IEC
#1: "Tap Dreams" [2009]
#2: 1999
Born: 1 March 1944, Chicago, Illinois, USA, as Steven Barry Poster.
Education: Southern Illinois University [1962-64], Los Angeles Art Center College of Design [Still Photography; 1964-66]; Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago [BS in 1967].
Career: Was hired as a c.asst by 'The Film Group', a commercial film prod company in Chicago. He was noticed immediately because he knew how to light and was promoted to doph. He met dir Herschell Gordon Lewis and worked with him as c.asst, soundman and/or actor on 3 films ['We made feature films. They weren't porno's. They were horror or gore films. It was so low end that one of us was assigned every morning to go to the butcher shop and get liver and entrails that we used as gore props.']. He stayed in Chicago for almost 10 years and ph industrial films, doc's, commercials ['I got to work with people like Michael Mann, who started his career doing commercials. He had a company in Chicago, and I shot a number of commercials for his company and for him.'], educational and medical films. After joining the union he began getting work on various feature films shooting in the area. He worked as 2nd c.op, c.op and addph. Moved to Los Angeles in 1974 and primarily shot commercials at first.
Ph music videos: 'Like a Prayer' [1989; a: Madonna; d: Mary Lambert], a.o. Ph commercials dir by Patrice Leconte, Ridley Scott, Lol Creme, Kinka Usher, Jake Scott, Chris Carballo, Marty Weiss, Don Allen, a.o.
Also active as still ph with one person exhibitions in Albany, Atlanta, New York, etc.
Member of the ASC since 1987. Was also president of the ASC [2002-03]. Is national president of the International Cinematographers Guild [IATSE Local 600] [2006-].
Appeared in the doc's 'Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography' [1991], 'Donnie Darko: Production Diary' [2004; ph: Mike Hoy] & 'Cinematographer Style' [2005, Jon Fauer; ph: J. Fauer, Jeff Laszlo, Brian Heller & David Morgan].
Awards: As doph: ASC Award nom [1988] for 'Someone to Watch Over Me'; 'Emmy' Award nom [2006] for 'Mrs. Harris'.
As dir: Cannes FF 'Golden Palm' nom 'Best Short Film' [1974; shared] for 'Another Saturday Night'.
Website: Steven Poster
FILMS | |
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1974 |
Another Saturday Night [Mik Derks & Steven Poster] c; short/14m |
1976 |
Close Encounters of the Third Kind [Steven Spielberg] p/c; 2uc; ph: Vilmos Zsigmond |
1979 |
Blood Beach [Jeffrey Bloom] c |
1980 |
Dead & Buried [Gary A. Sherman] c |
1981 |
Blade Runner [Ridley Scott] p/c; co-addph; ph: Jordan Cronenweth |
1981 |
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas [Colin Higgins] p/c; co-addph; ph: William Fraker |
1982 |
Spring Break [Sean S. Cunningham] c |
1982 |
[The Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie:] Strange Brew [Dave Thomas & Rick Moranis] c; uwph: J. Barry Herron |
1983 |
The River [Mark Rydell] c; co-2uc; ph: Vilmos Zsigmond |
1984 |
The New Kids/Striking Back [Sean S. Cunningham] c |
1984 |
Starman [John Carpenter] p/c; 2uc; ph: Donald M. Morgan; sfx ph: Michael McAlister |
1984 |
Aloha Summer [Tommy Lee Wallace] c; addph: Johnny Jensen & Michael Hofstein; uwph: Tom Boyle, Bob Condon & Ron Condon; released 1988 |
1985 |
The Heavenly Kid [Cary Medoway] c |
1985 |
The Boy Who Could Fly [Nick Castle] c; Poster was brought in about 6 weeks into filming; cph: Adam Holender; efx ph: Neil Krepela; vfx ph: Peter Romano; optical ph: Charles Cowles, Alan Harding & (superv) Mark Vargo |
1985 |
American Anthem/Take It Easy [Albert Magnoli] c; addph; ph: Donald E. Thorin |
1985 |
Blue City [Michelle Manning] c; addph: Ric Waite; 2uc: Donald M. Morgan & Egon Stephan |
1985 |
Big Trouble in Little China [John Carpenter] p/c; 2uc; ph: Dean Cundey |
1986 |
Someone to Watch Over Me [Ridley Scott] c; filmed 1986-87 |
1988 |
Big Top Pee-wee [Randal Kleiser] c |
1988 |
Next of Kin [John Irvin] c |
1989 |
Opportunity Knocks [Donald Petrie] c |
1990 |
Rocky V [John G. Avildsen] c; addph: Victor Hammer |
1990 |
Life Stinks/Life Sucks [Mel Brooks] c |
1991 |
Pacific Coast Highway [?] HD/c; short/15m; a test-film for NHK-tv, Sony and Panavision |
1992 |
The Cemetery Club/Looking for a Live One [Bill Duke] c |
