DAN LAUSTSEN

#1: From interview [Camerimage, 2017]

DAN LAUSTSEN DFF/ASC

Born: 15 June 1954, Aalborg, Denmark; grew up in Elsinore.

Education: Den Danske Filmskole/National Film School of Denmark [DDF] [1975-79; graduation film 'Skal vi danse først?'].

Career: Started as a photography apprentice with Schiller-Photography before attending Film School.

Ph commercials dir by Kristian Levring. Ph music videos by Rasmus Laumann.

Member of the DFF since 1979 and of the ASC since 2017.

Appeared in the doc's 'Le pacte des loups - les coulisses du tournage/The Making of 'Brotherhood of the Wolf'' [2000, Pascal Laugier] and 'The Making of 'Darkness Falls'' [2002].

Awards: Bodil Special Award [1982] for 'Gummi Tarzan'; Robert Award [1984] for 'Isfugle'; Robert Award [1989] for 'Skyggen af Emma'; Robert Award [1990] for 'Miraklet i Valby'; 'Filmfotograf Johan Ankerstjernes Ærespris' nom [2000] for 'Lysets hjerte'; Robert Award nom [2001] for 'Dykkerne'; Robert Award [2003] & Camerimage 'Golden Frog' nom [2003] for 'Jeg er Dina'.

Website: Dan Laustsen

Dan Laustsen: 'Light matters most. Naturally, camera angles are also important, but first and foremost it is with light that the cinematographer creates a mood and contributes to telling the story. Before you decide on your lighting, you must ask what do we want this scene to say? I have been criticized for shots that were too beautiful, but I think that's just the Danish mentality. After all, nobody would ever say that 'Lawrence of Arabia' or '1900' or 'The Tree of Wooden Clogs' were shot too beautifully. But it is a balancing act and I have made mistakes, with some scenes being too beautiful, but you might say that if you have that problem with a scene, it's not only the cinematography that's wrong. [...] Although 'Mimic' is shot very darkly, people were not unhappy with it in the USA. On the contrary, it earned me quite a bit of attention. The cinematographer enjoys greater freedom, because the younger directors take the visual language farther than ever before. The ideal of the past was that everyone should be able to see everything in a film - not much was left to the imagination.' [From article by Ebbe Iversen.]

