Shooting mostly black and white, I often watch old movies for inspiration. Mikhail Kalatozov was a visionary whose work was a staple in Soviet media. I recently watched three of his acclaimed films: I am Cuba, The Cranes are Flying and Letter Never Sent and was blown away by the techniques he used to bring his characters to life. I took screenshots but they hardly do the movies justice. His signature style used choreographed camera movements and seemless transitions from dolly to crane to create dizzying continuous shots. From stills I gleen surgical blocking and framing. Here are some frames that stood out for me:

The Cranes Are Flying (1957)

Letter Never Sent (1960)

I am Cuba (1964)

From a technical perspective, approaching this style means getting in very close (and also far above), getting wide and tilting the camera. Another detail, Kalatozov used infrared sensitive film stock that made foliage appear almost white. 4:3 compresses our focus and lets a character's entire face become a frame. On a deeper level, his movies encourage me to meditate on how to use the camera physically to better reveal the state of mind of subjects.