Cinematography Style: Bradford Young

MUSIC I USE: bit.ly/3qCRt7u
EDITING SOFTWARE I USE: bit.ly/2LZ60Lo
STOCK FOOTAGE: bit.ly/3jZHBC0
In this episode of Cinematography Style I’ll be analysing the work of contemporary indie and big budget darling, cinematographer Bradford Young. By engaging with his philosophy on his visual filmmaking style, and breaking down the technical gear he uses, we’ll see how those factors contribute to his creation of personal, naturalistic and subtlety engaging images.
PATREON: / indepthcine
2ND CHANNEL: / @indepthfilm4717
WEBSITE: www.graykotze.com/
INSTAGRAM: / indepthcine
DISCORD: / discord
Further Reading: britishcinematographer.co.uk/...
Further Reading: nofilmschool.com/2016/11/arri...
List Of Films Featured
Pariah (2011)
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (2013)
Mother Of George (2013)
Selma (2014)
A Most Violent Year (2014)
Arrival (2016)
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
When They See Us (2019)
0:00 Introduction
0:55 Background
1:41 Philosophy
3:55 Gear
8:46 Conclusion

[@OneTrackMind]

I remember watching an interview with Bradford and -paraphrasing here- he said ' the first thing I do when I prep a room to shoot it, is blackout everything. The ceiling the floor and the walls that won't be shot'. He really loves that negative fill.

[@InDepthCine]

Great quote. Exactly, it's part of the key to his 'dark' look. His interview videos on CookeOpticsTV are also super helpful and interesting.

[@TChristopher]

This is a brilliant breakdown. I always wondered how he got such soft lighting in Arrival!

[@InDepthCine]

Natural light shaped with negative fill, practical light sources and diffusion, diffusion, diffusion.

[@TChristopher]

And I love it! Thank you for these brilliant videos!

[@EnricoBanson]

Our modern day Gordon Willis. Love his work.

[@Belmont...]

So excited to see you covered Young work! His way of seeing cinematography is a very unique one. Thanks for your analysis! And maybe a video on lighting techniques in the future.

[@InDepthCine]

The way he talks about cinematography is always really interesting. Good idea for the future.

[@christineboateng]

Bradford is truly iconic.

[@dewbzki]

I love these breakdowns and I appreciate the additional information you provide to us in the description. Bradford Young is my favorite cinematographer and this was so informative to watch!

[@InDepthCine]

Glad you enjoyed it. He's one of my favourite contemporary DOPs too.

[@robinglass7625]

This is the exact series I’ve been looking for! Best cinematography related channel I’ve ever seen!

[@InDepthCine]

Thanks! Glad you enjoy the content.

[@shailu210]

Thank you sharing these indepth analysis, this might be new favourite channel on cinematography and film studies in general.

[@InDepthCine]

Appreciate it.

[@Belacofficial]

great video really happy that you mentioned the lenses and cameras he has used in his film. well done

[@manofdestiny2026]

Amazing breakdown, definitely going to be using the bounce, diffusion, negative fill technique. Thanks for sharing

[@InDepthCine]

Thanks. All are techniques that can really soften and elevate the look of the lighting for relatively minimal expense (all it takes is having black or white pieces of fabric).

[@lexipau]

Man this is so amazing I love all your uploads. I wish you could talk about this topics in the future. i. Different uses of apeture & shutter speed. ii. Costumes, palettes & set designs. Thanks and keep sharing this amazing knowledge to the world.

[@InDepthCine]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll add it to the list of future topics.

[@Kendoleo71]

So good

[@InDepthCine]

Thanks

[@chris.m2]

This one Wonderful analysis you’ve provided here! I’m definitely Keeping an eye on your work!

[@InDepthCine]

Thanks Christian

[@Dionne_Sheree]

He’s one of my favs! Amazing, well researched and executed breakdowns! Love your work!

[@tomistenqvist1311]

Arrival is one of the most beautiful movies out there. Plus a great change to scifi norms. One of my all time favorites.

