#1: From the doc "Cinematographer Style"

 

   


JACK N. GREEN   ASC

 

Born: 18 November 1946, San Francisco, California, USA, as John Newton Green.

Career: Started as c.asst to aph Joe Dieves in San Francisco. Moved to Hollywood in 1968. Was c.asst working for doph Donald Morgan for 7 years; became c.op in 1975 and worked with William Fraker, Ric Waite, Harry Stradling Jr., a.o. Met actor/dir Clint Eastwood during the shooting of 'The Gauntlet'.

Became active member of the ASC in September 1992.

Also active as director.

His son Peter [born 1970] is a c.asst/doph, his son Ryan is a c.op and his daughter Heather is a camera loader.

Appeared in the doc's 'Eastwood & Co.: Making 'Unforgiven'' [1992, Richard Schickel; ph: Don Metz], 'Wiecej swiatla. Festiwal Operatorów Filmowych Camerimage '97' [1997, Piotr Lazarkiewicz; ph: Adam Sikora], '[American Masters:] Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows' [2000, Bruce Ricker; ph: Vic Losick], 'History vs. Hollywood' [2001; in 1 ep of this tv-series] & 'Cinematographer Style' [2005, Jon Fauer; ph: J. Fauer, Jeff Laszlo, Brian Heller & David Morgan].

Awards: 'Oscar' AA nom [1993] & BAFTA Film Award nom [1993] for 'Unforgiven'; ASC Award nom [1996] for 'The Bridges of Madison County'; SOC 'President's Award' [1998]; Big Bear Lake IFF Lifetime Achievement Award [2003]; ASC Lifetime Achievement Award [2009].


"Cinematography was not something Jack Green thought about during his childhood in Daley City, Calif. It was understood that he would attend barber college and work in one of the barbershops his father and uncle owned until it came time for him to take over the family business. His only connection to photography was sharing his father's photography hobby.

His interest in photography continued in high school, but Green had settled into the notion that the tools of his trade would be clippers and scissors. Shortly after he started working as a full-time barber, a former combat cameraman named Joe Dieves helped change the course of Green's life when he came in for a trim. Dieves had set up shop in the San Francisco Bay area shooting documentaries, industrials and educational films for local clients. It took Green months to talk to Dieves about camerawork, but the man was a repeat customer, and eventually, Green talked himself into a part-time job as his camera assistant. 'We'd go out on a job, and he'd make sure I was never ignorant about what was necessary,' recalls Green. 'He was a gentle teacher. Soon, I asked my father and my uncle if I could move to one of the back chairs and work part-time. Over a few years, I became a very part-time barber and an almost full-time camera assistant, and in 1965, I got into the union in Northern California, and it became a full-time job.'

Green was soon assisting for a variety of companies, including some that specialized in aerial photography. Assisting on some helicopter exteriors for the film 'Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice' led to the opportunity to work for John Lowry Productions, an aerial-photography company based in Los Angeles.

The early 1970s saw Green assisting a lot, predominantly on aerial units, and working fulltime for Tyler Mounts. Then, in 1972, there were huge layoffs. He managed to keep busy freelancing as an assistant, and in 1975, cinematographer Michael Watkins moved him up to operator on Jonathan Demme's 'Fighting Mad'. It was a baptism by fire in the craft of operating incredibly quickly under chaotic circumstances. Cinematographer Rexford Metz then hired Green to operate on Clint Eastwood's 'The Gauntlet'. Green subsequently operated on every Eastwood film until he moved up on 'Heartbreak Ridge'.

Green was immediately impressed with Eastwood's attitudes about and approach to filmmaking. The focus was on craft and efficiency and always using imagery to support the story. Eastwood hired the same crew as often as possible.

It was through operating on these films that Green learned about lighting. He recalls cinematographer Bruce Surtees 'standing on a set and giving instructions to the gaffer using his hand as if it were a paintbrush. You would swear there was paint coming out of his fingers! Bruce was a lighting minimalist. If he walked onto a set and saw four lights burning, he'd tell the gaffer to turn one off. I realized the fewer lights you had, the fewer complications there were. It was fascinating to see how Bruce expressed himself to his gaffer and electricians.'

When Surtees recommended Green to shoot 'Heartbreak Ridge', Green sensed it was now or never, and he accepted the job even though he still felt he had a lot to learn." [From article by Jon Silberg on the ASC website.]


