Film Lighting
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Richmond “Aggie” Aguilar, gaffer
Worked with such cinematographers as James Crabe, Laszlo Kovacs, Sven Nykvist, and Billy Williams. Credits as gaffer include Easy Rider, 1969, Paper Moon, 1973, Shampoo, 1975, New York, New York, 1977, The Postman Always Rings Twice, 1980, On Golden Pond, 1981, Frances, 1982, Sleepless in Seattle, 1993, and My Best Friend’s Wedding, 1997.
John Alonzo, ASC
Credits include Harold and Maude, 1971, Sounder, 1971, Lady Sings the Blues, 1971, Chinatown, 1974 (Academy Award nomination), Farewell My Lovely, 1975, Norma Rae, 1979, Cross Creek, 1983, Scarface, 1983, Steel Magnolias, 1989, and Deuces Wild, 2002.
Michael Bauman, gaffer
Worked with such cinematographers as Pawel Edelman, PSC, Robert Elswit, ASC, Jean-Yves Escoffier, Mauro Fiore, ASC, Janusz Kaminski, and Matthew Libatique, ASC. Credits as gaffer include Nurse Betty, 2000, Ray, 2004, Good Night, and Good Luck, 2005, Munich, 2005, Iron Man, 2008, Iron Man 2, 2010, and Cowboys & Aliens, 2011.
Robert Baumgartner, cinematographer and gaffer
Worked with such cinematographers as Peter Deming, ASC, Chris Menges, BSC, and Rodrigo Prieto, ASC. Credits as gaffer include The Spanish Prisoner, 1997, From Hell, 2001, 8 Mile, 2002, 25th Hour, 2002, 21 Grams, 2003, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, 2005, Babel, 2006, There Will Be Blood, 2007, and State of Play, 2009. Credits as director of photography: second units include Water for Elephants, 2011, and The Hunger Games, 2012.
Dion Beebe, ASC
Credits include Charlotte Gray, 2001, Chicago, 2002 (Academy Award nomination), In the Cut, 2003, Collateral, 2004, Memoirs of a Geisha, 2005 (Academy Award winner), Miami Vice, 2006, Rendition, 2007, Land of the Lost, 2009, Nine, 2009, and Green Lantern, 2011.
John Buckley, gaffer
Worked with such cinematographers as Dion Beebe, ASC, Russell Carpenter, ASC, and Emmanuel Lubezki. Credits as gaffer include Titanic, 1997, Charlie’s Angels, 2000, Ali, 2001, Memoirs of a Geisha, 2005, Dreamgirls, 2006, Rendition, 2007, Land of the Lost, 2009, Avatar, 2009, and Green Lantern, 2011.
Stephen Burum, ASC
Credits include The Outsiders, 1983, Rumble Fish, 1983, Body Double, 1984, The Untouchables, 1987, The War of the Roses, 1989, Hoffa, 1992 (Academy Award nomination), Carlito’s Way, 1993, Mission Impossible, 1996, Snake Eyes, 1998, Mission to Mars, 2000, and Life or Something Like It, 2002.
Colin J. Campbell, gaffer
Worked with such cinematographers as Caleb Deschanel, ASC, Stephen Goldblatt, ASC, Laszlo Kovacs, ASC, Haskell Wexler, ASC, and Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC. Credits as gaffer include Grease, 1978, Rocky III, 1982, Ghostbusters, 1984, The Bonfire of the Vanities, 1990, The Crossing Guard, 1995, The Patriot, 2000, The Hunted, 2003, Charlie Wilson’s War, 2007, and Predators, 2010.
Russell Carpenter, ASC
Credits include Titanic, 1997 (Academy Award winner), Charlie’s Angels, 2000, Noel, 2004, Monster-in-Law, 2005, Awake, 2007, 21, 2008, and Killers, 2010.
James Crabe, ASC
Credits include Save the Tiger, 1972, Rocky, 1976, Sextette, 1976, The China Syndrome, 1979, The Formula, 1980 (Academy Award nomination), Night Shift, 1982, The Karate Kid, 1984, Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment, 1985, Happy New Year, 1987, and several TV movies such as The Letter, 1982 (Emmy Award winner).
