filmmaking

The 33 minute Sriracha documentary, produced, shot, and edited by Griffin Hammond is available to purchase for $3 on Amazon (or stream it free with Amazon Prime).

The film screened at 21 festivals in 2014 and won several awards.

Griffin also did a full director's commentary on the making of the film on Youtube.  He shot the film entirely on the Panasonic GH3 micro four-thirds DSLR.

"It’s been 18 months since I released Sriracha, a 33-minute documentary about the iconic hot sauce. This was a passion project — I was curious about my favorite condiment, and wanted a short film on my reel. The goal wasn’t to make money, but after spending $12,728 on production, then $27,807 on merch and distribution, the film has so far generated $76,677 in revenue, or $100 per day."

Learn more about how the film started with an idea and became a successful documentary:

The 73 second trailer on Vimeo that helps sell the film.

5 Lessons Learned from my Profitable Indie Documentary
Griffin details what he learned from using different publishing platforms (Amazon, Vimeo, Hulu, and Youtube).

At the very end of the article, he also lists the revenue and profit margin totals for the first 18 months of distributing the film.

In a world where indie films fight to break even, I’m proud that Sriracha has turned a $36,141 profit so far. But considering the opportunity cost of eight months of producing/shooting/editing, and 18 months as a part-time marketer and DVD shipper, that’s a lot of freelance income I turned down to make this film. 

The real return on investment is bringing a film to life that I wanted to exist, and the unexpected opportunities that result from a passion project. Within a year of its release, Sriracha landed me a documentary filmmaker job at Bloomberg News.

Raphael Rogers | inspiration of the week

Acting as a one man band, filmmaker and writer Raphael Rogers wrote, filmed, and edited his 8 minute Sci-Fi short film "Beyond".  The film boasts impressive visual effects layered on practical shooting locations, all in California.

Rogers shot "Beyond" with a shoestring budget using a Canon C100 camera when a RED camera was not available.  He filmed in three days in March 2013 and posted it to Youtube on August 21, 2013.

"Universal Pictures’ Syfy Films division has optioned the rights to the sci-fi short Beyond, with the short’s director on board to produce and helm the big-screen translation."

As of January 2015, the film has an "announced" status on IMDB, so it may be filmed in 2015 and released in 2016.

In November 2011 Rogers posted a 1 min, 20 second teaser video that utilized some slick editing and post-production work to create a Hollywood-style action/thriller feel.

Freeze frames from the film:

Read more:

Syfy Films Picks Up Sci-Fi Short 'Beyond' (Exclusive) - The Hollywood Reporter

Interview with Raphael Rogers - the director of Beyond | One Small Window

Beyond (2015) - IMDb

Filmmaker's Spotlight - A One Man Band | Hurlbut Visuals
(March 2014)

Sriracha Documentary from Griffon Hammond

Griffon Hammond produced, filmed, and edited his own documentary about Sriracha sauce. Using a Kickstarter campaign, he raised $21,000 and his project goal was just $5,000. Over 1,300 people backed his project.

Griffon Hammond's Youtube Channel