In this dissertation, I present a comprehensive analysis of moving images from the viewpoint of the cameraperson and forge key intersections with live-action film/television and documentary to challenge industrial and conceptual hierarchies that have systematically erased his or her presence from the frame. In doing so, I introduce new ways to theorize production corporeality from the profilmic viewpoint of the cameraperson who I argue is an embodied author of moving images.

By excavating the camera operator from the margins of film and media studies, I establish the framework for what I classify as "cinematographic embodiment"---instances when the camera operator's bodily movements and perceptions are recorded or "embodied" along with the object(s) in the frame. Whether these movements are spontaneous or choreographed beforehand, I address the synchronicity that transpires between the cameraperson and the actor/subject by making key intersections with camera operation and the performing arts, including acting and dance. Additionally, I examine instances when a "cine-body" is constructed to represent the impression of a point of view of an embodied character that in practice is actually comprised of multiple bodies performing from behind the camera.

My analysis of camera operation extends beyond the frame to account for extratextual discourses that reveal material practices, physical labor, industrial rules and regulations, as well as the haptic and tactile sensations that result from holding, touching, and moving the camera. In doing so, I apply terminology and concepts from direct cinema and cinema verite to live-action film/television and combine research methodologies from phenomenology and production studies to analyze interviews with camera operators and directors of photography. Since many of these practitioners theorize in practice, I expand on the discourse in professional trade publications such as Camera Operator, American Cinematographer, and British Cinematographer to further contextualize their lived experiences within critical frameworks in film and media studies. Thus, I forge intersections between theory and practice to underscore a less emphasized, yet crucial dimension of production corporeality to reveal embodied viewpoints of the moving cameraperson.