director of photography
Directors of photography are responsible for the visual interpretation of the script and all photography components of the film, including framing, colouring, lightning, style and locations. They create the visual look of the film or television programme and select the filming equipment, including the lens and filters. Directors of photography manage the visual equipment operators and lighting technicians. They work together with the video and motion picture director to achieve the desired effect.
director of photography directors of photography are responsible for the visual interpretation of the script and all photography components of the film, including framing, colouring, lightning, style and locations. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include photography, film production process, lighting techniques, audiovisual equipment, cinematography.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £32,510 a year for Graphic and multimedia designers (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £26,854 to £40,000 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 2142). ONS rates this estimate reasonably precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Professionals” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only director of photography, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 2. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Communications and Media
- English Language
- Computers and Electronics
- Telecommunications
- Fine Arts
- Production and Processing
- Customer and Personal Service
- Engineering and Technology
What you'd actually do
- Organize and string together raw footage into a continuous whole according to scripts or the instructions of directors and producers.
- Edit films and videotapes to insert music, dialogue, and sound effects, to arrange films into sequences, and to correct errors, using editing equipment.
- Select and combine the most effective shots of each scene to form a logical and smoothly running story.
- Review footage sequence by sequence to become familiar with it before assembling it into a final product.
- Set up and operate computer editing systems, electronic titling systems, video switching equipment, and digital video effects units to produce a final product.
- Trim film segments to specified lengths and reassemble segments in sequences that present stories with maximum effect.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does director of photography do?
Directors of photography are responsible for the visual interpretation of the script and all photography components of the film, including framing, colouring, lightning, style and locations. They create the visual look of the film or television programme and select the filming equipment, including the lens and filters. Directors of photography manage the visual equipment operators and lighting technicians.
What skills does director of photography need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include photography, film production process, lighting techniques, audiovisual equipment, cinematography, work with motion picture editing team. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace director of photography?
Our AI-durability model gives director of photography a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.