IEC
#3: With dir Brett Ratner [left] - "Money Talks" [1996]
RUSSELL CARPENTER ASC
Born: 9 December 1950, Van Nuys, CA, USA, as Russell Paul Carpenter.
Education: San Diego State University [English].
Career: While still a student he began ph 16mm footage for KPBS, a public tv-station in San Diego. He subsequently filmed doc's for KOCE, a public tv-station in Costa Mesa, California.
'I met a director who desperately wanted to stop edifying people and just scare the hell out of them. He convinced a local furniture outlet czar to bankroll a horror film while promising the role of a zombie to the banker's wife. We were both stunned when the movie actually got released in theaters. Blessed with false hope, I moved up to Los Angeles and proceeded to both starve and succumb to the terrors of L.A. The competition was daunting and I was terrified of calling people on the phone. A number of temporary jobs outside the film business included pasting labels on bottles of plant vitamins by hand, handing out samples of cigarettes in supermarkets, and installing newspaper racks at night in downtown L.A. These experiences taught me to buck up and redouble my efforts. Very gradually I moved into feature work, doing no-budget, low budget, and finally fairly well financed non-union features. Through a serendipitous series of connections, I was suggested to the director James Cameron, who was looking for a good non-union cinematographer to shoot a low budget picture he wanted to direct. Our meetings went well, but that picture ['The Crowded Room'] collapsed due to conflicts over authorship rights. A year later, I was working in New Orleans with John Woo and received a call from Jim's producer, who told me Jim Cameron had me in mind for an upcoming project. The only picture that was publicized at that time was a huge Arnold Schwarzenegger film called 'True Lies'.' [From Russell Carpenter's website.]
Ph commercials dir by Hank Perlman, Bryan Buckley, John O'Hagan, a.o.
Also active as still ph.
Member of the ASC since 1995.
Appeared in the doc's "The Making of 'Charlie's Angels'" [2000, Jeffrey Schwarz], 'Getting G'd Up' [2000, Jeffrey Schwarz] & 'Cinematographer Style' [2005, Jon Fauer; ph: J. Fauer, Jeff Laszlo, Brian Heller & David Morgan].
Awards: 'Emmy' Award [San Diego Chapter] [1986] for 'The Lemon Grove Incident'; ASC Film Award [1997], 'Oscar' AA [1998], BAFTA Film Award nom [1998], BSC Award nom [1998], CFCA Award [1998] & Golden Satellite Award nom [1998] for 'Titanic'; ASC Lifetime Achievement Award [2018].
Website: Russell Carpenter
| FILMS | |
|---|---|
|
1982 |
Sole Survivor [Thom Eberhardt] c |
|
1983 |
The Wizard of Speed and Time [Mike Jittlov] c; filmed 1983-86; based on Jittlov's short film (1979; ph: Deven Chierighino); + small part |
|
1984 |
Critters [Stephen Herek] c; addph; ph: Tim Suhrstedt |
|
1986 |
Lady in White/The Mystery of the Lady in White [Frank LaLoggia] c; 2uc: Daryn Okada, Jeff Jur, M. Todd Henry & Thomas Grubbs; spec vfx ph: John Huneck |
|
1987 |
Cameron's Closet [Armand Mastroianni] c; addph: Paul Edwards, Alan McFarland & C. Dennis Mayer |
|
1987 |
Critters 2 [: The Main Course] [Mick Garris] c; 2uc: Greg Gardiner |
|
1988 |
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master [Renny Harlin] c; 3uc; ph: Steven Fierberg |
|
1988 |
Puppet Master [David Schmoeller] c; addph; ph: Sergio Salvati |
|
