David Tayar - Director of Photography

The Director of Photography (or DP) is another name for the cinematographer. Here is our DP's bio as released by the Israeli Government:

INFORMATION REDACTED codename “David Tayar” was born on August 2, INFO in the small village of REDACTED, Israeli. Recruited for an elite branch of the Israeli Special Forces in the REDACTED Division at the age of 17, he was trained by INFO REDACTED and was active from 2003-INFO completing successful missions in INFORMATION, REDACTED, REDACTED, REDACTED, and Nashville, Tennessee USA. It was on the Nashville mission “Music City” where contact with Tayar went dark and he was presumed REDACTED. Tayar popped back on the grid in the year INFO in Los Angeles, California working as a lighting technician, and recent intelligence places him as a highly sought after DP. Efforts to require Tayar have resulted in the loss of several highly trained assets and future efforts have been suspended indefinitely. He is currently working for INFO REDACTED INFO, a globally broadcast children’s programming network.

David's IMDB Page

Umm...anyway...

As I posted earlier, I met David through a chance set of circumstances. He was replacing the Key Grip on a show I was on. As much as I liked his work sensibilities, personality, and filmmaking philosophy, I was really impressed with his eye and natural abilities to catch the important things going on in any given shot. David and I tend to have common preferences for camera movement, lighting style, and overall aesthetic.

When I first started making movies in college, I could never understand Directors that hand the camera over to someone else. So much can go wrong. They might miss a great moment because they aren't thinking about the shot, performance, or story like you are. They might have their own agenda in making sure the movie looks good without a care of if it is any good. With David, I feel like I'm handing the camera over to a much more dangerous, heavily Israeli accented version of myself (there is not a word in that bio that isn't true by the way).

Much like Mayon, David is also of the craftsman work sensibilities. As much as he cares deeply for the visual presentation of the film, he is more concerned with the whole quality of the film. One of David's many mantras is that no one will give a crap about what the movie looks like if it's no good.

At the same time, it still needs to look good, and with David, I know it will.