JEAN LÉPINE

Born: 1948, Canada.

Education: CÉGEP, Limoilou, Québec; Film School of Concordia University, Montreal.

Career: 'I became a cinematographer late in my career after first working in other fields like music and photography. Though I enjoyed taking pictures, I wanted to add movement. So I followed some friends' advice and began tinkering with the audiovisual equipment at the school where I worked. Well, I soon got hooked, and so I enrolled in film school at Concordia University. After two years, I was fortunate to get an apprenticeship with the National Film Board [NFB] of Canada. At the NFB, I met many people and explored different facets of the profession like camera work, lighting and film developing. Then I saw a film that deeply inspired me: 'J.A. Martin, photographe' by Jean Beaudin. It was beautifully lit, shot and framed, skillfully structured, and well acted. I saw that the director of photography was Pierre Mignot. I told him that his work had moved me and that I wanted to become a cinematographer and learn to shoot like him. He sent me to see his assistant, who in turn found me work as a second assistant on Pierre's next project - Jean Beaudin's follow-up film 'Cordélia'. During this production, I learned as much as I possibly could. My career was launched.' [From the KODAK Canada OnFilm website.]

Ph commercials dir by Emmanuel Moss-Desmarais, Charles Binamé, a.o.

Awards: NYFCC Award nom [1990] for 'Vincent & Theo'; NYFCC Award [1992] for 'The Player'; 'Genie' Award nom [2001] for 'To Walk with Lions'; Jutra Award [2003] for 'Séraphin, un homme et son péché'; 'Gemini' Award nom [2005] for 'A Bear Named Winnie'.

Jean Lépine: 'For me, moviemaking is done with film. It's our craft. Yet I do admit that digital has its advantages in post-production. Once the film is color-timed, the cinematographer is out of the picture. The film is now in the distributor's hands. Sometimes what theatre audiences see is much different from what the cinematographer approved during color timing. The colors aren't the same, or the exposure varies between scenes. All this obviously depends on the equipment used to make copies. I dream of having a benchmark version of the film that is digitized. For now, the digital copy is only an intermediate version used for the special effects. But I wish we'd always have a definitive digitized master for preserving the aesthetic qualities of a film shoot. After all, the texture and grain of film are integral parts of moviemaking. Though the technology exists, it's not yet accessible for many projects.' [...] 'On 'Habitat', I had an early glimpse of what digitization could do. I realize that with the powerful computers used these days, everything is becoming easier. But let's not forget that film stock has also improved. Emulsions for shooting and printing have evolved. Film stock is more sensitive, especially for night scenes, and less grain is visible and less lighting is needed. It's wonderful to have a choice of films and emulsions and select a process that suits the effect you want. Because I have experience, I prefer working the film a bit more. Directors who hire me know that. This ability to work the film is why I like film stock much more than digital. Not to say I'll never shoot in digital, but with film, I certainly have more control over what's shot. With digitization, the imaging work is mostly done after the shooting.' [From the KODAK Canada OnFilm website.]

FILMS
1977	Alice [Claire Wojas] b&w; short/31m
1981	Les adeptes/The Followers [Gilles Blais] c; doc/79m; cph: Roger Rochat, André-Luc Dupont, a.o.
1989	Vincent et Théo/Vincent & Theo [Robert Altman] c; also a 2-part tvm
1990	Les amazones [Pierre Mignot] 16mm/c; short/26m
1990	On a marché sur la lune [Johanne Prégent] c; short/26m
1990	Black Robe [Bruce Beresford] c; co-2uc; ph: Peter James
1991	Montréal vu par... Six variations sur un même thème/Montreal Sextet/Montreal Stories [seg 'La dernière partie' dir by Michel Brault] b&w-c; 6 seg; other ph: Paul Sarossy, Éric Cayla, Guy Dufaux, Georges Dufaux, Pierre Mignot & Pierre Letarte
1991	The Player [Robert Altman] c
1991	La vie fantôme/Phantom Life [Jacques Leduc] c; addph; ph: Pierre Mignot
1991	Bob Roberts [Tim Robbins] c
1992	A Home of Our Own [Tony Bill] c; 2uc: Brian Sullivan
1994	Prêt-à-porter/Ready to Wear [Robert Altman] c; cph: Pierre Mignot
1995	Habitat [Rene Daalder] Hi-Vision (Sony's early analog High Definition format)-to-film/c
1996	Hysteria [Rene Daalder] c
1996	Woo [Daisy Mayer] c; 2uc: Dejan Georgevich
1997	A Cool, Dry Place [John N. Smith] c
1998	To Walk with Lions [Carl Schultz] c; c.op aph: Jacques 'Jackson' Girard
1999	The Intruder [David Bailey] c
1999	The 6th Day [Roger Spottiswoode] s35/c; addph (+ 2uc); ph: Pierre Mignot
2001	Séraphin, un homme et son péché/Séraphin: Heart of Stone [Charles Binamé] c
2003	A Different Loyalty [Marek Kanievska] c
2003	Daniel and the Superdogs/Daniel et les Superdogs [André Melançon] c; film #24 of film series 'Contes pour tous/Tales for All'

