FRED MURPHY ASC

Born: 1942, New York City, NY, USA.

Education: Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI.

Career: 'I'm from New York City, and have spent most of my life living in the boroughs of Queens and Manhattan. My father was a lawyer. I saw a lot of movies when I was a kid, but I never gave any thought to how they were made or who created them until I saw 'La Dolce Vita'. Perhaps because it was another language and I was reading subtitles, but I suddenly realized somebody made that extraordinary movie. That experience got me interested in film. I taught myself photography in high school, but I was more interested in painting and drawing. I planned to study architecture when I transferred from Columbia University to the Rhode Island School of Design. In one class, I had to build a very difficult model for an architectural class, and decided to make an animated movie instead. I borrowed a 16mm Beaulieu camera from my brother and made a three-minute animated movie using pictures cut out of magazines and others that I had drawn. It had dissolves and crude fades all on a 100-foot roll and a sound track on a tape recorder. That sort of ended my plans to study architecture and got me interested in pursuing a career as an animation filmmaker. I went out West and visited San Francisco. I worked as a truck driver and also was a deck hand on a ship. I eventually went back to New York. I was living hand to mouth on the lower east side of Manhattan working part-time as a draftsman. I owned several 16mm movie cameras, a Beaulieu and a Bolex. Some of my friends from Rhode Island were in New York, and we made these little black-and-white films together. I split the cost of buying an Éclair NPR camera with a friend, and we started shooting more legitimate documentaries with sound. I shot a 16mm film called 'Girlfriends' with a young director named Claudia Weill. It got picked up and blown up for 35mm release. Around that same time, I was also making a lot of short films for friends and got a reputation for knowing how to light things and people. That got me jobs as a gaffer lighting commercials with Peter Cooper, Mel Sokolski and other talented cinematographers and directors. I learned a lot about lighting, and how a camera crew works together. I shot a little movie with Richard Pearce called 'The Gardener's Son' for KCET-tv on a couple hundred thousand dollar budget, and later shot my first real 35mm film, 'Heartland', with him. [...] I would have loved to be somebody's assistant or operator, but it only happened once on a Wim Wenders film called 'Der Stand der Dinge' that we shot in Portugal. I was Henri Alekan's operator. We went over schedule, and Henri had to leave because he had another film. I filled in for him, and had to imitate his style, which was radically different. He used a lot of small lights. We had Inkies everyplace. It ran so long that Henri finished his other project and came back to complete this film. That was a great experience.' [From interview on the KODAK website.]

Ph commercials dir by Hans Jonkers, a.o.

Member of the ASC since 1996.

Appeared in the doc's '[Behind the Screen: Stories of Cinema -] John Huston & the Dubliners' [1987, Lilyan Sievernich; ph: Lisa Rinzler], 'Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography' [1991] & 'Cinematographer Style' [2005, Jon Fauer; ph: J. Fauer, Jeff Laszlo, Brian Heller & David Morgan].

Awards: Independent Spirit Award nom [1988] for 'The Dead'; 'Emmy' Award nom [1990] for 'The Final Days'; 'Emmy' Award nom [2000] for 'Witness Protection'.

