Great Cinematographers
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- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Mohammad Aladpoush is known for A Report on a Murder (1987), The Deserted Station (2002) and A Tale of Love (2015).- Cinematographer
- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
Hossein Jafarian was born in 1944 in Tehran. He graduated from University of Tehran's School of Dramatic Arts and began his career working for Iran's state-run television where he shot over 40 documentaries and TV shows before retiring early soon after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He debuted in cinema in 1980, and his skills as a cinematographer were soon recognized with the 1984 film titled Grandfather (1986), which received the Best Picture award at Tehran's Fajr International Film Festival. Since then, he has repeatedly been recognized nationally and internationally for his work with numerous cinematography awards. He was a guest at the 2004 Plus CAMEIMAGE International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography with Crimson Gold (2003) and was nominated for the 'Golden Frog' award in the main competition of the festival in 2009 for his work on About Elly (2009).
He has shot some of Iran's critically acclaimed films including Narges (1992), Through the Olive Trees (1994), The May Lady (1998), and Two Women (1999), all of which have won Best Picture awards at international film festivals. He has worked with some of Iran's most renowned directors including Rakhshan Banietemad, Kiumars Poorahmad, Jafar Panahi, Palme d'Or winner Abbas Kiarostami, and Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi. He is also the author of "Lens: In Photography and Cinematography."- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Editor
In 2015 - Alireza Zarindast, was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in Dramatic Arts by the Ministry of Arts and Culture in Iran. Alireza who was born in 1946 in Tabriz, in north of Iran - has made 106 films. Most of his films were made in Iran - however, he has also worked on projects outside Iran. The US, Egypt, Turkey, Italy and France are among some of the locations outside Iran - where has made movies. Alireza started working in the film industry at the age of 20 as a photographer and a camera operator. He shot his first film as a Director of Photography at the young age of 23. At the age of 30 - Alireza filmed one of Iran's most famous, popular and timelessly loved television series: Uncle Napoleon. Very early on - he developed a lighting style as well as filming techniques - which made him a household name and a force to be reckoned with. Alireza made the films: The Report, The Experience and the critically acclaimed Close Up with the late Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami. He also made the The Cyclist, The Nights of Zayandeh-Roud, The Marriage of the Blessed and The Peddler with the filmmaker, Mohsen Makhmalbaf. Alireza has won more than 15 domestic and international awards for best cinematography.- Cinematographer
- Director
- Actor
Raoul Coutard was born on 16 September 1924 in Paris, France. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Hoa Binh (1970), Alphaville (1965) and Z (1969). He died on 8 November 2016 in Labenne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Gianni Di Venanzo was born on 18 December 1920 in Teramo, Abruzzo, Italy. He was a cinematographer, known for 8½ (1963), The Girlfriends (1955) and Juliet of the Spirits (1965). He died on 3 February 1966 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Willy Hameister was born on 3 December 1889 in Kranzfeld, Landkreis Greifenhagen, Pomerania. Willy was a cinematographer, known for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), The Beggar from Cologne Cathedral (1927) and Sein Rekordflug (1914). Willy died on 13 February 1938 in Berlin, Germany.- Cinematographer
- Special Effects
- Editorial Department
The favorite cinematographer of legendary director Alfred Hitchcock began working at Warner Bros. when he was 19 years old. He climbed his way up from camera operator to assistant camera man and eventually took over the Special Photographic Effects unit at Warners on Stage 5 in 1944. He became an expert in forced perspective techniques which were widely in use at the time as cost-saving measures, or on B-pictures. Burks did special effects work on major productions like Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), The Unsuspected (1947) and Key Largo (1948).
In 1949, Burks graduated to becoming a fully-fledged director of photography. His striking black & white work on The Fountainhead (1949) was particularly evocative in showcasing the stark, austere architectural lines of the film's chief protagonist, Howard Roark (Gary Cooper). On the strength of this, and his next film, The Glass Menagerie (1950), Hitchcock hired him to shoot his thriller Strangers on a Train (1951). From this developed one of Hollywood's most inspired collaborations, as well as a close personal friendship.