FILMS
1978	Det er et spørgsmål om stil/It's a Question of Style [Ernst Johansen & Kjeld Amundsen] ?; doc/?m
1979	Skal vi danse først?/Do We Start Off with a Dance? [Annette Olsen] c; prod DDF
1979	Lille Virgil og Orla Frøsnapper/Little Virgil and Freddy Frogface [Gert Fredholm] c; 2uc; ph: Jeppe Jeppesen
1980	M/S Mars af Ålborg [Carsten Sønder] b&w; doc/34m; cph: Lars Johansson
1981	Har du set Alice?/Have You Seen Alice? [Brita Wielopolska] c
1981	Gummi Tarzan/Rubber Tarzan [Søren Kragh-Jacobsen] c
1982	Den ubetænksomme elsker/The Thoughtless Lover [Claus Ploug] scope/c
1982	Otto er et næsehorn/Otto Is a Rhino [Rumle Hammerich] c; 2uc: Manuel Sellner
1982	Motivation - nærbilleder fra en ungdomsskole [Arne Bro] 16mm/c; doc/57m
1983	Isfugle/Thunderbirds/Kingfishers [Søren Kragh-Jacobsen] c
1983	Port nr. 3/Gate Number Three [Arne Bro] ?; doc/?m
1983	Dansk bladtegning - danske bladtegnere. En dokumentation 1983/Danish Newspaper Drawings [Kirsten Stenbæk] c; doc/25m
1984	Min farmors hus/My Grandmother's House [Frode Pedersen] c
1984	Ziggurat [?] ?; doc/?m
1984	I vækstens Vold/In the Grip of Growth [Bo Hovgaard] c; doc/35m; cph: Jens Schlosser
1985	Når bare han kan tælle køerne [Rumle Hammerich & Tim Cenius] c; short/32m
1985	Elise [Claus Ploug] c; addph: Gunnar Nilsson, Søren Berthelin & Simon Plum
1985	Johannes' hemmelighed/Johannes' Secret [Åke Sandgren] c; short/51m
1985	De tavse piger/The Quiet Girls [Anne Regitze Wivel & Arne Bro] 16mm/c; doc/82m
1987	Jeg ville først finde sandheden/I Wanted to Find the Truth First [Jon Bang Carlsen] c; doc/29m
1987	Ansigt til ansigt/Face to Face [Anne Regitze Wivel] c; doc/166m; cph: Claus Baadsgaard
1987	Skyggen af Emma/Emma's Shadow [Søren Kragh-Jacobsen] c
1988	Guldregn/A Shower of Rain/Gold Rain ... or Laburnum/Shower of Gold [Søren Kragh-Jacobsen] c; edited from tv-series (1986)
1988	Himmel og helvede/Heaven and Hell [Morten Arnfred] c; 2uc; ph: Dirk Brüel
1988	David eller Goliath/David or Goliath [Anne Regitze Wivel] c; doc/110m; cph: Eigil Jacobsen
1988	Miraklet i Valby/Miracle in Valby [Åke Sandgren] c
1988	De udenforstående/The Outsiders [Arne Bro] 16mm/c; doc/42m
1988	Vand [Baby-svømning]/Water [Babyswimming] [Anne Regitze Wivel] s16/b&w; doc/12m
1989	Lykken er en underlig fisk/Happiness Is a Strange Fish [Linda Wendel] c; 2uc; ph: Bjørn Blixt
1990	Giselle [Anne Regitze Wivel] c; ballet doc/96m
1991	Drengene fra Sankt Petri/The Boys From St. Petri [Søren Kragh-Jacobsen] c
1992	Søren Kierkegaard [Anne Regitze Wivel] b&w-c; doc/165m; 5 seg
1993	Nattevagten/Nightwatch [Ole Bornedal] c
1993	Det personlige arbejde - en film om mennesker i udvikling på virksomheder i udvikling/Det udviklende arbejde [Arne Bro] ?; doc/38m; cph: Eric Kress
1994	Carmen og Babyface/Carmen & Babyface [Jon Bang Carlsen] c; addph: Søren Berthelin
1996	Nightwatch [Ole Bornedal] s35/c; American remake of film (1993)
1996	Mimic [Guillermo del Toro] c; efx unit ph: Tom Turnbull
1997	Lysets hjerte/Heart of Light/Qaamarngup uummataa [Jacob Grønlykke] c
1998	Running Free [Sergei Bodrov] s35/c; 2uc (+ aph/vfx ph): Kurt E. Soderling; wildlife ph: Roger Vernon
1999	Dykkerne/The Divers/Beyond [Åke Sandgren] c; 2uc: Jens Schlosser

[Left/gray turtleneck] - "Le pacte des loups"

2000	Le pacte des loups/Brotherhood of the Wolf [Christophe Gans] s35/c; 2uc: Shaun O'Dell
2001	Jeg er Dina/Jag är Dina/I Am Dina [Ole Bornedal] s35/c
2001	Darkness Falls/Don't Peek [Jonathan Liebesman] s35/c; 2uc: Martin Turner; addph: Stephen Windon; prologue & end titles ph: Juan Ruiz-Anchía
2002	The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen [Stephen Norrington] p/b&w-c; vfx ph: Miro Gábor
*2003*	The Adventurer/L'aventurier [Christophe Gans] scheduled to start in China in June 2003, but cancelled because of SARS epidemic; status unknown
2004	Sex, hopp och kärlek [Lisa Ohlin] scope/c
2004	Nomad [Ivan Passer (1st shooting period) & Sergei Bodrov (2nd shooting period)] scope/c; ph 2nd shooting period; ph 1st shooting period (2003): Ueli Steiger; vfx ph: Robert Grasmere
*2004*	Rahan [Christophe Gans] project; status unknown

With dir Christophe Gans [left] - "Silent Hill"

