Craft leaders: Ben Davis, Cinematographer

“In the future, film production may be more about capturing information than the art of filmmaking,” believes Ben Davis, one of Hollywood’s most sought-after cinematographers. “I think there will still be a need for a cinematographer but it could be that their creative input is reduced.”

The future of cinematography and the advance of virtual production techniques is something to which the London-born DoP has given a lot of thought. Davis is at the heart of the biggest visual effects intensive blockbusters being made today, yet for every Marvel franchise picture he works on he manages to craft a lower budget gem.

Davis’s extraordinary range includes The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri to Kick-Ass, Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange and Avengers: Age of Ultron. This year he shot multi-million dollar shows Captain Marvel and Dumbo, back to back.

Swapping between smaller and bigger budget movies is a question he gets asked a lot. “Creatively, I don’t find it difficult. I don’t have a fixed style. Each film speaks for itself and has a way that I feel it needs to be shot.”

The bigger the picture though, the more crew and units the DoP has to corral. “That’s why a large part of the job is…