Director of Photography Services

Here is how this works in practice. We connect shoots with directors of photography based in Serbia, drawn from a competitively priced, growing Belgrade-centred crew base. The DP, or cinematographer, owns the look of a film. Lighting, camera movement, lens choice and composition — working with closely with the director to set up the atmosphere of each scene and top the camera department through prep and shoot.

Here is the short of it. Our DPs work across features, series, commercials, documentaries and digital work, are proficient with the major digital cinema systems, and adapt fluently between controlled stages at the today's PFI Studios near Simanovci and demanding locations. Because Serbia's film-services industry is competitively priced, shoots secure accomplished cinematography in dinar at rates well below Western Europe, and the 25-30% cash rebates through the Film in Serbia programme of the Serbia Film Commission improves the value when DP and camera-department spend qualifies. We review the creative brief and references, present matched showreels, and connect you directly so the right cinematographer is locked in early.

Here is the breakdown. Serbia gives a DP a top and different palette of light. Belgrade, set where the Sava meets the Danube beneath the Kalemegdan fortress, gives river panoramas, Habsburg facades. The bohemian Skadarlija quarter and the bold concrete forms of New Belgrade. The city is well used at doubling for other European capitals, as it did for Ralph Fiennes's 'Coriolanus'. Beyond it lie the soft pastoral light of the Vojvodina flats around Novi Sad. The dramatic Djerdap gorge on the Danube, the mountains of Tara.

Here is what that looks like on the ground. Zlatibor and Kopaonik, and the medieval Serbian Orthodox monasteries, including UNESCO-listed Studenica, with their frescoed interiors. Serbia's celebrated cinema heritage — Emir Kusturica is a two-time Palme d'Or winner. The Yugoslav Black Wave stays in the past major — sustains a deep cinematography custom. Four distinct seasons, from cold winters to warm summers, give DPs year-round options, and English is widely spoken in the industry.