Jordan Cronenweth, ASC
Credits include Play It as It Lays, 1972, Gable and Lombard, 1976, Altered States, 1980, Cutter’s Way, 1981, Blade Runner, 1982 (British Academy Award winner), Best Friends, 1982, Peggy Sue Got Married, 1986 (Academy Award nomination), and Final Analysis, 1992.
Richard Crudo, ASC
Credits include American Buffalo, 1996, American Pie, 1999, Down to Earth, 2001, Out of Reach, 2004, Brooklyn Rules, 2007, and My Sexiest Year, 2007.
Allen Daviau, ASC
Credits include E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982 (Academy Award nomination), The Falcon and the Snowman, 1984, The Color Purple, 1985 (Academy Award nomination), Empire of the Sun, 1987 (Academy Award nomination), Avalon, 1990 (Academy Award nomination), Bugsy, 1991 (Academy Award nomination), and Van Helsing, 2004.
Caleb Deschanel, ASC
Credits include The Black Stallion, 1979, Being There, 1979, The Right Stuff, 1983 (Academy Award nomination), The Natural, 1984 (Academy Award nomination), The Patriot, 2000 (Academy Award nomination), The Passion of the Christ, 2004 (Academy Award nomination), My Sister’s Keeper, 2009, and Dream House, 2011.
David Devlin, gaffer
Works as a gaffer mainly with Janusz Kaminski. Credits as gaffer include Jerry Maguire, 1996, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, 1997, Amistad, 1997, Saving Private Ryan, 1998, Psycho, 1998, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, 2001, Minority Report, 2002, Catch Me If You Can, 2002, The Terminal, 2004, War of the Worlds, 2005, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, 2008, and Funny People, 2009. Credit as second unit director of photography: War Horse, 2011.
Robert Elswit, ASC
Credits include The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, 1992, The River Wild, 1994, Boogie Nights, 1997, Tomorrow Never Dies, 1997, 8MM, 1999, Magnolia, 1999, Punch-Drunk Love, 2002, Good Night, and Good Luck, 2005 (Academy Award nomination), Syriana, 2005, Michael Clayton, 2007, There Will Be Blood, 2007 (Academy Award winner), The Burning Plain, 2009, Duplicity, 2009, Salt, 2010, and Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol, 2011.
Mauro Fiore, ASC
Credits include Get Carter, 2000, Lost Souls, 2000, Training Day, 2001, Ticker, 2002, Tears of the Sun, 2003, The Island, 2005, The Call, 2006, Smokin’ Aces, 2006, The Kingdom, 2007, Avatar, 2009 (Academy Award winner), The A-Team, 2010, and Real Steel, 2011.
Conrad Hall, ASC
Credits include The Professionals, 1966 (Academy Award nomination), In Cold Blood, 1967 (Academy Award nomination), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1969 (Academy Award winner), Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here, 1969, Fat City, 1972, The Day of the Locust, 1975 (Academy Award nomination), Tequila Sunrise, 1988 (Academy Award nomination), Searching for Bobby Fischer, 1993 (Academy Award nomination), A Civil Action, 1998 (Academy Award nomination), American Beauty, 1999 (Academy Award winner), and Road to Perdition, 2002 (Academy Award winner).
Richard Hart, gaffer
Worked with such cinematographers as John Alonzo, ASC, Jordan Cronenweth, ASC, Sven Nykvist, and Haskell Wexler, ASC. Credits as gaffer include Harold and Maude, 1971, Lady Sings the Blues, 1972, Sounder, 1972, Cutter’s Way, 1981, Blade Runner, 1982, and Best Friends, 1982. Hart also worked as a second unit cinematographer on Romancing the Stone, 1984, and Made in USA, 1987.
Adam Holender, ASC
Credits include Midnight Cowboy, 1969, The Panic in Needle Park, 1971, Man on a Swing, 1974, The Seduction of Joe Tynan, 1979, Promises in the Dark, 1979, Simon, 1980, The Idolmaker, 1980, To Kill a Priest, 1988, Fresh, 1994, Smoke, 1995, A Price Above Rubies, 1998, and Carlito’s Way: Rise to Power, 2005.