When his contract at Warner Brothers expired in 1953, Burks followed Hitchcock to Paramount and went on to play an integral part in creating the brooding, tension-laden atmosphere of the director's best work between 1954 and 1964. His range varied from the neo-realist, almost semi-documentary black & white look of The Wrong Man (1956) to the intensely warm and beautiful deep focus VistaVision colour photography of Vertigo (1958). His muted tones matching the claustrophobic setting of Rear Window (1954) stood in sharp contrast to the vibrant, full-hued colours used in the expansive outdoor footage of To Catch a Thief (1955) and North by Northwest (1959).
The experience Burks had gained in forced perspective miniatures in his early days at Warner Brothers, also stood him in good stead on 'Vertigo' (the mission tower), 'North by Northwest' (the Mount Rushmore scenes) and, later, 'The Birds'. Because of his expertise, Burks was often able to contribute ideas to shooting scenes more effectively. He was also an innovator in the application of both telephoto and wide angle lenses as a means to creating a specific mood. The Hitchcock-Burks partnership ended after Marnie (1964), and, under less-inspired directors (except for A Patch of Blue (1965)), his later work inevitably declined in quality. Robert Burks and his wife, Elysabeth, were tragically killed in a fire at their house in May 1968.
Robert Burks won the 1955 Academy Award for Best Colour Photography for 'To Catch a Thief'. He was also nominated for 'Strangers on a Train', 'Rear Window' and 'A Patch of Blue'.- Cinematographer
- Actor
- Director
- Cinematographer
- Director
- Camera and Electrical Department
One of the most respected cinematographers in the industry, Polish-born Rudolph Mate entered the film business after his graduation from the University of Budapest. He worked in Hungary as an assistant cameraman for Alexander Korda and later worked throughout Europe with noted cameraman Karl Freund. Mate was hired to shoot some second-unit footage for Carl Theodor Dreyer and Erich Pommer, and they were so impressed with his work that they hired him as cinematographer on Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) (US title: "The Passion of Joan of Arc"). Mate was soon working on some of Europe's most prestigious films, cementing his reputation as one of the continent's premier cinematographers. Hollywood came calling in 1935, and Mate shot films there for the next 12 years before turning to directing in 1947. Unfortunately, while many of his directorial efforts were visually impressive (especially his sci-fi epic When Worlds Collide (1951)), the films themselves were for the most part undistinguished, with his best work probably being the film-noir classic D.O.A. (1949).- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Otello Martelli was born on 19 May 1902 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a cinematographer, known for La Dolce Vita (1960), The Road (1954) and Carne de horca (1953). He died on 20 February 2000 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Veteran cinematographer George S. Barnes had a well-earned reputation for reliability and a knack for combining artistry with economic efficiency. As a result, he was seldom out of work.
Having started as a still photographer for Thomas H. Ince in 1918, Barnes quickly rose through the ranks to director of photography. In the course of his career he spent time at just about every major studio in Hollywood: Paramount (1919-21), Metro (1924-25), United Artists (1926-31), MGM (1932), Warner Brothers (1933-38), 20th Century-Fox (1940-41), Universal (1942) and RKO (1942-48). During the 1920s he was the primary cinematographer for Samuel Goldwyn and was largely responsible for the success of films like The Dark Angel (1925). Under his auspices Gregg Toland learned his craft, particularly Barnes' trademark soft-edged, deep-focus photography and intuitive composition and camera movement. Barnes was an expert at lighting. He often utilized curtains or reflective surfaces to create patterns of light and shade. Most importantly, he perfectly suited the required style of photography to each individual assignment. He brought a vivid opulence to the dullish Technicolor romance Frenchman's Creek (1944), making it a triumph of style over content. His 'catoon colours' were just as perfectly suited to the fantasy adventure Sinbad, the Sailor (1947). At Warner Brothers the dark, somewhat grainy texture of films like Marked Woman (1937) was in sync with the realistic look the studio wanted to achieve for its product. He also excelled at shooting vivid dramatic scenes, such as the flood sequences featured in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926).