FILMS

1969	Submission [Allen Savage] b&w
1972	The Making of the President 1972 [Albert Wasserman] ?; doc/90m; released 1975
1975	Not a Pretty Picture [Martha Coolidge] 16mm/c; cph: Don Lenzer; prod AFI (USA)
1976	Local Color [Mark Rappaport] 16mm/b&w; addph: Phil Parmet
1976	Sweet Sounds [Richard Robbins] 16mm/c; doc/29m; cph: Richard Pearce
1977	The Scenic Route [Mark Rappaport] 16mm/c
1978	Girlfriends [Claudia Weill] 16mm-35bu/c
1979	Impostors [Mark Rappaport] 16mm/c
1979	Heartland [Richard Pearce] c; 2uc: Edward Marritz & John Stern
1979	Different Drummer - Elvin Jones [Edward Gray] 16mm/c; doc/29m; cph: John Lindley, Nancy Schreiber, Don Lenzer, Mark Obenhaus & Richard Pearce
1980	The Ghost Dance [Peter F. Buffa] c
1980	Tell Me a Riddle [Lee Grant] b&w-c
1981	Der Stand der Dinge/The State of Things [Wim Wenders] b&w; replaced H. Alekan for a short period (+ c.op); ph: Henri Alekan & Martin Schäfer
1981	Q/The Winged Serpent [Larry Cohen] c; addph: Daniel Pearl, Joe Mann, Tom Hurwitz & Oliver Wood; spec vfx: Randy Cook, Peter Kuran, a.o.
1981	Music Lessons [Joyce Chopra] c; doc/40m; cph: Joan Weidman & Peter Aaron
1982	Eddie and the Cruisers [Martin Davidson] c
1983	Touched [John Flynn] c
1984	Death of an Angel [Petru Popescu] c; 2uc: Oliver Wood
1985	The Trip to Bountiful [Peter Masterson] c
1985	Key Exchange [Barnet Kellman] c; 2uc: Tom Hurwitz; addph: Tony Jannelli
1986	Hoosiers/Best Shot [David Anspaugh] c; 2uc: Oliver Wood
1986	Best Seller [John Flynn] c
1986	Winners Take All [Fritz Kiersch] c; c.op action unit: Leo Napolitano
1987	The Dead [John Huston] c; Irish landscapes ph: Michael Coulter; doc ph: Lisa Rinzler
1987	Full Moon in Blue Water [Peter Masterson] c
1987	Five Corners [Tony Bill] c
1988	Fresh Horses [David Anspaugh] c
1988	Night Game [Peter Masterson] c
1989	Enemies, A Love Story [Paul Mazursky] c; cph: Carol Ike & John Berrie
1990	Funny About Love [Leonard Nimoy] c
1990	Scenes from a Mall [Paul Mazursky] c
1991	Jack the Bear [Marshall Herskovitz] s35/c
1991	The Pickle [Paul Mazursky] c
1994	Murder in the First [Marc Rocco] b&w-c
1994	Faithful [Paul Mazursky] c; uncred cph: Conrad L. Hall
1995	The Fantasticks [Michael Ritchie] p/b&w-c; ph b&w seq: Ariel Benarroch & Keith Solomon; released in 2000
1995	A Family Thing [Richard Pearce] c; addph: Bill Carrier; aph: Bill Hedenberg
1996	Metro [Thomas Carter] p/c; cable car stunt unit ph: Donald McCuaig
1997	Dance With Me [Randa Haines] c
1998	October Sky/Rocket Boys [Joe Johnston] p/c
1998	Stir of Echoes [David Koepp] c; 2uc: Michael Kohnhorst
1999	All the Pretty Horses [Billy Bob Thornton] p/c; 2uc (+ 2ud); ph: Barry Markowitz
1999	Soul Survivors [Stephen Carpenter] c; 2uc: Michael Kohnhorst
2000	Cheats/Chea+ers [Andrew Gurland] c
2001	The Mothman Prophecies [Mark Pellington] s35/c; 2uc: Anthony Wolberg; uwph: Pete Romano; vfx ph: Christopher Lee Warren
2001	Auto Focus [Paul Schrader] c
2002	Freddy vs. Jason [Ronny Yu] s35/c
2003	Secret Window [David Koepp] s35/c
2004	Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story [John Gatins] s35/c; 2uc + aph: Michael FitzMaurice
2005	RV [Barry Sonnenfeld] s35/c; 2uc: Roger Vernon & Don McCuaig; aph: Steve Koster
2006	Anamorph [Henry Miller] p/c; 2uc: Kyle Rudolph; addph: Lukasz Jogalla & Richard Rutkowski
2006	Drillbit Taylor [Steven Brill] s35/c; 2uc: Igor Meglic
2007	Ghost Town [David Koepp] c
2009	KODAK VISION3 250D 5207 [Timothy G. Wainwright] c; short/10m; 2uc: Bart Durkin; Eastman Kodak ph: Christopher Hart; demonstration film for new film stock

TELEVISION

1976	The Gardener's Son [Richard Pearce] tvm; ep of KCET-tv (Los Angeles) series 'Visions', 1976-80
1980	Picasso: A Painter's Diary [Perry Miller Adato] 3-part PBS-tv doc/93m/16mm; cph: Jean Monsigny (Europe) & Vic Losick
1980	Martha Clarke, Light and Dark: A Dancer's Journal [Joyce Chopra] doc/54m; cph: Don Lenzer; for PBS-tv
1983	A Matter of Sex/Women of Wilmar/The Wilmar 8 [Lee Grant] tvm
1983	Sessions [Richard Pearce] tvm
1983	Trackdown: Finding the Goodbar Killer [Bill Persky] tvm
1984	What Sex Am I? [Lee Grant] doc/57m; for HBO-tv
1984	The Glitter Dome [Stuart Margolin] tvm; cph: Michael Watkins & Jon Kranhouse; also in theatres outside USA
1989	The Final Days [Richard Pearce] tvm
1999	Witness Protection [Richard Pearce] tvm
2002	Suspense [David Koepp] tvm
2003	Partners and Crime/Violent Crime [Thomas Carter] pilot
2006	Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life [Robert S. Levi] doc/90m; cph: David Sperling
2006	Notes from the Underbelly [pilot dir by Barry Sonnenfeld] 23-part (8 unaired) series, 2007-08; other ph: Michael Weaver
2007	Lipstick Jungle [pilot dir by Gary Winick] 20-part series, 2008-09