James Wong Howe, ASC
Among his nearly 120 feature credits, some of the most memorable are Air Force, 1943, Body and Soul, 1947, The Rose Tattoo, 1955 (Academy Award winner), Picnic, 1955, Sweet Smell of Success, 1957, The Old Man and the Sea, 1957, Hud, 1963 (Academy Award winner), Hombre, 1967, The Molly Maguires, 1970, and Funny Lady, 1974 (Academy Award nomination).
Slawomir Idziak, PSC
Credits include A Woman’s Decision, 1975, The Scar, 1976, Constans, 1980, A Year of the Quiet Sun, 1984, Paradigma, 1985, A Short Film About Killing, 1988, The Double Life of Veronica, 1991, Three Colors: Blue, 1993, Men with Guns, 1997, Gattaca, 1997, Proof of Life, 2000, Black Hawk Down, 2001 (Academy Award nomination), King Arthur, 2004, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 2007, and Battle of Warsaw 1920, 2011.
Robert Jason, gaffer
Worked with such cinematographers as Slawomir Idziak, PSC, Lajos Koltai, ASC, Edward Lachman, ASC, Dante Spinotti, ASC, and Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC. Credits as gaffer include Born Yesterday, 1993, Sliver, 1993, When a Man Loves a Woman, 1994, Nell, 1994, The Quick and the Dead, 1995, The Ghost and the Darkness, 1996, Gattaca, 1997, Playing by Heart, 1998, The
Virgin Suicides, 1999, Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her, 2000, The Missing, 2003, The Black Dahlia, 2006, Louis, 2010, and Bolden!, 2011.
Janusz Kaminski, cinematographer
Credits include Schindler’s List, 1993 (Academy Award winner), Jerry Maguire, 1996, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, 1997, Amistad, 1997 (Academy Award nomination), Saving Private Ryan, 1998 (Academy Award winner), A.I. Artificial Intelligence, 2001, Minority Report, 2002, Catch Me If You Can, 2002, The Terminal, 2004, War of the Worlds, 2005, Munich, 2005, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, 2007 (Academy Award nomination), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, 2008, Funny People, 2009, How Do You Know, 2010, and War Horse, 2011.
Ian Kincaid, gaffer
Worked with such cinematographers as Robert Richardson, ASC, Owen Roizman, ASC, Roberto Schaefer, ASC, and Newton Thomas Sigel, ASC. Credits as gaffer include 52 Pick-Up, 1986, The Dead, 1987, The Seventh Sign, 1988, The Doors, 1991, A Few Good Men, 1992, Heaven & Earth, 1993, Wyatt Earp, 1994, Casino, 1995, Mars Attacks!, 1996, The Horse Whisperer, 1998, Snow Falling on Cedars, 1999, Panic Room, 2002, Kill Bill: Vol. 1, 2003, Kill Bill: Vol. 2, 2004, The Aviator, 2004, The Good Shepherd, 2006, The Kite Runner, 2007, Inglourious Basterds, 2009, and Shutter Island, 2010.
Richard Kline, ASC
Credits include Camelot, 1967 (Academy Award nomination), The Boston Strangler, 1968, The Andromeda Strain, 1971, Soylent Green, 1973, The Terminal Man, 1974, King Kong, 1976 (Academy Award nomination), Star Trek: The Motion Picture, 1979, Body Heat, 1981, The Man with One Red Shoe, 1985, and Meet Wally Sparks, 1997.
Philip Lathrop, ASC
Credits include Days of Wine and Roses, 1962, The Cincinnati Kid, 1965, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, 1969, Portnoy’s Complaint, 1971, Airport ’77, 1977, The Driver, 1977, A Change of Seasons, 1980, Class Reunion, 1982, and Deadly Friend, 1986.
