JOHN ALONZO

GREAT CINEMATOGRAPHERS

JOHN ALONZO

Born: 12 June 1934, Dallas, Texas, USA, as John A. Alonzo, son of migrant workers from Mexico. Spent his early childhood in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Died: 13 March 2001, Beverly Hills, Calif., USA.

Career: In the early 1950s worked as camera pusher, c.op and dir at WFAA-TV, a NBC affiliate in Dallas. Moved to Los Angeles in 1956 and hosted a children's show on local tv which featured Señor Turtle, a character he had created for a show in Dallas. When the show was cancelled after a short run, he turned to acting. Became a doc cameraman for Wolper Productions. Went into feature films as c.asst with doph Winton Hoch and Gene Polito, but got his big break from James Wong Howe, who made him his co-c.op on 'Seconds'. Prod/dir Roger Corman gave him his first feature credit as doph with 'Bloody Mama'.

Ph commercials.

Debut as director in October 1977 with 'FM/Citizens' Band'.

Was a member of the ASC since November 1972.

Appeared in the doc's 'Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography' [1991] & 'The Man Who Shot Chinatown: The Life and Work of John A. Alonzo' [2006, Axel Schill; ph: Volker Gläser; 78m; see clip below].

Awards: 'Oscar' AA nom [1975] & BAFTA Film Award nom [1975] for 'Chinatown'; 'Emmy' Award nom [1994] for 'World War II: When Lions Roared' [Part II]; 'Emmy' Award nom [1999] for 'Lansky'; 'Emmy' Award [2000; shared] for 'Fail Safe'.

John Galt: John, your credits include over 50 feature films. Today I would like to talk to you about your first digital high definition drama shoot ['World War II: When Lions Roared'].

John Alonzo: Forget about the credits, what's important is this 'new toy', as I call it. The HDC-500 High Definition Camera is possibly the most exciting camera I've ever used. I know it sounds cliché, but to me it really is exciting.

I love the format. It's not much different from shooting 2.35 or 1.85. I had fun applying motion picture style lighting to this system. It was like going back to school again. It certainly provides a broader canvas for the artist, and, of course, the instant gratification wherein you can see the crystal clear picture on a monitor as you line up the shot. It's like having a light meter and laboratory right there on screen. I found I had several new colleagues that I normally wouldn't have on film - namely, a systems engineer, a video technician and a tape operator.

I first worked with this camera over a year and a half ago in Orlando, Florida. Sony was kind enough to invite me to play with it. Not knowing anything about it and not knowing any better for that matter, I pushed the camera to its limits. I used it very much like a movie camera. I exposed it, underexposed it and discovered that it could do some wonderful things that film can't do. [...] I think among a lot of my colleagues, there has always been some apprehension with video systems. Electronic engineering is so foreign to us and complex that we're intimidated. Here is a system that has the equivalent exposure index of 500 to 2000 - a tremendous speed. So I said to myself "with this new tool, how or what should I prepare for?" You would expect me to say that I prepared by looking at a lot of photographs and research on World War II - that I tested lenses, but I didn't do that. Instead, I picked everyone's brain in Sony's world of engineering. Not just to find out why certain thinks work in this camera, but why the electronics do what they do - mostly to find out where your men and their minds were in respect to the aesthetics and the kind of lighting that should be done.

Now to make me feel a little more comfortable, I did ask Sony to give us a follow focus at the lens which is more traditional with a movie camera - although I do like the idea that the assistant can also go back to the truck and follow focus from the truck. [...]

Sometimes in confined areas, it was awkward for our assistant to follow focus. So following focus from the truck camera was terrific. We gave the finder a position on the side as well as on top, which made a big difference to the camera operator. Another advantage over an optical viewfinder is that you don't have your head attached to an eyepiece. It gives you a lot more freedom to see beyond and around as you're operating the camera. We also have a finder to which you may attach yourself if you needed to. Another modification was the use of matte boxes for filtration - although I soon discovered I didn't need much filtration. I tested ultra-cons. We had some pro-mists, I think we used a warm pro-mist once or twice. A lot of thought went into this, and I kept saying to myself, "Wait a minute. If this is the sharpest most resolved image today, then why am I degrading it? Does the story call for it?" If the story called for us to diffuse it and muddy it up and make it sort of documentary or romantic, whatever the word is, then we probably shouldn't be using this system. [...] I have a theory. I don't really think that the world of film and high definition are going to conflict for a long time, if ever. I don't think one replaces the other. They each have their purpose for specific kind of stories.

