Films are often credited to the director. But a lot of the film's actual look is the province of the director of photography (D.P) or cinematographer. From the pioneering works of D.W Griffith's lighting cameraman Bill Blitzer, Greg Tolland on Citizen Kane, Vittorio Storaro's collaborations with Bertolucci, to the distinct use of chiaroscuro by Darius Khondji in recent classics such as Delicatessen, Alien Ressurrection, and Se7en, the DP is the true unsung hero of filmmaking.
The DP respects the director's vision and is there to bring it to life. But most of them would rather be in the shadows that they so skillfully create.