Len Levine, gaffer
Works most often with cinematographer Russell Carpenter, ASC. Credits as gaffer include Love Is Like That, 1992, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, 2000, Ten Tiny Love Stories, 2001, Shallow Hal, 2001, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, 2003, Monster-in-Law, 2005, 21, 2008, Streak, 2008, The Ugly Truth, 2009, Killers, 2010, and The Lincoln Lawyer, 2011.
Matthew Libatique, ASC
Credits include Protozoa, 1993, Pi, 1998, Requiem for a Dream, 2000, Phone Booth, 2002, Gothica, 2003, Never Die Alone, 2004, Inside Man, 2006, The Fountain, 2006, The Number 23, 2007, Iron Man, 2008, Miracle at St. Anna, 2008, Iron Man 2, 2010, Black Swan, 2010 (Academy Award nomination), and Cowboys & Aliens, 2011.
Alexander Mackendrick, director
Particularly known for the following films: Whisky Galore (released as Tight Little Island in U.S.), 1948, The Man in the White Suit, 1951, The Ladykillers, 1955, Sweet Smell of Success, 1957, and A High Wind in Jamaica, 1965.
M. David Mullen, ASC
Credits include Lipstick Camera, 1994, The Night Caller, 1998, Twin Falls Idaho, 1999, Jackpot, 2001, Northfork, 2003, A Foreign Affair, 2003, Shadowboxer, 2005, The Astronaut Farmer, 2006, Assassination of a High School President, 2008, Manure, 2009, Stay Cool, 2009, Jennifer’s Body, 2009, and Seven Days in Utopia, 2011.
Wally Pfister, ASC
Credits include Memento, 2000, Insomnia, 2002, Laurel Canyon, 2002, The Italian Job, 2003, Batman Begins, 2005 (Academy Award nomination), Slow Burn, 2005, The Prestige, 2006 (Academy Award nomination), The Dark Knight, 2008 (Academy Award nomination), and Inception, 2010 (Academy Award winner).
James Plannette, gaffer
Worked with such cinematographers as John Alonzo, ASC, Allen Daviau, ASC, Laszlo Kovacs, Sven Nykvist, Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC, Robert Elswit, ASC, John Toll, and director/cinematographer Steven Soderbergh. Credits as gaffer include Young Frankenstein, 1974, Inside Moves, 1980, Cannery Row, 1982, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982, Legends of the Fall, 1994, Braveheart, 1995, Magnolia, 1999, Ocean’s Eleven, 2001, Syriana, 2005, The Road, 2009, and The Adjustment Bureau, 2011.
Rodrigo Prieto, ASC
Credits include Amores Perros, 2000, Original Sin, 2001, Frida, 2002, 8 Mile, 2002, 25th Hour, 2002, Comandante, 2003, 21 Grams, 2003, Alexander, 2004, Brokeback Mountain, 2005 (Academy Award nomination), Babel, 2006, Lust, Caution, 2007, Broken Embraces, 2009, State of Play, 2009, Biutiful, 2009, and Water for Elephants, 2011.
Harris Savides, ASC
Credits include The Game, 1997, The Yards, 2000, Finding Forrester, 2000, Gerry, 2002, Elephant, 2003, Birth, 2004, Last Days, 2005, Zodiac, 2007, Margot at the Wedding, 2007, American Gangster, 2007, Milk, 2008, Whatever Works, 2009, Greenberg, 2010, Somewhere, 2010, and Restless, 2011.
Steven J. Scott, colorist
Credits include Van Helsing, 2004, The Village, 2004, The Interpreter, 2005, Inside Man, 2006, The Illusionist, 2006, Iron Man, 2008, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, 2008, Burn After Reading, 2008, Duplicity, 2009, Julie & Julia, 2009, Iron Man 2, 2010, The Tree of Life, 2011, and Cowboys & Aliens, 2011.
Dante Spinotti, ASC
Credits include Manhunter, 1986, Crimes of the Heart, 1986, Illegally Yours, 1988, Beaches, 1988, The Comfort of Strangers, 1990, True Colors, 1991, The Last of the Mohicans, 1992, Blink, 1994, Heat, 1995, L.A. Confidential, 1997 (Academy Award nomination), Goodbye Lover, 1998, The Insider, 1999 (Academy Award nomination), Wonder Boys, 2000, Bandits, 2001, After the Sunset, 2004, The Contract, 2006, Deception, 2008, and Public Enemies, 2009.