Galt: One of the reasons I believe that they decided to use this technology was that there would be some fairly elaborate blue screen and motion control photography. Normally, that kind of process is handled by a specialist. The first unit sort of steps back; but in this case, you did all of the blue screen lighting and you - with the exception of the motion control specialist - and your normal crew did everything.

Alonzo: That's something that my colleagues should be aware of. That is the total control that the director of photography has over that aspect of a project when using high def. When we had the plate to play back to, we were able to balance the picture so perfectly that the producer had no questions about it. It was exactly what it was going to look like. On film, when you do blue screen, it's more complicated. Usually, you have a visual effects supervisor there whose total concentration is strictly on the blue screen, and the cameraman loses a bit of control. [From interview with John Galt, Director of Creative Services Sony High Definition Center, in the Summer 1994 issue of 'Operating Cameraman'.]

Obituary: When the director Roman Polanski replaced the 66-year-old cinematographer Stanley Cortez with 40-year-old John Alonzo on 'Chinatown', it reflected a change in Hollywood in the 1970s. Polanski found the old-guard methods of Cortez - renowned for having photographed 'The Magnificent Ambersons' and 'The Night of the Hunter' - much too slow and meticulous.

Alonzo, who has died aged 66, had worked in television. His first feature as cinematographer had been Roger Corman's low-budget 'Bloody Mama' [1969], and he knew how to work quickly under pressure. He was one of the new breed of filmmakers, willing to adapt to new techniques and more location filming.

On 'Chinatown', he had to shoot in color, but in a way that often suggested monochrome. Afterwards, he recalled: "Roman said, 'Johnny, please no diffusion on the lens; I don't want a Hollywood look.' So I borrowed an idea that the great Jimmy Wong Howe had told me about. I used Chinese tracing paper to shift the light and color, so that it turned beige and gold. Roman liked it." Alonzo was Oscar-nominated for his work on Polanski's neo-noir masterpiece. His use of soft focus and saturated color to convey the look of 1930s Los Angeles was much imitated.

Born in Dallas, of Mexican parents, Alonzo spent much of his childhood in Mexico, and first appeared in the movies in the bit part of a peasant in 'The Magnificent Seven'. He continued to play Latino stereotypes in other films, before deciding to work behind the camera.

Aside from James Wong Howe, his mentor was director Martin Ritt, with whom he worked on seven pictures, including 'Conrack' and 'Norma Rae'. However, the liberal and literal-minded Ritt was not a visual stylist, and Alonzo's contribution was more distinctive on atmospheric thrillers such as Dick Richards's 'Farewell, My Lovely' and Brian De Palma's 'Scarface'.

Last year, Alonzo, who always kept abreast of the times, was referring to digital film-making as "a new partner, a new tool, a new paint brush, a new everything." As cinematographer on the excellent TV movie 'Fail Safe' [1999], he chose to shoot in a digital medium because, "there are things that cannot be done in a film lab, things that mathematics can't do, but digital can. You can isolate a frame, change the color if you want, paint it differently and have the results right there to see."

Alonzo, who is survived by his wife Jan Murray, was the first Mexican-American to be admitted to the American Society of Cinematographers. [By Ronald Bergan in 'The Guardian', Wednesday 9 May 2001.]

