Best / favourite cinematographer

..and why not?
marios

Best / favourite cinematographer

Postby marios » 17 Feb 2007, 23:07

Who and why?

Sneelock

Postby Sneelock » 18 Feb 2007, 06:21

there's a lot of good ones and I hope they all show up in the thread.
I'm going to take Connie Hall.

I'm going to offer 2 films. 'In Cold Blood' and 'Day of the Locust'. he did others, certainly better known films. still, I think those two are topnotch and show an artistic range of ability.

it's pretty well-known that the 'crying shadows' scene in 'In Cold Blood' was "a lucky accident". I'm of the opinion that those sorts of things usually happen to the most talented people.

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Postby Davey the Fat Boy » 18 Feb 2007, 09:33

Sneelock wrote:I'm going to take Connie Hall.


Great pick. I'll take Greg Toland. With Citizen Kane, The Grapes of Wrath, and The Best Years of Our Lives at the top of his resume, it's hard not to pick him.

Like you said - there are lots of great names left.
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marios

Postby marios » 18 Feb 2007, 10:05

Hall and Toland are excellent picks. Gordon Willis could be another name worth mentioning, for his work on the Godfather films and with Woody Allen.

marios

Postby marios » 18 Feb 2007, 10:09

But my personal favourite would be James Wong Howe, mostly for his work on Sweet Smell Of Success, Hud and Seconds.

Or maybe Boris Kauffman, for his cinematography work for Sidney Lumet and Elia Kazan.

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Postby the masked man » 18 Feb 2007, 10:23

Sven Nykvist springs to mind, primarily for his work with Bergman (Persona, Cries And Whispers, Fanny And Alexander), although he also produced fine lighting for Andrei Tarkovsky (The Sacrifice) and Woody Allen (Crimes And Misdemeanors) - both films heavily influenced by Bergman.

He was especially well-suited to colour photography, emphasising rich reds in Cries And Whispers and hazy mists in The Sacrifice. But he was nothing if not versatile; having checked his IMDB listing, he see he also shot Sleepless In Seattle - not much Bergmanesque angst there!

Maybe his best work was in creating a sumptuous erotic tone on The Unbearable Lightness Of Being.

marios

Postby marios » 18 Feb 2007, 11:18

Good choice.

Thought of two more: Russell Metty and Robert Krasker.




Some of the best cinematographers working today have done great work on films i don't really care for but do find beautiful to look at: Harris Savides (the recent Van Sant films, Birth) and Christopher Doyle (his work with Wong Kar Wai) mainly. Roger Deakins deserves a mention for his work with the Coens i suppose.

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Postby Mr Maps » 18 Feb 2007, 18:04

Roger Deakins and Jack Cardiff come to mind
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Postby linusoli » 18 Feb 2007, 18:29

Looking over his resume just now, there's not really anything else I was blown away by, but Tom Stern's work on Letters from Iwo Jima (which I saw yesterday) is stunning.
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Postby BARON CORNY DOG » 18 Feb 2007, 22:45

= marios = wrote:But my personal favourite would be James Wong Howe, mostly for his work on Sweet Smell Of Success, Hud and Seconds.


I once had the pleasure of a Hud/Seconds big-screen double feature. Awesome!
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Postby My name is Spaulding » 18 Feb 2007, 23:37

Gordon Willis is a must indeed (obviously for his work on "The Goodfather", but also for things like "The conversation" or "All the president´s men". He impersonates that cool 70s movies feel).

I also love the work of Conrad L. Hall, and it´s great that at the end of his career he found Sam Mendes, who admired him so much he turned "The Road to Perdido" into a cinematography fest.

And let´s not forget Christopher Doyle. Everything he does is a beauty to look at.
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Postby My name is Spaulding » 18 Feb 2007, 23:38

Sorry Marios, I´ve just read jour post re: Chris Doyle. We basically wrote the same :) (although I do care about many of the films he works at)
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marios

Postby marios » 19 Feb 2007, 09:26

Captain Spaulding wrote: "The Road to Perdido"


Does "perdido" mean "perdition" in Spanish?

marios

Postby marios » 19 Feb 2007, 09:27

il Baron wrote:
= marios = wrote:But my personal favourite would be James Wong Howe, mostly for his work on Sweet Smell Of Success, Hud and Seconds.


I once had the pleasure of a Hud/Seconds big-screen double feature. Awesome!


I would have loved seeing those on the big screen!


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