Haskell Wexler, ASC
Credits include Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, 1966 (Academy Award winner), The Loved One, 1966, In the Heat of the Night, 1967, The Thomas Crown Affair, 1968, Bound for Glory, 1976 (Academy Award winner), Coming Home, 1978, The Man Who Loved Women, 1983, Matewan, 1987 (Academy Award nomination), Colors, 1988, Blaze, 1989 (Academy Award nomination), The Secret of Roan Inish, 1994, and Silver City, 2004. Wexler’s directorial credits include Medium Cool, 1969, Latino, 1985, and several political documentaries.
Robert Wise, director
Among his dozens of films, some of the best known are West Side Story, 1961, The Sound of Music, 1965, The Andromeda Strain, 1971, The Hindenberg, 1975, Audrey Rose, 1977, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture, 1979.
Ralph Woolsey, ASC
Credits include Little Fauss and Big Halsy, 1970, The New Centurions, 1972, The Iceman Cometh, 1973, Lifeguard, 1976, Mother, Jugs, and Speed, 1976, The Great Santini, 1979, and Oh, God! Book II, 1980.
Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC
Credits include McCabe and Mrs. Miller, 1971, Deliverance, 1972, Images, 1972, The Long Goodbye, 1973, The Sugarland Express, 1974, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1977 (Academy Award winner), The Deer Hunter, 1978 (Academy Award nomination), The Rose, 1979, Blow Out, 1981, The River, 1984 (Academy Award nomination), Heaven’s Gate, 1980, The Witches of Eastwick, 1987, Sliver, 1993, The Black Dahlia, 2006 (Academy Award nomination), Cassandra’s Dream, 2007, and Bolden!, 2011.
Glossary
alternating current (AC). Electrical current that changes polarity at regular intervals.
ambient light. The general light surrounding the subject, filling in the shadows, generally of a soft, low-contrast quality and often from sources of light reflecting off objects in the space.
answer print (trial composite print). A print used to identify scenes or shots that require further correction in color, density, and sound quality. The final composite print has all the corrections accomplished.
ASA speed (now exposure index, EI). Film sensitivity to light as rated in numbers; established originally by the American Standards Association.
ASC. American Society of Cinematographers.
attenuator. A filter with a continuous gradual change from a specific density to clear glass, or from heavier to lighter density. Sometimes used to designate a graduated filter.
automated lights, intelligent lights. Moving lights usually operated through a lighting control console. They can be programmed for panning, tilting, focusing of the beam, and various color changes.
baby spot. Focusable studio lamp with a F
resnel lens and a 500-watt to 1000-watt bulb.
backing. Painted or photographed background used behind set windows and doors.
balloon light. A self-supporting light mounted inside a helium balloon, used as a space light for exterior and interior lighting. Particularly useful in old historical buildings where care has to be taken with walls and ceilings.
barndoor. Two or four metal shields hinged in front of a lamp to limit and shape the pattern of light.
Bayer filter. A type of color filter array (CFA) where red, green, and blue filters placed over individual photosites on a sensor are arranged in a mosaic pattern that is 50 percent green, 25 percent red, and 25 percent blue. Invented by Bryce E. Bayer of Eastman Kodak using the notion that the human eye was more sensitive to luminance differences than chrominance differences, and that cones in the eye, used during daylight when luminance was high, were more sensitive to green light. A “demosaic algorithm” has to be used to process the raw data from a sensor with a Bayer filter into color. Bayer filters are the most common CFA used for digital cameras, both still and motion. Other types include the RGB-striped pattern used in cameras such as the Panavision Genesis and Sony F35. There is also a Bayer-type CFA that has been rotated 45 degrees called ClearVid and used in the Sony F65. Cameras that use three sensors and a prism block to split and then filter the light don’t need demosaic processing into RGB; however, due to the size of the prism block and space needed for three sensors, the two-third inch sensor size is the largest offered in digital cameras.