Barnes did his best work in the 1940s, shooting two classic Alfred Hitchcock thrillers: for Rebecca (1940) he created an atmosphere of sinister foreboding, right from the beginning, with his shots of Manderley (Barnes was hired because Toland was unavailable, but he ended up winning an Academy Award); and Spellbound (1945), with its unsettling surrealist Salvador Dalí-designed dream sequence of wheels, eyes and staircases. A lesser, but nonetheless good-looking, addition to Barnes' resume is a minor film noir, The File on Thelma Jordon (1949). In contrast, he created a suitably lavish look for his color photography, which enlivened two charismatic swashbuckling adventures, The Spanish Main (1945) and Sinbad, the Sailor (1947). Popular with directors and producers (though he was once fired by David O. Selznick for failing to bring the best out of Jennifer Jones) and stars (Bing Crosby) alike, Barnes was continually employed until his retirement in 1953. He was also popular with the ladies, to which his seven marriages testify. One of his wives was the actress Joan Blondell.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Carlo Carlini was born on 20 February 1929. He is a cinematographer, known for Il fornaretto di Venezia (1963), Requiem for a Secret Agent (1966) and Captain Phantom (1953).- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Hamid Khozouie Abyane was born 1963 in Tehran, Iran. Following his passion for photography, he studied English language and Cinematography. He started his career with professional photography for advertisement and commercial purposes and followed his artistic instinct by traveling around Iran and gathering amazing collection of photos with environmental, historical and social subjects.
In 1990, he started his film career with various documentaries and short movies. He has shot many movies ever since that is well known domestically as well as internationally.
Here is the list of some of his movies: His first feature film The Child and the Soldier (2000) was awarded "The Silver Balloon" in "Nant 3 Continent" in France.The movie was directed by Reza Mirkarimi and has been screened in various international film festivals such as "Montreal Film Festival","Asia-Pacific Film Festival".Under the Moonlight (2001) received the best cinematography honor diploma by "Fajr International Film Festival" in Iran. The movie quickly became well known by winning the Critic's week grand prize from "Cannes Film Festival and for the best director "Tokyo International film festival". Hamid Khozouie Abyane also received "Crystal Simorgh" for the best Cinematography in technical and artistic achievement in "Fajr International Film Festival" in Iran for the movie Here, a Shining Light (2003) (Here, a shinning light). The Lizard (2004) was another one of his cinematography experiences with spectacular record breaking box office in Iran that was only allowed to be screened in movie theaters for short period of two weeks and was banned by Islamic Clerics. This movie was also screened in "Montreal Film Festival" and "London Film Festival".So Close, So Far (2005) another one of his movies that was selected to participate in "Oscar" awards as representative of Iranian movies. Among various awards, he received the "Crystal Simorgh" for the best Cinematography in "Fajr International Film Festival",the best artistic contribution for the best cinematography in "29th Cairo International Film Festival"and received the "Cinematography Honor award" that was sponsored by "ARRI" during the "Cinec Salon" in Tehran in 2005.In his next movie, Barefoot in Paradise (2007) directed by Bahram Tavakoli Hamid Khozouie Abyane received the "Crystal Simorgh" for the best Cinematography in "Fajr International Film Festival" and best cinematography award by "House of Cinema (Iranian alliance of motion picture Guilds)". The Kingdom of Solomon (2010) was one of the major productions in Iran with majority of the post production work including visual effects, sound designer & original music being done in Hong Kong, he received the best cinematography award from the "House of Cinema(Iranian alliance of motion picture guilds)" and the best cinematography from "Iranian Society of Film Critics & Writers(ISFCW) in 2010". He was also awarded for the best cinematography for the movie A Walk in the Fog (2010) (Wandering in the Mist), is another one of his movies that received the best cinematography from "Iranian Society