1989 |
A Nightmare on Elm Street [5]: The Dream Child [Stephen Hopkins] c; 2uc; ph: Peter Levy |
|
1989 |
Redlands [Joan Taylor] c; short/28m |
|
1989 |
Death Warrant [Deran Sarafian] c |
|
1989 |
Solar Crisis/Starfire/Crisis 2050/Kuraishisu niju-goju nen [Alan Smithee (= Richard Sarafian)] p/c; addph: Steven Finestone; special solar imaging ph: Peter Parks |
|
1990 |
The Perfect Weapon [Mark DiSalle] c |
|
1991 |
The Lawnmower Man [Brett Leonard] c; 2uc: Marty Collins |
|
1992 |
Pet Sematary II [Mary Lambert] c; 2uc: Tony Cutrono (as Tony Cutrano) |
|
1992 |
Hard Target [John Woo] c; 2uc: Billy Bragg; aph: Frank Holgate |
|
1993 |
True Lies [James Cameron] s35/c; uncred snow unit ph: Shelly Johnson; uwph: Pete Romano; aph: David L. Butler; filmed 1993-94; remake of 'La totale!' (1991, Claude Zidi; ph: Jean-Jacques Tarbès) |
|
1994 |
The Indian in the Cupboard [Frank Oz] c; vfx & bluescreen ph: Chuck Schuman |
|
1995 |
Terminator 2 3-D [: Battle Across Time] [James Cameron] 70mm/c; Universal Studio Attraction/12m; 3-D ph: Peter Anderson |
|
1996 |
Money Talks [Brett Ratner] s35/c; cph: Robert Primes; 2uc: Russ Lyster & Tony Cutrono |
|
1996 |
[Michael Jackson's] Ghosts [Stan Winston] c; 40m; creative cons: Mikael Salomon |
|
1996 |
Titanic [James Cameron] s35/c; 2uc: Roy Unger, John Stephens & Aaron Schneider; Halifax ph: Caleb Deschanel; deep dive ph: James Cameron; R. Carpenter replaced 1st unit ph Caleb Deschanel in September 1996 after the Halifax shoot; filmed 1996-97 |
|
1997 |
The Negotiator [F. Gary Gray] s35/c; 2uc (Los Angeles): Gary Capo; aph (Chicago): Phil Pastuhov |
|
2000 |
Charlie's Angels [McG (= Joseph McGinty Nichol)] s35/c; 2uc: Jonathan Taylor; aph: Dwayne McClintock |
|
2001 |
Shallow Hal [Bobby & Peter Farrelly] s35/c; 2uc: Bob Newcomb |
|
2002 |
The Human Stain [Robert Benton] s35/c; addph; ph: Jean-Yves Escoffier |
|
2002 |
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle [McG (= Joseph McGinty Nichol)] s35/c; 2uc: Jonathan Taylor; addph: Jack Garrett |
|
2003 |
Noel [Chazz Palminteri (replaced Antonia Bird)] s35/c |
|
2004 |
Monster-in-Law [Robert Luketic] s35/c; aph: Dwayne McClintock |
|
2005 |
Awake [Joby Harold] s35/c |
[Behind camera] - "Lucifer"
|
2006 |
Lucifer [Ray Griggs] c; short/8m; prod to raise money needed to film the feature length movie |
|
2007 |
21 [Robert Luketic] HD (Genesis)+s35-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema)/c; aph: Steve Koster |
|
2007 |
Hereafter [Michael Patwin] pre-production; scheduled to start in April; now scheduled to start in 2009; status unknown |
|
2008 |
The Ugly Truth [Robert Luketic] s35 (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Philip Hurn |
"Locker 13"
|
2008 |
Locker 13 [seg 'Down and Out' dir by Matthew Mebane] RED One/c; 7 seg; 2uc: Kevin McKnight; other ph: Adam Devaney ('The Other Side' dir by Donovan Montierth), Webb Pickersgill ('The Byzantine Order' dir by Bruce Dellis), Frank Di Bugnara ('Apache Tears' dir by Adam Montierth), Matt Boyd ('The Author' dir by Jason Marsden), a.o. |
|
2009 |
Killers [Robert Luketic] HD (ARRI D-21/Hawk Scope)-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Kevin McKnight; aph: John Marzano & John Trapman; uwph: Peter Zuccarini |
|
2010 |
A Little Bit of Heaven/Earthbound [Nicole Kassell] s35 (+ D-Cinema)/c; aph: John Trapman |
|
2010 |