FILMS
1964	The Legend of Jimmy Blue Eyes [Robert Clouse] c; short/22m
1967	San Sebastian 1746 in 1968 [Floyd L. Peterson] c; doc/10m
1968	The Moviemakers [Jay Anson] c; doc/7m

1969	Bloody Mama [Roger Corman] c
1970	[Joe Cocker:] Mad Dogs & Englishmen [Robert Abel, Pierre Adidge & Sid Levin] MegaScope/c; concert film/117m; co-addph; ph: David Myers; filmed 27 & 28 March (New York)
1970	Vanishing Point [Richard Sarafian] c
1970	Get to Know Your Rabbit [Brian De Palma] c
1971	Harold and Maude [Hal Ashby] c; 'Haskell Wexler got me the job. All Hal told me was that all the sequences with Harold in his home should have a certain sort of sterility; sort of clear, clean, pure, no diffusion. The angles were to be more symmetrical; sort of meat and potatoes. And every time we ended up with Maud, it would have a slight craziness to it, just a little kookiness, a little tip [of the camera] up, a little tip down, a little diffusion.' *
1971	Sounder [Martin Ritt] p/c; 'The only difficult thing about 'Sounder' was the beginning; the coon chase. And I called Jimmy Wong Howe on that [he was very sick at the time]. And I said, 'My idea is that we shouldn't shoot it day-for-night just in order to see. Why not shoot it at night and light it, but instead of lighting it from a high angle, light it from very low angles; just straight shots, light through the trees. Make it graphic because it is the beginning of the picture and you want to set up a certain pace to it. He agreed with me: 'Tell Marty I said so and if he gives you any trouble, you tell him that's the way it should be done.' *
1972	Lady Sings the Blues [Sidney J. Furie] p/c
1972	Wattstax [Mel Stuart] 16mm-35bu/c; mus doc/103m; concert ph (doph); ph: Roderick Young, Larry Clark, José Mignone & Robert Marks; filmed 20 August (Los Angeles); restored in 2003
1972	Pete 'n' Tillie [Martin Ritt] p/c
1972	Hit! [Sidney J. Furie] p/c
1973	The Naked Ape [Donald Driver] c
1973	Conrack [Martin Ritt] p/c

[Right] with dir Roman Polanski - "Chinatown"

1973	Chinatown [Roman Polanski] p/c; took over from doph Stanley Cortez after 1 week; 'The first cameraman hired was Stanley Cortez. And Roman hired Stanley because he had shot 'The Magnificent Ambersons'. They had a big artistic difference, the two of them. Cortez did not want to photograph Faye Dunaway without diffusion and without the proper lighting, and Roman didn't want that. He wanted to put on film a sort of natural but somber kind of look. And Dick Sylbert had his act together; those sets were brilliant. And he had indulged the cameraman, given him places to put giant lights and all of that. It was just a big difference of opinion and so they fired Cortez. And I was called in immediately, like overnight. [...] I said [to Roman Polanski], "In the anamorphic aspect ratio, there's a workhorse lens called the 40mm lens. To me the 40mm lens is the best reproduction of what the human being perceives as correct perspective. If we shoot the picture, as much as possible, with a 40mm lens, we'll have really a reproduction of the sets the way they are."' *
1974	[Jacqueline Susann's] Once Is Not Enough [Guy Green] p/c
1974	The Fortune/Spite and Malice [Mike Nichols] p/c
1975	Farewell, My Lovely [Dick Richards] c
*1975*	Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York [Sidney J. Furie] scheduled as doph, but film was ph by Donald M. Morgan
1975	I Will, I Will… for Now [Norman Panama] p/c
1975	The Bad News Bears [Michael Ritchie] c
1976	Black Sunday [John Frankenheimer] p/c
1976	Close Encounters of the Third Kind [Steven Spielberg] p/c; co-addph; ph: Vilmos Zsigmond
1976	Casey's Shadow [Martin Ritt] p/c

1977	Which Way Is Up? [Michael Schultz] c; adapted from 'Mimì metallurgico ferito nell'onore/The Seduction of Mimi' (1971, Lina Wertmüller; ph: Dario Di Palma)
1977	Beyond Reason/Mati [Telly Savalas] c; addph: Howard Anderson III
1977	[Neil Simon's] The Cheap Detective [Robert Moore] p/c
1978	Norma Rae [Martin Ritt] p/c
1979	Tom Horn [William Wiard] p/c
1980	Back Roads [Martin Ritt] p/c
1980	Zorro, the Gay Blade [Peter Medak] c
1982	Blue Thunder [John Badham] p/c; addph: Thomas Del Ruth; aph: Frank Holgate
1982	Cross Creek [Martin Ritt] c