MISCELLANEOUS

1996

Lost Highway [David Lynch] special thanks; ph: Peter Deming

NOTE: There is a doph called FRED V. MURPHY [II]. It's not clear if it is our Fred Murphy:

1985	A Time to Live [Rick Wallace] tvm; as Fred V. Murphy
1985	Mirrors [Harry Winer] tvm; as Fred V. Murphy
1987	Laguna Heat [Simon Langton] tvm; as Fred V. Murphy
1990	Hunter [various] 153-part series, 1984-91; as Fredrick/Fred V. Murphy II
1991	Stranger at My Door/Dead Run [Vincent McEveety] tvm; as Fred V. Murphy II
1993	Greyhounds [Kim Manners] pilot/60m; as Fred V. Murphy
1994	A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Jealous Jokester [Vincent McEveety] tvm-ep series; as Frederick V. Murphy II
1994	Babylon 5 [ep #30 'A Race Through Dark Places' dir by Jim Johnston, #40 'Confessions and Lamentations' dir by Kevin G. Cremin & #42 'The Long, Twilight Struggle' dir by John C. Flinn III] 110-part series, 1993-99; 2nd season, 1994-95; as Fred V. Murphy II
1995	Babylon 5 [ep #62 'Walkabout' dir by Kevin G. Cremin] 3rd season, 1995-96; see 1994
1996	Babylon 5 [ep #72 'Into the Fire' dir by Kevin James Dobson & #76 'Racing Mars' dir by Jesús Treviño] 4th season, 1996-97; see 1994
1997	Babylon 5 [ep #93 'Learning Curve' dir by David J. Eagle & #104 'And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder' dir by Goran Gajic] 5th season, 1998; see 1994
1997	Columbo: A Trace of Murder [Vincent McEveety] tvm-ep series; as Fred V. Murphy
1997	Nothing Sacred [Richard Pearce] pilot; became 20-part series, 1997-98; as Fred V. Murphy
1998	Babylon 5: The River of Souls [Janet Greek] tvm; as Frederick V. Murphy II
1998	Babylon 5: A Call to Arms [Michael Vejar] tvm; as Frederick V. Murphy II
1998	Columbo: Ashes to Ashes [Patrick McGoohan] tvm-ep series; as Fred V. Murphy
1998	[The Babylon Project:] Crusade [various] 13-part series, 1999; spin-off of 'Babylon 5'; as Frederick V. Murphy II
2000	Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man [Anthony Pullen Shaw] tvm-ep series; as Fred V. Murphy II
2002	Murder, She Wrote: The Celtic Riddle [Anthony Pullen Shaw] tvm-ep series; as: Fred V. Murphy II
2003	Lost in Plainview [Eric Chambers] 16mm/c; as Fred V. Murphy
2004	No Rules [Gerry Anderson] 16mm/c; 2uc: Paolo Cascio; as Fred V. Murphy

NOTE: There is a FRED MURPHY credited as c.op & Steadicam op:

1982	White Water Rebels [Reza Badiyi; tvm] co-c.op; ph: William Gereghty
1983	Blame It on the Night [Gene Taft] Steadicam op; ph: Alex Phillips Jr.
1987	Three O'Clock High [Phil Joanou] Steadicam op; ph: Barry Sonnenfeld
1987	Cross My Heart [Armyan Bernstein] panaglide op; ph: Thomas Del Ruth
1988	Dead Bang [John Frankenheimer] co-Steadicam op; ph: Gerry Fisher
1993	Point of Seduction: Body Chemistry III [Jim Wynorski] Steadicam op; ph: Don E. FauntLeRoy
1998	Young Hearts Unlimited [Don E. FauntLeRoy; tvm] Steadicam op; ph: Robert Driskell
2001	Baby Bob [various; tv-series] co-c.op; ph: Ron Vargas