 FILMS

1983

Uncommon Valor [Ted Kotcheff] c; co-2uc (cred as co-2nd c.asst); ph: Stephen Burum

1984

Volunteers [Nicholas Meyer] c; addph; ph: Ric Waite

1986

Heartbreak Ridge [Clint Eastwood] c

1987

Like Father, Like Son [Rod Daniel] c

1987

Rambo III [Peter MacDonald] c; hph Arizona; ph: John Stanier

1987

Bird [Clint Eastwood] c; process ph: Bruce Logan

1988

The Dead Pool [Buddy Van Horn] c

1988

Race for Glory/American Built [Rocky Lang] c

1988

Pink Cadillac [Buddy Van Horn] c

1988

The Karate Kid Part III [John G. Avildsen] c; co-aph; ph: Stephen Yaconelli

1989

White Hunter, Black Heart [Clint Eastwood] c; wildlife ph: Simon Trevor; aph: Peter Allwork

1990

The Rookie [Clint Eastwood] p/c; 2uc: Don Burgess

1990

Love Crimes [Lizzie Borden] c; addph: Ben Butin (Atlanta) & Phedon Papamichael (Dallas)

1991

Deceived [Damian Harris] c; 2uc: Peter Norman

1991

Unforgiven [Clint Eastwood] p/c

1992

Rookie of the Year [Daniel Stern] c

1993

A Perfect World [Clint Eastwood] p/c

1993

Bad Company/The Toolshed [Damian Harris] p/c

1994

Trapped in Paradise [George Gallo] p/c; 2uc: Harald Ortenburger

1994

The Amazing Panda Adventure [Christopher Cain] c; 2uc (+ c.op 'b' cam): Scott Ransom

1994

The Bridges of Madison County [Clint Eastwood] c

1995

The Net [Irwin Winkler] c; 2uc: Mark Vargo

1995

Twister [Jan de Bont] p/c; 2uc: Alexander Witt; replaced doph Don Burgess

1995

Traveller [Jack N. Green] c; uncred ph

1996

Absolute Power [Clint Eastwood] p/c

1996

Speed 2: Cruise Control [Jan de Bont] p/c; 2uc: Alexander Witt; uwph: Pete Romano; aph: Ron Goodman

1997

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil [Clint Eastwood] c

1998

True Crime [Clint Eastwood] c

1999

Girl, Interrupted [James Mangold] c

 

[Background/left] - "Space Cowboys"

 

1999

Space Cowboys [Clint Eastwood] p/b&w-c; vfx ph: Martin Rosenberg; uwph: Pete Romano

2000

Golden Dreams [Agnieszka Holland] c; dram doc/30m; for Disney's California Adventure, Anaheim

2000

[Seduced:] Pretty When You Cry/Season's Greetings [Jack N. Green] c; premiered on HBO-tv

2000

A Man Apart/El Diablo/Extreme Rage [F. Gary Gray] s35/c; 2uc: Michael A. Benson (+ 2ud); aph: Hans Bjerno; filmed 2000-01; released in 2003

2001

Wounded/Lord of the Wolves [Lea Thompson] in development; status unknown

2002

Against the Ropes [Charles S. Dutton] s35/c

2002

Secondhand Lions [Tim McCanlies] s35-to-35mm/c; addph: Bob Yeoman

2003

50 First Dates [Peter Segal] p/c; 2uc: Joseph Urbanczyk; addph: S. Douglas Smith; vfx ph: Christopher Nibley

2003

The Drummer [Geoffrey Lewis] in development; scheduled for 2004 start; status unknown

2004

Serenity [Joss Whedon] s35/c; 2uc: Raymond Stella; aph: David Nowell; sfx ph: Bill Taylor

2005

The 40 Year Old Virgin [Judd Apatow] c

2005

Zoom [: Academy for Superheroes] [Peter Hewitt] c; uncred addph; ph: David Tattersall

2005

Click [Frank Coraci] HD (Genesis)-to-35mm (+ D-Cinema)/c; New York ph; ph: Dean Semler

2006

Are We Done Yet? [Steve Carr] c; 2uc: Don McCuaig

2007

My Best Friend's Girl [Howard Deutch] c; addph: Peter N. Green

2008

Law Abiding Citizen [Frank Darabont] scheduled as doph, but film was ph by Jonathan Sela and dir by F. Gary Gray in January-April 2009

2009

Hot Tub Time Machine [Steve Pink] 35mm (+ D-Cinema)/c; aph: Hans Bjerno

2009

Diary of a Wimpy Kid [Thor Freudenthal] c

2010

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules [David Bowers] s35 (+ D-Cinema)/c; plate unit ph: Don McCuaig

 

[Left/kneeling] with Kimberly Jentzen [hat] - "Reign"

 

2011

Reign [Kimberly Jentzen] c; 2uc: Scott Carrithers

2012

The Letters [William Riead] HD (Genesis)/c; cph: Peter N. Green; J. Green shot a trailer in November 2001; prod was scheduled to start shooting in March 2009; prod was shooting in Goa, India, in April 2012

2012

Sweetwater [Martin Guigui] pre-production; prod was scheduled to start filming in January 2007, then August 2008, then (with doph Tony Pierce-Roberts) February-April 2009, then May 2010, then August-October 2011 and now November 2012

2012

The Pendant [Jack Perez] pre-production; status unknown

2013

Left Behind [Vic Armstrong] HD (ARRI ALEXA Plus)-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Michael Baltazar

 

 TELEVISION

1993

The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. [pilot dir by Bryan Spicer] 27-part series, 1993-94; other ph: Richard C. Thorpe

1997

Eastwood on Eastwood [Richard Schickel] doc/b&w-c/68m

 

 FILMS & TELEVISION AS CAMERA ASSISTANT/OPERATOR

1968

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice [Paul Mazursky] Wescam tech; ph: Charles Lang

1968

Tora! Tora! Tora! [Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku & Toshio Masuda] Wescam tech; ph: Charles F. Wheeler, a.o.