With dir Brian De Palma [right] - "Scarface"

1982	Scarface [Brian De Palma] p/c
*1983*	The Cotton Club [Francis Coppola] scheduled as doph, but replaced by Stephen Goldblatt when dir Francis Coppola came onboard
1984	Terror in the Aisles/Time for Terror [Andrew Kuehn] b&w-c; comp film/85m; ph host/hostess seq
1984	Runaway [Michael Crichton] p/c; 2uc: Peter Donen
1984	Out of Control [Allan Holzman] c; addph: Michael Michaud
1985	Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling [Richard Pryor] s35/c; Peoria ph: William Birch
1985	50 Years of Action! [Douglass M. Stewart Jr.] 16mm/c; doc/60m; cph: Caleb Deschanel & Charles Clifton; addph: James Mathers
1985	Nothing in Common [Garry Marshall] s35/c; 2uc Chicago: William Birch
1987	Overboard [Garry Marshall] c
1987	Real Men [Dennis Feldman] c
1987	Physical Evidence [Michael Crichton] c
1988	Steel Magnolias [Herbert Ross] c
1989	Internal Affairs [Mike Figgis] c; addph: Curtis Clark; 2uc: Michael Ferris
1989	The Guardian [William Friedkin (tv-version dir by 'Alan Smithee')] c
1990	Navy SEALS [Lewis Teague] c; 2uc: Bob Carmichael & Michael Ferris; aph: Frank Holgate; uwph: Peter Romano
1991	Clifford [Paul Flaherty] c; 2uc: Michael Ferris; spph: David M. Walsh; vfx ph: Dennis Skotak; released in 1994
1991	HouseSitter [Frank Oz] c
1992	Cool World [Ralph Bakshi] c; live action + anim
1992	The Meteor Man [: An Urban Fairy Tale] [Robert Townsend] c; vfx ph: Peter Daulton; key efx ph: Martin Rosenberg
*1994*	Anne of the Spanish Main [?] scheduled to start shooting in March; status unknown

[Center] with Whoopi Goldberg & Malcolm McDowell

"Star Trek: Generations"

1994	Star Trek: Generations [David Carson] p/c; miniature crash seq ph: Kim Marks
*1995*	Invisible Kids [Iren Koster] scheduled to start shooting in February; filmed in 2003 by ph Adolfo Bartoli
1995	The Grass Harp [Charles Matthau] c
*1996*	Sandblast [David Carson] in development for April start; production shelved
1997	Letters from a Killer [David Carson] c; aph: Stan McClain
1999	The Dancing Cow [Taz Goldstein] c; short/21m
1999	The Prime Gig [Gregory Mosher] p/c
2000	Deuces Wild [Scott Kalvert] p/c; in memory of John Alonzo
* From interview in 'Masters of Light' by Dennis Schaefer & Larry Salvato, 1984.

for ABC-tv of Peggy Lee [Nick Cominos] special/60m & McCowan] 125-part series, 1971-76 0">Visions…/Visions Rosemary's Baby/Rosemary's Baby II Secret Life of Susie Hanson Special Olympics ph: Haskell Wexler by Farhad Mann] 9-part series, 1988-89; other ph: There Were Giants tvm/HD (Sony HDC-500); 115m & 194m 0">Lansky [John McNaughton] tvm (Sony); broadcast live on CBS-tv few live dramas on American so-called Golden Age in the 1950s and 1960s