of Film Critics & Writers(ISFCW)". Here Without Me (2011) received the best actress award in "Montreal Film Festival" and has been screened in Hamburg, Chicago, Boston, University of California in Los Angles(UCLA) Film Festivals and received the award for the best cinematography by the "House of Cinema (Iranian alliance of motion picture Guilds) ceremony". A Cube of Sugar (2011) was the first "Super 16 mm" movie in Iran, screened in Montreal, San Francisco and Pousan Film Festivals.. He worked as a camera operator with three Academy Awarded cinematographer Vittorio Storaro in [muhammad the messenger of god] (2015) directed by Majid Majidi. Throughout his career , Hamid Khozouie Abyane worked with many well-known directors and award winners such as Reza Mir Karimi, Bahram Tavakoli, Majid Majidi, Abed Abest.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Pierre-William Glenn was born on 31 October 1943 in Paris, France. He is a cinematographer and director, known for Extérieur, nuit (1980), Death Watch (1980) and 23h58 (1993).- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Janusz Kaminski is a Polish cinematographer and film director. He has established a partnership with Steven Spielberg, working as a cinematographer on his movies since 1993. He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998).
His other film's as an cinematographer includes Amistad (1997), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Catch Me If You Can (2002), The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007), War Horse (2011), Lincoln (2012), Bridge of Spies (2015), The BFG (2016), and Ready Player One (2018).- Camera and Electrical Department
- Cinematographer
John Alcott, the Oscar-winning cinematographer best known for his collaboration with director Stanley Kubrick, was born in 1931, in Isleworth, England, the son of movie executive Arthur Alcott, who would become the production controller at Gainsborough Studios during the 1940s.
Alcott began his film career as a clapper boy, the lowest member of a camera crew. By the early 1960s he had worked his way up to focus puller, the #3 position on a camera crew after the lighting cameraman and camera operator. As a focus puller Alcott was responsible for measuring the distances between the camera and the subject being shot, which is critical during traveling shots, and more vitally, he was tasked with adjusting the lens when the camera is following a subject.
By the mid-'60s Alcott was a member of the camera team of master cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth, working on Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). When Unsworth had to leave the project during its two-year-long shoot to meet other commitments, Alcott was elevated to lighting cameraman by Kubrick. Thus began a collaboration that would reach its zenith a decade later with Barry Lyndon (1975). His association with Kubrick propelled him to the top of his craft, in terms of both style and in pushing the technical aspects of the discipline.
Alcott preferred lighting that appeared natural and did not draw attention to itself. His ideas meshed perfectly with those of Kubrick, and the two developed their ideas about "natural" lighting in two landmark films, A Clockwork Orange (1971) and "Barry Lyndon", which incorporated scenes shot entirely by candlelight. The idea of using candlelight solely for illumination was discussed by Alcott and Kubrick after the wrap of "2001" for Kubrick's planned film about the life of Napoleon, but there wasn't a fast-enough lens in existence then.
After a search, Kubrick located three unique 50mm f/0.7 still-camera camera lenses designed by the Zeiss Corporation for use by NASA in its Apollo moon-landing program in order to shoot still pictures in the low light levels of outer space. The lens was 2 f stops faster than the fastest movie camera lens made at the time.
Kubrick tasked Cinema Products Corp. to adapt a standard 35mm non-reflexed Mitchell BNC movie camera so that the camera could accept the lens. The camera was outfitted with a side viewfinder from one of the old Technicolor three-strip cameras that used mirrors rather than prisms (like a modern camera) to show what it "sees", the mirrors providing a much brighter image than did a prism-based single-lens reflex system, which could not obtain enough light to register an image. There was no real problem with parallax, as the viewfinder was mounted close to the lens.
