Marcin Maron, who wrote his MA thesis on Jerzy Lipman, emphasises:
A Generation is a film created according to the rules of the so called realism. It represents a specific reality related to the life of young people during the war. However, it is not a documentary reality, but a reconstruction of that world, created through mise-en-scène, artistic framing, where everything appears to be natural, but in fact is enhanced, while the image constitutes an aesthetic whole. (dissertation written at the cinematography department of the Łódź Film School in 2000, fragments of which were published in the book Zdjęcia: Jerzy Lipman).
In his analysis of individual scenes from Jerzy Lipman's films, Maron points out that this effect was most of all achieved due to the immaculate and consistent use of diffused natural light at different times of day and night, appropriately boosted by artificial light, in order to emphasise the atmosphere and dramaturgy of a scene.
Maron stresses that Lipman's camerawork was often characterised by dark tones, where shade significantly dominated light. Jerzy Lipman usually introduced close ups of actors' faces, artificially narrowing down the field of vision and lighting the faces in such a way so as to enhance the emotional charge of a scene and accentuate the subjective reactions of viewers wherever the scene demanded it. In some other cases, if necessary, he – on the contrary – introduced two sources of light in order to reflect the character of an interior, with such precision that individual objects, or even the wall texture, could be discerned.
When working with light, Lipman consciously eliminated some elements and brought out other ones, which in the 1950s was a novelty in cinematographic work. When composing a frame, he made a thorough use any natural spots of light, which could include window panes or doors. He paid a lot of attention to contrast, which could be attained in a variety of ways.
If one were to give a concise description of the essence of his frame composition, it could be said that it is a deliberate rejection of those parts of an image that do not contribute to the formation of an eloquent expression of the content.
– Maron sums up.
In Lipman's works, motion and depth of field are as important as light. The latter also demonstrate neorealist influences, apparent in the so called open frame composition, where the cinematographer introduces the camera and actors' movements necessary to create an impression of the broader reality existing outside of the frame.
By using lenses with an increased depth of field, Lipman created compositions with a perspective, where each plane carried its own function and information, as well as contributed to the tension.
– Maron writes.
This method of depth-based composition of frame played an important role in A Generation, as well as in the later films, such as Roman Polański's Knife in the Water. Maron's thesis is that Lipman's innovative approach was mainly based on three elements: the dexterous use of natural light in combination with artificial light, the frame composition, and on the cinematic motion, achieved through dolly shots and movement within the frame. Maron writes about Polański's Knife in the Water:
On the surface, camerawork in that film seems ‘unimpressive’ and secondary to the plot. They lack special lighting effects like those in Sewer, or as diversified space as in A Generation, this might be the first time Lipman avoids his typical dark shots. Nonetheless, his cinematography responds very well to the low-key specifics of the film and the confinement of its protagonists within a small space of a sailing boat, with the Mazuria landscape in the background. The precision of these shots enabled a translation of its dramatic structure to the screen.