TELEVISION
1965	Pro Football: Mayhem on a Sunday Afternoon [William Friedkin] doc/b&w/52m/16mm; 2uc; ph: Vilis Lapenieks, James Crabe, David Blewitt, a.o.
1965	The Big Land [David Vowell] doc/60m; co-addph; ph: Stanley Lazan
1965	Revolution in Our Time [David Vowell] doc/60m; cph: Ted Jones, Anthony Jacalone & David Blewitt
1966	The World of Animals [ep 'It's a Dog's World' dir by Joseph L. Scanlan & Alan Landsburg] 3-part doc series, 1966-68; cph: Vilis Lapenieks & David Blewitt
1967	Do Blondes Have More Fun? [Mel Ferber] doc/60m; cph: Vilis Lapenieks, Stanley Lazan & Kenneth Van Sickle
1967	A Nation of Immigrants [Robert Abel, Mel Stuart & Aram Boyajian] doc/b&w/60m; co-addph; ph: Adam Giffard & Vilis Lapenieks
1967	Grizzly! [Irwin Rosten] doc/51m; addph: Mindaugis Bagdon, Stanley Lazan, Gene Peterson, a.o.; a 'National Geographic Special'
1967	Winged World [prod: Walon Green & Jeff Myrow] doc/?m; co-addph; ph: Heinz Sielmann; a 'National Geographic Special'
1967	The World of Animals [ep 'The World of Horses' dir by Joseph L. Scanlan] doc/60m; co-addph; ph: Dieter Perschke; see 1966
1967	The World of Animals [ep 'Big Cats, Little Cats' dir by Bud Wiser] doc/60m; cph: J. Barry Herron, William (= Vilmos) Zsigmond, David Blewitt, Robert Grant & Fred Kaplan; see 1966
1968	Sophia: A Self-Portrait [Robert Abel & Mel Stuart] doc/52m; cph: Roberto Gerardi
1968	The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau [ep 'Search in the Deep' dir by Patrick Watson & 'Whales' dir by ?] doc series, 1966-73; co-c.op; ph: Michel Deloire (uwph) & Jeri Sopanen
1968	Reptiles and Amphibians [Walon Green & Heinz Sielmann] doc/52m; co-addph; ph: H. Sielmann; a 'National Geographic Special'
1968	On Location with David L. [William Kronick]
1968	The Racers: Craig and Lee Breedlove [Andy Sidaris] doc/60m;
1968	Australia: The Timeless Land [John Alonzo] doc/52m; a 'National Geographic Special'
1969	Miss Peggy Lee/The World 90m; for NET-tv
1970	Cannon [pilot dir by George
1971	Revenge/There Once Was a Woman [Jud Taylor] tvm
1972	1972	The Voyage of the Yes [Lee H. Katzin] tvm
1973	Guess Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? [Theodore Flicker] tvm
1976	Look What's Happened to [Sam O'Steen] tvm
1978	Champions: A Love Story [John Alonzo] tvm
1979	Portrait of a Stripper/The [John Alonzo] tvm
1979	Belle Starr [John Alonzo] tvm
1980	Blinded by the Light [John Alonzo] tvm
1981	The Kid from Nowhere [Beau Bridges] tvm;
1988	Roots: The Gift [Kevin Hooks] tvm
1988	Knightwatch/On the Streets [pilot dir Francis Kenny
1994	World War II: When Lions Roared/Then [Joseph Sargent] 2-part
1998	1999	Fail Safe [Stephen Frears] tvm/b&w/HD and was one of the television since its Wolper's 'The Devil's Brigade' promotional doc/30m; for ABC-tv

MISCELLANEOUS
1965	Seconds [John Frankenheimer] uncred co-c.op; ph: James Wong Howe

FILMS & TELEVISION AS DIRECTOR
1968	Australia: The Timeless Land [+ ph] see Television

[Left] with Michael Brandon - "FM" - photo Thys Ockersen Archive

1977	FM/Citizens' Band [feature] ph: David Myers
1978	Champions: A Love Story [+ ph] see Television
1979	Portrait of a Stripper/The Secret Life of Susie Hanson [+ ph] see Television
1979	Belle Starr [+ ph] see Television
1980	Blinded by the Light [+ ph] see Television

FILMS & TELEVISION AS ACTOR
1958	The Gun Runners/Gunrunners [Don Siegel] uncred; ph: Hal Mohr
1958	Ballad for a Bad Man [Jerry Hopper] ep #12 tv-series 'Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse', 1958-60; 1st season, 1958-59; ph: Floyd Crosby
1958	Dragnet/Badge 714 [ep #246 'The Big Border' dir by Jack Webb] 276-part tv-series, 1951-59; 8th season, 1958-59; as John Alonso; ph: ?
1959	Border Patrol [ep #5 'A Bundle of Dope' dir by D. Ross Lederman] 39-part tv-series; ph: Frank V. Phillips
1959	Terror at Black Falls/Ordeal at Dry Red [Richard Sarafian] ph: Floyd Crosby
1959	Perry Mason [ep #83 'The Case of the Prudent Prosecutor' dir by Robert Ellis Miller] 271-part tv-series, 1957-66; 3rd season, 1959-60; ph: Frank Redman
1959	The Crowded Sky [Joseph Pevney] uncred; ph: Harry Stradling Sr.