Cinema Products also created two special lenses by mating a 70mm projection lens with the remaining 0.7 Zeiss 50mm lenses. This battery of three lenses allowed Kubrick and Alcott to shoot the indoor scenes using nothing but candlelight. It was a formidable task, as the lenses could not be focused by eye. Metal shields also had to be installed above the sets, which were filmed in actual castles and manor houses in Ireland and England, to keep the heat and smoke from the candles from damaging the ceilings. Fortitously, the shields also reflected the candlelight back into the scene (this approach was later used successfully by lighting cameraman Alwin H. Küchler on the western The Claim (2000), which shot its saloon interiors in very low light). The candles had to be constantly replaced to keep continuity during the scenes, and shooting was hampered by the fact that many of the manor houses were open to the public and the crew had to wait until the intervals between tours to film a scene.
Alcott told "American Cinematographer" in a December 1975 interview that the ultra-fast lens had no depth of field at all. This necessitated the scaling of the lens by doing hand tests. Alcott's focus puller, Douglas Milsome (who would succeed him as Kubrick's cinematographer), used a closed-circuit video camera at a 90-degree angle to the film camera to keep track of the distances to maintain focus. A grid was placed over the TV screen and, by taping the various actors' positions in the set, the distances could be transferred to the TV grid to allow the actors a limited scope of movement during the scene, while keeping in focus.
Alcott won an Academy Award for his work on "Barry Lyndon", which is considered one of the most visually beautiful movies ever made. (Three of Alcott's movies were ranked in the top 20 of "Best Shot" movies in the period after 1950-97 by the American Society of Cinematographers: "2001" at #3, "Barry Lyndon" at #16, and "A Clockwork Orange", for which he won the British Academy Award, at #19.) Alcott realized Kubrick's vision by evoking the paintings of Corot, Gainsborough, and Watteau, creating gorgeous tableaux. It was the aesthetic opposite of the cubism evoked by "A Clockwork Orange",
While shooting what would turn out to be his last film for Kubrick, The Shining (1980), Alcott lit the hotel sets with "practicals" (sources of lighting that are visible on screen as part of the set, such as lighting fixtures). As on "Barry Lyndon", Alcott supplemented the lighting with illumination coming into the set from outside the windows, though the "windows" on "The Shining" were part of a set. The high temperatures (110 degrees Fahrenheit) caused by the 700,000 watts of illumination outside the set's "windows" Alcott used to create the high white effect favored by Kubrick caused the set to burn down.
Alcott, who shot films and TV commercials for other directors in the UK, moved to the US in 1981 in order to obtain more steady work than was possible in the ailing British film industry. His non-Kubrick projects as a cinematographer included three films with director Stuart Cooper and two with Roger Spottiswoode. Alcott could not shoot Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987), which commenced shooting in 1985 and -- like any Kubrick shoot -- would involved a substantial commitment of time, as Alcott was committed to other projects (Kubrick hired Douglas Milsome, who had been Alcott's focus puller on "Barry Lyndon" and "The Shining", to shoot "Jacket"). His non-Kubrick oeuvre was eccentric, and included the Canadian slasher film My Bloody Valentine (1981), but he was able to bring his outstanding visual quality to such movies as Fort Apache the Bronx (1981), The Beastmaster (1982), Under Fire (1983) and Hugh Hudson's Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984).