TELEVISION
1988	Tanner '88/Tanner: A Political Fable [Robert Altman] 11-part series/v; 2uc: Wally Pfister
1993	JFK - Reckless Youth [Harry Winer] 2-part tvm
1994	Talking With [Kathy Bates] dram special/90m (6 seg); ep of PBS-tv series 'Great Performances'
1994	Allô Prof! [Claude Boucher & Pierre Lord] educational series; for Télé-Québec
1995	Beyond the Call [Tony Bill] tvm
2000	Whitewash: The Clarence Brandley Story [Tony Bill] tvm
2001	Charms for the Easy Life [Joan Micklin Silver] tvm
2002	Coast to Coast [Paul Mazursky] tvm
2004	A Bear Named Winnie [John Kent Harrison] tvm
2005	Ambulance Girl [Kathy Bates] tvm; for Timelife-tv
2006	Crossroads: A Story of Forgiveness [John Kent Harrison] tvm

FILMS AS CAMERA ASSISTANT/OPERATOR
1978	Cordélia [Jean Beaudin] 2nd c.asst; ph: Pierre Mignot
1981	Le temps des choix [Aimée Danis & Yves Plouffe; doc tv-series] co-c.asst; ph: Jean-Charles Tremblay
1982	Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean [Robert Altman] co-c.asst; ph: Pierre Mignot
1982	Maria Chapdelaine [Gilles Carle] c.asst; ph: Pierre Mignot
1983	O.C. and Stiggs [Robert Altman] co-c.op; ph: Pierre Mignot
1983	Streamers [Robert Altman] co-c.asst; ph: Pierre Mignot
1983	Lucien Brouillard [Bruno Carrière] c.asst; ph: Pierre Mignot
1983	Mario [Jean Beaudin] co-c.asst; ph: Pierre Mignot
1984	Secret Honor [: A Political Myth]/Lords of Treason [Robert Altman] c.op; ph: Pierre Mignot
1984	The Boy in Blue [Charles Jarrott] 2u c.op. (+ 1u c.asst).; ph: Pierre Mignot
1985	Anne Trister [Léa Pool] c.op; ph: Pierre Mignot
1985	Fool for Love [Robert Altman] c.op; ph: Pierre Mignot
1985	The Laundromat [Robert Altman; tvm] c.op; ph: Pierre Mignot
1986	Exit [Robert Ménard] c.op; ph: Pierre Mignot
1986	Beyond Therapy [Robert Altman] c.op; ph: Pierre Mignot
1987	The Dumb Waiter [Robert Altman] c.op; ph: Pierre Mignot; seg of tvm 'Basements'
1987	Nowhere to Hide/Fatal Chase [Mario Azzopardi] c.op; ph: Victor Sarin
1988	April Morning [Delbert Mann; tvm] c.op; ph: Frank Tidy
1988	The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial [Robert Altman; tvm] c.op; ph: Jacek Laskus
1988	Cruising Bar/Meat Bar [Robert Ménard] c.op 2u; ph: Pierre Mignot
1988	Speed Zone!/Cannonball Fever [Jim Drake] co-c.op 2u; 2uc: Alan C. Smith & David B. Nowell; ph: François Protat & Robert Saad
1989	Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! [Jean-Claude Lord] c.op; ph: René Verzier
1989	Day One [Joseph Sargent; tvm] c.op; ph: Kees van Oostrum
1990	Ivory Hunters/The Last Elephant [Joseph Sargent; tvm] c.op; ph: Kees van Oostrum
1990	Shadow of the Wolf/Agaguk [Jacques Dorfmann & Pierre Magny] c.op; ph: Billy Williams
1994	Le confessional [Robert M. Lepage] co-c.op 2u; 2uc: Pierre Mignot; ph: Alain Dostie