As Miguel in "The Magnificent Seven" - [Thanks to Volker Gläser]

1960	The Magnificent Seven [John Sturges] as John Alonso; ph: Charles Lang Jr.
1960	The Twilight Zone [ep #48 'Dust' dir by Douglas Heyes] 156-part tv-series, 1959-64; 2nd season, 1960-61; ph: George T. Clemens
1961	Route 66 [ep #23 'Most Vanquished, Most Victorious' dir by William Dario Faralla] 116-part tv-series, 1960-64; 1st season, 1960-61; ph: Jack A. Marta
1961	Bronco [ep #50 'Guns of the Lawless' dir by Richard C. Sarafian] 68-part tv-series, 1958-62; 3rd season, 1960-61; ph: ?
1961	Cheyenne [ep #80 'Massacre at Gunsight Pass' dir by Robert T. Sparr] 108-part tv-series, 1955-62; 5th season, 1960-61; ph: Willard Van der Veer
1961	Cheyenne [ep #82 'Winchester Quarantine' dir by Paul Landres] 6th season, 1961-62; ph: Bert Glennon; see above
1961	The Long Rope [William Witney] ph: Kay Norton
1961	Susan Slade [Delmer Daves] ph: Lucien Ballard

As Carlos in "Hand of Death"

1961	Hand of Death/Five Fingers of Death [Gene Nelson] ph: Floyd Crosby
1962	Ripcord [ep #28 'Top Secret' dir by Franklin Adreon] 76-part tv-series, 1961-63; 1st season, 1961-62; ph: Monroe Askins (?)
1962	The Gallant Men [ep #3 'And Cain Cried Out' dir by Charles Rondeau (CR) & #24 'The Crucible' dir by CR] 26-part tv-series, 1962-63
1962	Combat! [ep #9 'Cat and Mouse' dir by Robert Altman (RA) & #12 'The Prisoner' dir by RA] 152-part tv-series; 1st season, 1962-63; ph: Robert B. Hauser
1963	77 Sunset Strip [ep #174 'The Man Who Wasn't There' dir by Paul Landres] 206-part tv-series, 1958-64; 5th season, 1962-63; ph: Louis Jennings
1963	Temple Houston [ep #22 'Last Full Moon' dir by Leslie H. Martinson] 26-part tv-series, 1963-64
1963	Kraft Suspense Theatre [ep #8 'The Long, Lost Life of Edward Smalley' dir by Robert Altman (RA) & #21 'Once Upon a Savage Night/Nightmare in Chicago' dir by RA] 60-part tv-series, 1963-65; 1st season, 1963-64; ph: William Margulies (#8) & Bud Thackery (#21)
1964	Destry [ep #9 'Ride to Rio Verde' dir by Frank Baur] 13-part tv-series, 1964
1964	The Alfred Hitchcock Hour [ep #56 'The Gentleman Caller' dir by Joseph M. Newman] 93-part tv-series, 1962-65; 2nd season, 1963-64; ph: Richard L. Rawlings
1964	Invitation to a Gunfighter [Richard Wilson] ph: Joe MacDonald
1966	The Wild Wild West [ep #30 'The Night of the Golden Cobra' dir by Irving J. Moore & #51 'The Night of the Surreal McCoy' dir by Alan Crosland Jr.] 104-part tv-series, 1965-69; 2nd season, 1966-67; ph: Ted Voightlander
1966	Bewitched [ep #96 'Art for Sam's Sake' dir by William Asher] 252-part tv-series, 1964-72; 3rd season, 1966-67
1969	Bracken's World [ep #14 'The Chase Sequence' dir by James Neilson] 41-part tv-series, 1969-70; 1st season, 1969-70; ph: William Cronjager