[@StereoChimps]

best channel about cinematography of all time! cheers from brazil !

[@abdullahgul7058]

This is the most amazing channel in KZbin

[@eljefe1892]

You should make a video going more into depth of the philosophical side of cinematography

[@AbinashShrestha1801]

Thank you for sharing this. It has given me much needed inspiration to find my style.

[@brettturner5299]

I thought his stye was perfect for Arrival but I remember thinking how much I didn't like how Solo looked at the time. Just my taste but way too flat for that film for me. Good for him for not compromising his vision though, up to the producers who they hire at the end of the day.

[@AdalbertoAlmeida_81]

Very insightful. Thanks for making these type of videos.

[@GabrielCuillier]

I'm enjoying the channel man. Really, really good analysis

[@priyaanshu6391]

Brilliant breakdown. I'm hooked on to your channel man, thank you so much.

[@thejubinbennett]

This is such a great overview of young's work. 👍

[@michaelashcraft9098]

He quickly became one of my favorite DP’s after I saw arrival

[@marwanzawawi7503]

Amazing breakdown

[@markkoons7488]

Fascinating. Thank you. This is a thrilling look into how great cinematography works.

[@BoyBlessing]

Thank you for this video bro!! So amazing

[@MichaelLaing71]

I have to say, I am loving your videos. They are a joy to watch and give some wonderful information, not only for anyone creating video but for me as a photographer, I find it fascinating and informative.

[@InDepthCine]

Thanks Michael. There's definitely a huge amount of cross over between stills and moving images. I also love photography and try to implement cinematography principles into my stills whenever possible.

[@matthewchute5514]

So informative in so many ways!! Thanks for this!

[@InDepthCine]

Thanks for watching 🙏

[@lakshyaupadhyay]

Excellent breakdown man.

[@JackMmubanga]

Thank you thank you !!

[@InDepthCine]

Only a pleasure. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@mr_danwalsh]

Awesome Gray, enjoyed this!

[@InDepthCine]

Thanks Dan.

[@wannermanzanillo3348]

YES!! Thank you for this, your page is amazing. Keep up the great work

[@InDepthCine]

Appreciate it. Let me know if there are any DOPs you'd like me to analyse.

[@wannermanzanillo3348]

In Depth Cine would love to see Rodrigo Prieto , Alfonso Cuarón (for his work in Roma) and , Matthew Libatique.

[@ebubedike2626]

Learn a lot here I immediately liked the video and followed the page the minute it got interesting

[@robgoc]

Wonderful video. I want to copy literally everything of Bradfords work in my own.

[@michaelmejia3561]

This is the best! Thank you

[@GeoffreyGonzales]

0:24 i don’t think that’s how scales work bro. other way around been enjoying these tho a lot

[@thenomadicvlog]

i was looking for this comment

[@Dragontasticvideos]

The Bradford weighs more than the Alexa. Maybe we could introduce a new metering system. "How many Bradfords does this camera weigh or something?"

[@jesseyules]

A lovely summary. Thank you. :)

[@ChristopherMichaelLaw]

Another informative video. Thanks for making it.

[@InDepthCine]

Pleasure! Thanks for watching.

[@stikeMedia]

Wow, great video! I'm so happy I heard about this channel today. This was really informative and there's a few films in here that I hadn't seen so gonna go check them out.

[@InDepthCine]

Thanks Stephen!

[@michael_viteritti]

Great as every time :D

[@guigohoff]

excellent bro!

[@BrainFoodTakeOut]

Another Louisville,Ky Legend!!!

[@BluntWeiser]

Thanks for the negative fill above tip.

[@eugeneyu2552]

Thanks you for this!!!

[@InDepthCine]

Thanks for watching!

[@thabithaindla9415]

Can a video be informative, therapeutic and equally engaging? yes only if it's from In depth Cine. Thank you for putting such in-depth content into the world. Take a bow, team In depth cine and keep doing awesome videos in the future and keep them coming 🙌🙌🙌

[@AfoteyAnnum]

His work on Ava DuVernay's "When They See Us" was utterly impeccable. Beyond reproach. #CinematographyGoals #Subscribed

[@YeshuaReal]

Legend

[@InDepthCine]

Bradford's work is amazing for sure.