Alcott suffered a massive heart attack and died on July 28, 1986, in Cannes, France. At the time of his death he was considered one of the film industry's great artist-technicians, someone who through his ability to push back the boundaries of what was technically possible, linked technology to aesthetic needs and contributed to the development of cinema as an art form. His last film, No Way Out (1987), was dedicated to his memory. The British Society of Cinematographers named one of its awards the "BSC John Alcott ARRI Award" in his honor to commemorate his role as a lighting cameraman in the development of film as an art form.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Asakazu Nakai was born on 29 August 1901 in Kobe, Japan. He was a cinematographer, known for Ran (1985), Stray Dog (1949) and Seven Samurai (1954). He died on 28 February 1988.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Takao Saitô was born on 5 March 1929 in Kyoto, Japan. He was a cinematographer and actor, known for Ran (1985), Dreams (1990) and Kagemusha: The Shadow Warrior (1980). He died on 6 December 2014 in Zama, Kanagawa, Japan.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Arthur Edeson is an American cinematographer who was a pioneer of his craft. His career spanned four decades and encompassed many films now regarded as classics.
Born in New York in 1891, Edeson first worked as a still photographer. In 1911 he entered the movie business at Eclair Studios, a production unit based in Fort Lee, NJ. There he was employed as an extra and still photographer. He became a cinematographer in 1914 and worked on films starring Clara Kimball Young, a very popular actress of that era whose films are, for the most part, lost. In 1917 Young left New Jersey for California, and so did Edeson.
In 1919 he was one of the 15 cameramen who founded the American Society of Cinematographers. During the 1920s he was hired by actor-producer Douglas Fairbanks for The Three Musketeers (1921) ('Fred Niblo'). Robin Hood (1922) (Allan Dwan) and The Thief of Bagdad (1924) (Raoul Walsh). That last film launched a long relationship between Edeson and Walsh. In 1925 Edeson worked on The Lost World (1925)) (Harry O. Hoyt), the first full-length feature film using the stop-motion animation technique. In 1929 he was cinematographer on In Old Arizona (1928) (Irving Cummings), the first talking picture shot entirely outdoors. Edeson was also one of the first to experiment with the widescreen format on Walsh's The Big Trail (1930). During that period he also worked with Lewis Milestone on the anti-war epic All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). Soon afterward he collaborated with James Whale on two technically groundbreaking films: Frankenstein (1931) and The Invisible Man (1933).
In 1936 Edeson was hired at Warner Bros. There he worked notably on the first film directed by John Huston, the classic noir The Maltese Falcon (1941), and re-teamed with Huston on the lesser known Across the Pacific (1942). He was also lenser on the perennial favorite Casablanca (1942) (Michael Curtiz) and later worked with Jean Negulesco, notably on The Mask of Dimitrios (1944) and Three Strangers (1946).
Edeson retired in 1949, putting an end to a distinguished career. He died in California in 1970.- Cinematographer
- Writer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Slawomir Idziak was born on 25 January 1945 in Katowice, Slaskie, Poland. He is a cinematographer and writer, known for Three Colors: Blue (1993), Black Hawk Down (2001) and Gattaca (1997). He was previously married to Maria Gladkowska.- Cinematographer
- Animation Department
- Camera and Electrical Department
Kazuo Miyagawa was born on 25 February 1908 in Kyoto, Japan. He was a cinematographer, known for Yojimbo (1961), Rashomon (1950) and Brother (1960). He was married to Kazuko ?. He died on 7 August 1999 in Tokyo, Japan.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Producer
Giorgos Arvanitis was born on 22 February 1941 in Dilofo, Kozani, Greece. He is a cinematographer and producer, known for The Swamp (1973), Such a Long Absence (1985) and Sti skia tou fovou (1988).- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Producer
Vasilis Hristomoglou is known for Synomosia sti Mesogeio (1975).- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Jean-Paul Alphen was born on 20 April 1911 in Paris, France. He was a cinematographer, known for The Rules of the Game (1939), La Marseillaise (1938) and Life Is Ours (1936). He died on 28 April 1993.- Cinematographer
- Actor
Jean Bachelet was born on 8 October 1894 in Dole, Jura, France. He was a cinematographer and actor, known for The Rules of the Game (1939), La réponse du destin (1926) and Nana (1926). He died on 26 February 1977 in Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France.