1971

Dirty Harry [Don Siegel & (fill-in) Clint Eastwood] c.asst aph; ph: Bruce Surtees

1974

Win, Place or Steal/Three for the Money/The Big Payoff [Richard Bailey] c.asst; ph: Donald M. Morgan

1974

Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York [Sidney J. Furie] 1st c.asst; ph: Donald M. Morgan

1975

Rooster Cogburn [Stuart Millar] c.asst; ph: Harry Stradling Jr.

1975

Fighting Mad [Jonathan Demme] c.op; ph: Michael Watkins

1977

The Gauntlet [Clint Eastwood] c.op 'b' cam; ph: Rexford Metz

1977

I Wanna Hold Your Hand [Robert Zemeckis] c.op 'b' cam; ph: Donald M. Morgan

1977

ABC Weekend Specials [ep #8 'The Ransom of Red Chief' dir by Jeffrey Hayden & #17 'Soup and Me' dir by Dennis Donnelly; tv-series, 1977-97] c.op; ph: Otto Nemenz

1978

Every Which Way But Loose [James Fargo] c.op; ph: Rexford Metz

1979

Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker [Ted Post; tvm] c.op; ph: Hector Figueroa

1979

The $5.20 an Hour Dream [Russ Mayberry; tvm] c.op; ph: Hector Figueroa

1979

Seizure: The Story of Kathy Morris [Gerald Isenberg; tvm] c.op; ph: Hector Figueroa

1979

Bronco Billy [Clint Eastwood] c.op; ph: David Worth

1980

Any Which Way You Can [Buddy Van Horn] co-c.op; ph: David Worth

1980

The Border [Tony Richardson] c.op; ph: Ric Waite

1980

Midnight Offerings [Rod Holcomb; tvm] c.op; ph: Hector Figueroa

1980

The Greatest American Hero [ep #3 'The Hit Car' dir by Rod Holcomb (RH), #4 'Here's Looking at You, Kid' dir by Robert C. Thompson (RCT), #5 'Saturday on Sunset Boulevard' dir by RH, #6 'Reseda Rose' dir by Gabrielle Beaumont (GB), #7 'My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys' dir by Arnold Laven, #8 'Fire Man' dir by GB & #9 'The Best Desk Scenario' dir by RCT; tv-series, 1981-83/1st season, 1981] c.op; ph: Hector Figueroa

1981

Tex [Tim Hunter] c.op; ph: Ric Waite

1981

Cagney & Lacey [ep #1 'You Call This Plain Clothes?/Bang, Bang, You're Dead' dir by Georg Stanford Brown + 5 ep dir by various; tv-series/1st season, 1982 (6 ep)] c.op; ph: Hector Figueroa

1981

Firefox [Clint Eastwood] co-c.op; ph: Bruce Surtees

1981

Hysterical [Chris Bearde] co-c.op; ph: Donald M. Morgan

1982

48 Hrs. [Walter Hill] c.op; ph: Ric Waite

1982

Risky Business [Paul Brickman] c.op; ph: Bruce Surtees & Reynaldo Villalobos

 

[Right] with Clint Eastwood - "Honkytonk Man"

 

1982

Honkytonk Man [Clint Eastwood] c.op; ph: Bruce Surtees

1982

Cagney & Lacey [5 ep dir by various; tv-series/2nd season, 1982-83] c.op; ph: Hector Figueroa

1983

Sudden Impact [Clint Eastwood] c.op; ph: Bruce Surtees

1984

Tightrope [Richard Tuggle] c.op; ph: Bruce Surtees

1984

City Heat [Richard Benjamin] co-Panaglide op; ph: Nick McLean

1984

Beverly Hills Cop [Martin Brest] c.op; ph: Bruce Surtees

1985

Pale Rider [Clint Eastwood] c.op; ph: Bruce Surtees

1985

Rocky IV [Sylvester Stallone] co-c.op Vancouver; ph: Bill Butler

1985

Psycho III [Anthony Perkins] co-c.op; ph: Bruce Surtees

1985

Pretty in Pink [Howard Deutch] c.op; ph: Tak Fujimoto

1985

Ratboy [Sondra Locke] c.op; ph: Bruce Surtees

1985

Out of Bounds [Richard Tuggle] c.op; ph: Bruce Surtees

 

 MISCELLANEOUS

 

[Left] with doph Peter Green and c.op Ryan Green - "Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!!"

 

2008

Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!! [Evgeny Afineevsky] visual cons; ph: Peter N. Green

 

 FILMS AS DIRECTOR

1995

Traveller [+ uncred ph] see Films

1997

Dead Run [feature] announced; status unknown

2000

[Seduced:] Pretty When You Cry/Season's Greetings [+ ph] see Films

2000

White Out [feature] announced; status unknown