This Means War [McG (= Joseph McGinty Nichol)] s35 (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Gary Capo & Christopher Duskin; addph: Greg Baldi; aph: John Trapman & Phil Pastuhov |
|
2011 |
Probability [Raj Mohanty] pre-production; status unknown |
|
2012 |
jOBS/Jobs [Joshua Michael Stern] HD (ARRI ALEXA)-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema)/c; ph USA seq; ph India seq: Aseem Bajaj; aph 2u (Palo Alto): Phil Pastuhov |
|
2013 |
Beyond the Reach/The Reach [Jean-Baptiste Léonetti] HD/c |
|
2013 |
Sins of the Father [Rachel Howard] HD (Canon C300 & C500)/c; short/10m; addph: Omar Kenji Cruz; + co-prod |
With dir Leena Yadav - "Parched" - photo by Aseem Bajaj
|
2014 |
Parched [Leena Yadav] HD/c; + co-exec prod |
|
2014 |
Ant-Man [Peyton Reed] HD (ARRI ALEXA M & XT Plus + Phantom Flex4K)-to-35mm (+ D-Cinema [also 3-D version])/c; 2uc: John Mahaffie (+ 2ud) & (San Francisco) Bob Finley III; aph: David B. Nowell (San Francisco) & Michael Kelem (Georgia); macro ph: Rebecca Baehler |
|
2015 |
The Final Adventure of John & Eleanor Greene [Matthew Mebane & Maria White] HD/c; short/13m; 2uc: Alan Newcomb |
|
2016 |
xXx: Return of Xander Cage [D.J. Caruso] HD (ARRI ALEXA XT Plus & Mini)-to-D-Cinema (scope)/c; 2uc: David Emmerichs; aph (Dominican Republic): Steve Koster; uwph (Dominican Republic): Pete Zuccarini & Don King |
|
2016 |
The Calling - A Portrait of Life in the High Country [Tyler Stableford] HD (Canon EOS C700)/c; comm short/4m; addph: T. Stableford; for Canon USA (first US based EOS C700 shoot) |
|
2017 |
Avatar 2 [James Cameron] Red Weapon Dragon VistaVision-to-D-Cinema (also 3-D version)/c; filmed 2017-18 |
|
2017 |
Avatar 3 [James Cameron] c; filmed back-to-back with 'Avatar 2' |
| TELEVISION & INTERNET | |
|---|---|
|
1985 |
The Lemon Grove Incident [Frank Christopher] docudrama/58m; for KPBS-tv |
|
1986 |
The La Jolla Chamber Orchestra: Haydn's 'Bird' Concerto [?] concert film/?m |
|
1987 |
Rolling Stone Presents Twenty Years of Rock & Roll [Malcolm Leo] mus doc/97m |
|
1987 |
Women of the Night [Zane Buzby] comedy special/56m/tape; 2uc; for HBO-tv |
|
1988 |
No Means No [Jeffrey Auerbach] tvm/60m; a CBS-tv 'Schoolbreak Special' |
|
1990 |
The Wonder Years [ep #60 'Courage' dir by Daniel Stern, #61 'Buster' dir by Nick Marck, #62 'Road Trip' dir by Ken Topolsky & #63 'When Worlds Collide' dir by Lyndall Hobbs] 115-part series, 1988-93; 4th season, 1990-91; other ph: René Ohashi & Tim Suhrstedt |
|
1993 |
Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman [Christopher Guest] tvm; addph: Karl-Walter Lindenlaub & Dick Bowen; vfx ph: Christopher Warren; aph: David Nowell; optical ph: David Tucker & Don Fergus; in cinemas outside USA |
|
2001 |
Michael Jackson's Halloween Special [Stan Winston] special/120m; vfx ph: Tony Cutrono |
|
2006 |
High Bar/Women in Law/Sisters in Law [Robert Luketic] pilot; for ABC-tv |
|
2012 |
Guilty [McG (= Joseph McGinty Nichol)] pilot/HD; for FOX-tv |
|
2017 |
Noelle/Nicole [Marc Lawrence] HD/c; for Disney+; filmed 2017-18 |
| MISCELLANEOUS | |
|---|---|
|
1987 |
Lucky Stiff/That Shamrock Touch [Anthony Perkins] add c.op; ph: Jacques Haitkin |
|
2009 |
War Birds [Michael B. Chait] visual cons; announced for summer 2010 start; test footage was ph by Westley Gathright |
|
2010 |
George Harrison: Living in the Material World [Martin Scorsese; doc] co-c.op; ph: Robert Richardson & Martin Kenzie |
