Do You Need Your Own Style?
When you look at the most influential and successful creative people, they often have a fairly clear and defined ‘style’ to their work. You can spot their sensibilities and predict what a film or photograph will look and feel like when you see someone’s name attached to it. I know for instance that anything directed by Ridley Scott will often have a very striking visual style to it, classic and often epic despite the genre or subject matter. The question is, how important is this style to the creator themselves — are they even really consciously aware of it? How much does it really matter?
More often than not, it seems that it’s the audience who defines someone’s style. In an interview with ARRI, famed cinematographer Roger Deakins talks about this notion of style:
“I don’t think I have a style, I’ve discovered ways of lighting that sort of, work for me you know….I don’t think I have a naturalistic style, I hope I have a style that suits the project that I’m on. I mean I walk on a film set on a new movie and…it feels like I’ve never done it before, like I’m learning…Any way a film looks is a product of the prep on that look, on that film and how that sort of developed as we’ve gone along.” — Roger Deakins
Now, many an article, essay and bar room discussion has been had about Deakins and his particular style. Often we’ll relate it to simplistic lighting, motivated sources and all manner of other techniques we can see within his various works. However, when asked directly, the man in question doesn’t see these things at all. His style is simply the way he sees the world, modified to suite the project he’s been tasked with producing.
So how important is it? Should you as an artist or creative seek to define your style at all? Does it matter? Is it better to simply create the way you feel is most genuine and let the audience define it? Where then does this come in to conflict with more commercial work?
Pentax KP | Pentax FA 77mm Limited f/1.8 | ISO 100 | @77mm | f/3.2 | 1/125th
Often I’m tasked with shooting in particular ways to follow popular trends or meet a pre-established style defined by the brand. This works for me, since I like to dabble and experiment and have a tendency to get bored of doing the same thing. However, I’ve come to wonder if this has impacted my ability to have a particular style of my own. When people choose to use my services, is it because they value my creative input? Or simply my technical capacity? As a video editor in particular, it’s difficult to escape the feeling that your being seen mostly as a technician pushing buttons and less of a creative. (wow that sounds far more bitter than I intended)
If I’m honest with myself, I’d say that it’s probably my technical ability that I’m most often hired for — and to an extent I’m ok with that. My ability to adapt and meet client demands is something that they value. My concern however, is that it hasn’t allowed me to explore my own creativity as much as I’d like. When I look at my own work, I don’t see my own ‘voice’ in there very often and this has seeped slowly into work which I should be doing purely for enjoyment.
Pentax K-1 | Pentax D FA 24–70mm f/2.8 | ISO 800 | @53mm | f/2.8 | 1/100th
I think I’ve lost sight of what is important to me. I’m too focused on trying to prove that I can produce content the same way as more popular or influential creators, without acknowledging that being able to emulate someone else’s style merely proves I am technically competent. That has value for sure, and it’s a fantastic way to learn, but it doesn’t advance me in any creative capacity.
I didn’t shoot it that way because it fit the client, or because it was what I ultimately thought was the best way to portray the story. I did it because it’s popular and provided me a technical challenge. Again, that’s not bad in and of itself, but I’ve reached a point now where I feel I need to move past it. Even if a client is asking me to shoot something in a particular style — I need to find the confidence to at least suggest that perhaps there is another way that might make the work more unique or simply better serve the product. Simply “Keeping up with the Joneses” might very well be exactly what the client needs — but that call should be made consciously, maybe their audience would prefer something else? Is it not my role as a creative to provide them with that insight?
Pentax K-1 | Pentax D FA 15–30mm f/2.8 | ISO 100 | @15mm | f/8 | 1/200th
So what’s the solution? Well for me currently, I’m figuring out exactly what it is that I find appealing about my creative pursuits. Not in a selfish or self serving way, I still have to ensure I’m keeping my clients happy obviously, but in a more genuine way.
I fear that currently, someone hiring me might not know what to expect, will it be dark, moody and dramatic? Or will it be polished and glossy? Worse, will it simply be too difficult to define because I’m not confident enough in my own vision to fight for it. Who even is The Valiant Knight? What can we expect from his work and why would we choose him over the thousands of other competent creatives out there?
To bring things back to Deakins, I think what’s important is that I don’t necessarily define a fundamental style for my work and stick rigidly too it — that would be too self serving. What I would like to focus on is being more deliberate in my motivations. I need a solid base to start from, so that regardless of client, it can still be cohesive. After all, I know exactly what to expect from a film shot by Deakins and so do the directors and studios who choose him. He does have a ‘style’ despite his own admission — it’s just not something he consciously pursues and is merely a result of the multitude of influences he’s drawing on.
Pentax KP | Pentax FA 77mm Limited f/1.8 | ISO 100 | @77mm | f/1.8 | 1/160th
So for now, I’m delving back into my favourite works and looking deeply at the fundamentals present in them. Why do certain shots stand out for me, what was I thinking when I actually took that shot? More often than not I’m finding it’s the shots that I put the least conscious thought into that work the best. When I wasn’t focused on copying a particular style, or using a certain technique — but simply reading the scene and capturing or editing it in the way that felt the most natural to me. The trick is to do this without become complacent or bogged down in shooting in only one particular way. As Deakin himself said in relation to how he approaches each film:
“…it feels like I’ve never done it before, like I’m learning…” — Roger Deakins
What are you thoughts? What is the best way to define your own personal style? Should we just keep experimenting until something clicks? Or is it more about just going with what feels natural and integrating that with whatever a client may be asking for? Is it dangerous to simply follow trends all the time — or are we perhaps romanticising the ‘purity’ of having our own defined style more than is healthy?
Originally published at https://thevaliantknight.com on October 16, 2019.