2005	Silent Hill [Christophe Gans] HD (Sony F900 & F950)+s35-to-35mm scope/c; 2uc: Peter Benison; based on the vg dir by Keiichiro Toyama (1999)
2005	Vikaren/The Substitute [Ole Bornedal] p/c; 2uc: Ian Hansen
2006	Wind Chill [Gregory Jacobs] s35/c
2006	Kærlighed på film/Just Another Love Story [Ole Bornedal] scope/c
*2006*	Silent Hill 2 [Christophe Gans] announced; status unknown
2008	Solomon Kane [Michael Bassett] s35/c; 2uc: Tim Wooster; aph: Adam Dale
2008	Fri os fra det onde/Deliver Us from Evil [Ole Bornedal] scope/c; 2uc: Søren Bay
*2008*	Onimusha [Christophe Gans] in development; status unknown; based on the vg dir by Jun Takeuchi (2001)
2008	Headhunter [Rumle Hammerich] scope/c; filmed 2008-09
2009	Please Help the World [Mikkel Blaabjerg Poulson] scope/c; short/4m; prod for the UN Climate Change Conference 2009 (COP 15, Copenhagen)
2010	Simon och ekarna/Simon and the Oaks [Lisa Ohlin] scope/c; 2uc: Nicklas Karpaty & Johan Heurgren
2010	Bag Blixens maske/Karen Blixen - Behind Her Mask [Morten Henriksen] b&w-c; doc/54m; cph: Jan Weincke, Jon Bang Carlsen & Morten Søborg
2011	The Possession/Dibbuk Box [Ole Bornedal] s35 (+ D-Cinema)/c; aph: Hans Bjerno
*2011*	First Allies [Kees van Oostrum] pre-production; scheduled to start filming in September; financed by the Oneida Indian Nation; status unknown
2011	Sover Dolly på ryggen? [Hella Joof] HD (ARRI ALEXA Plus) scope/c; filmed 2011-12
2012	Zaytoun/Le'hishaer ba'hayim [Eran Riklis] scope/c
2014	Crimson Peak/Haunted Peak [Guillermo del Toro] HD (ARRI ALEXA XT)-to-35mm (+ D-Cinema)/c
2015	Løvekvinnen/Das Löwenmädchen [Vibeke Idsøe] HD (ARRI ALEXA XT)/c; cph: Eric Kress
2015	John Wick: Chapter Two/John Wick 2 [Chad Stahelski] HD (ARRI ALEXA XT Plus/Master Scope)-to-D-Cinema (scope)/c; 2uc (+ main unit c.op 'a' cam): Duane Manwiller; ph Montreal: Fraser Taggart; 2uc Montreal: Robert Mattigetz
2016	The Shape of Water [Guillermo del Toro] HD (ARRI ALEXA XT Plus & Mini)-to-D-Cinema/c; 2uc (+ main unit c.op 'b' cam): J.P. Locherer
2017	Proud Mary [Babak Najafi] HD (Sony a7s & F55)-to-D-Cinema (scope)/c
2018	John Wick 3: Parabellum/John Wick: Chapter 3 [Chad Stahelski] HD/c; 2uc: Greg Baldi

TELEVISION
1986	Guldregn/Gold Rain... or Laburnum/Shower of Gold [Søren Kragh Jacobsen] 6 (new version: 7)-part miniseries; edited into a theatrical film (1988)
1990	Strømerliv/A Cop's Life [Peter Ringgaard] 4-part doc series
1992	Den korsikanske biskopen/The Corsican Bishop [Søren Kragh-Jacobsen] 4-part miniseries
1996	Charlot og Charlotte/Charlot and Charlotte [Ole Bornedal] 4-part miniseries; aph: Henrik Jongdahl
1998	Dybt vand/Deep Water [Ole Bornedal] 2-part tvm/DigiBeta; addph: Jakob Bonfils, Knut Pedersen, a.o.
2013	Wallander [ep #32 'Sorgfågeln' dir by Lisa Ohlin] 32-part series/RED, 2005-06, 2009-10 & 2013 (some ep were released as a feature film); 3rd season, 2013 (6 ep); 2uc (#32): Jon Rudberg
2013	1864 [Ole Bornedal] 8-part miniseries, 2014; also edited into a feature film (2015)

FILMS AS CAMERA ASSISTANT
1977	Kloden rokker [- Roskilde Festival]/This Rockin' Globe [John Menzer; mus doc] co-c.asst; ph: Simon Plum, Henrik Herbert, Dirk Brüel, a.o.
1980	Danmark er lukket/Denmark Closed Down [Dan Tschernia] ph: Claus Loof