[@kennethmatthewtabbilos9261]

This dude is really impressive. His cinematography in the under appreciated film A Most Violent Year reminds me of Gordon Willis’ lighting in The Godfather

[@linusfotograf]

I would LOVE a video on maestro Mario Bava

[@DavronMananov]

Please do Bill Pope!

[@InDepthCine]

Good idea

[@serbadork]

@@InDepthCine Seconding this!! I LOVE Bill Pope as a cinematographer especially in some of the more stylish movies he's done like Scott Pilgrim and The Matrix, would love a video on him!

[@michaelcoy311]

Bradford’s new style, for better or worse: Leave your key light at home :/ whether or not it’s right for the film.

[@InDepthCine]

And bring along plenty of negative fill.

[@matthiaspoeltinger]

YESSSSSSSSS👏👏👏👏

[@InDepthCine]

🙏

[@andrewberger3270]

can you do greig fraser!!!

[@InDepthCine]

Will hopefully have time to make a video on his cinematography before the release of Dune.

[@groovyraffraff5300]

I liked how solo looked. I dont get the hate. It embodied how much more ground level that story was. some of the best looks in the saga

[@tatehildyard5332]

Interesting because I personally don’t agree. I felt that the dark, monochrome look clashed with the film when trying to be whimsical and I just straight up had a hard time seeing the characters in certain scenes. I like Young’s style, it just didn’t work for me in Solo. That being said, I’m glad that you enjoy it and do not wish to invalidate your take. Merely to elaborate on your perspective on it. Also, hell yeah! Shooting close with wide angle lenses for the win!

[@PietroBrunelleschi]

As Picasso once said " When I was twelve, I painted like Raphael, but it took me a lifetime to learn how to paint like a child. " P.S. love these vids. Thanks fot doing it. keep it going

[@icarosmm]

Beautiful video. Valuable information was taken from me. But the music used in it is beautiful. What are the names of the songs? Who composed?

[@jeffsfolio]

Can you list the songs and artists you used in this video, please?

[@lukemcdonald4447]

What is the background music being played?

[@Kezleu]

Je trouve une approche 1970 .j aime bien

[@darcys2176]

I imagine that'd require hanging a lot of black sheet from the roof though for a wider shot

[@chebosludo]

When you say Alexa XST you mean SXT right ? Love the work of Bradford. Nice breakdown.

[@InDepthCine]

That's right. Thanks for watching.

[@colpul2103]

The cinematography was the one redeeming factor in 'Solo', (a film notable for making the coolest character since Rick from Casablanca the least cool character in big budget movie history). A movie so bad it kind of ruined Han retroactively in the first trilogy, seriously I re-watched Star Wars ('A New Hope) and when The Kessel Run came up I cringed knowing that 1) it's not an actual badass achievement, and 2) it wasn't even Han piloting it. Rant aside, it was a beautifully shot film.

[@SlyRy]

Are there music credits for your videos?

[@icarosmm]

Name?

[@linusfotograf]

The E in Ville is silent :-)

[@James-nv1wf]

Lower the bg music pls

[@nonsoville]

Everything you have described about this man is me. Except the success :(

[@BODYBYSTRUGGLE]

You located in the tristate?

[@nonsoville]

@@BODYBYSTRUGGLE Nah sorry.

[@daugmulumba5086]

After seeing a numbers of these I can say that there is very little difference between them(cinematographers)

[@nakibjr.5513]

you use a lot of when they see us footage.

[@the180degreerule3]

Cinematography is objective and functional...that's not an art form even tho so many people will consider it one and will want my skin.

[@Hannahprovencher]

Omg you butchered Denis Villeneuve's name 😂😂😂

[@sisterbrothers1677]

Too bad he's a bit of a racist.

[@jangdi.]

I don't like his style. Too dark and too personal. But it sure feels distinct. Thank you for your video.