1995 |
The Crow: City of Angels/The Crow II [Tim Pope] c; addph; ph: Jean-Yves Escoffier |
1996 |
Nunzio's Second Cousin [Tom DeCerchio] c; short/18m; seg of 'Boys Life 2' (4 seg; other ph: Steve Adcock, Marc Reshovsky & Jamie Silverstein) |
1996 |
RocketMan [Stuart Gillard] c; miniature ph: Eric Swenson |
1997 |
1 chance sur 2/Half a Chance [Patrice Leconte] p/c; 2uc: Jean-Claude Thibaut |
1998 |
BASEketball [David Zucker] c; addph; ph: Steve Mason |
1998 |
The Rage: Carrie 2 [Katt Shea & (uncred) Robert Mandel] b&w-c; 2uc; ph: Donald M. Morgan |
1999 |
Mission to Mars [Brian De Palma] p/c; ph Jordan unit; ph: Stephen Burum |
2000 |
Unbreakable [M. Night Shyamalan] p/c; 2uc; ph: Eduardo Serra |
2000 |
Donnie Darko [Richard Kelly] p/c; uncred 2uc: Steve Gainer |
2001 |
Stuart Little 2 [Rob Minkoff] c; 2uc New York: Tom Houghton |
2001 |
The Oscar Legacy [David Haugland] ?; doc/?m |
2002 |
Looney Tunes: Back in Action [Joe Dante] s35/c; addph; ph: Dean Cundey |
2002 |
Daddy Day Care [Steve Carr] c |
2004 |
Tap Heat [Dean Hargrove] s35-to-35mm/c; mus short/14m |
2005 |
Southland Tales [Richard Kelly] s35/c; 2uc: David Stump |
2006 |
Bill/Meet Bill [Melisa Wallack & Bernie Goldmann] HD-to-35mm (+ D-Cinema)/c; addph; ph: Peter Collister |
2007 |
The Box [Richard Kelly] HD (Genesis)-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Terrence Hayes; filmed 2007-08 |
2008 |
Spread [David Mackenzie] s35 (+ D-Cinema)/c; addph: Paolo Cascio |
[Right] with dir Brad Peyton - "Cats & Dogs"
Photo by Kimberly French
2008 |
Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore [Brad Peyton] 35mm (+ D-Cinema [also 3-D version])/c; 2uc: Roger Vernon |
2010 |
Flypaper [Rob Minkoff] RED+HD (Canon EOS 7D)-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Yaron Levy |
2011 |
Xelerate [Bill Duke] 3-D/c; short/3m; for Sony 3D Technology Center |
2013 |
Rhythm of Life [Dean Hargrove] HD (Canon EOS C500)/c; short/3m; + co-exec prod; for Canon USA (Canon Digital Learning Center) |
2014 |
Amityville: The Awakening/The Amityville Horror: The Lost Tapes [Franck Khalfoun] HD (Canon EOS C500 & C300 Mark II)/c; + reshoots in February 2016; released in 2017 |
TELEVISION & INTERNET | |
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1976 |
Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II [Lou Antonio, a.o.] 22-part series, 1976-77 |
1977 |
What Really Happened to the Class of '65? [ep #12 'Mr. Potential' dir by James Sheldon] 14-part series, 1977-78; other ph: Bernie Abramson, Fred Goodich, a.o. |
1978 |
The Night Rider [Hy Averback] pilot; for ABC-tv |
1978 |
The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank [Robert Day] tvm |
1978 |
The Duke [2-part pilot 'Up Against the Odds' dir by Lawrence Doheny] 6-part series, 1979; for NBC-tv |
1979 |
Mysterious Two/Follow Me If You Dare [Gary Sherman] pilot; for NBC-tv |
1979 |
Beggerman, Thief [Lawrence Doheny] 2-part tvm |
1981 |
Coward of the County [Dick Lowry] tvm |
1982 |
The Cradle Will Fall [John L. Moxey] tvm |
1983 |
Testament [Lynne Littman] tvm; addph: Charles Minsky; ep PBS-tv series 'American Playhouse'; also released theatrically |
1986 |
Courage [Jeremy Paul Kagan] tvm |
1986 |
Judith Krantz's I'll Take Manhattan [Richard Michaels & Douglas Hickox] 2-part tvm (1987); ph (London and New York): Larry Pizer |
1987 |
Engineering Design: CAD 2 - Product Modelling Systems [John Simmons] doc/60m; cph: Graham Banks & Laurie Rush; for BBC-tv/Open University |
1990 |
Shangri-La Plaza [Nick Castle] mus comedy pilot/24m; for CBS-tv (Special Presentation) |
1992 |
The Bat, the Cat and the Penguin [John Pattyson & Mike Meadows] doc special (the making of 'Batman Returns')/22m |
1993 |
Roswell [: The U.F.O. Cover-Up]/Incident at Roswell [Jeremy Paul Kagan] tvm; aph: John M. Stephens |
1995 |
Present Tense, Past Perfect [Richard Dreyfuss] tvm/30m; also seg of comp 'Anything for Love' (Showtime-tv) |
1995 |
A Midwife's Tale [Richard P. Rogers] docudrama/89m/16mm; cph: Peter Stein; addph: Tony Cucchiari & Robert Zimmerman; ep PBS-tv series 'American Experience' |
1996 |
Once You Meet a Stranger [Tommy Lee Wallace] tvm |
1997 |
Color of Justice [Jeremy Paul Kagan] tvm; aph: Donald Sweeney |
2004 |
Mrs. Harris [Phyllis Nagy] tvm; uncred add c.op: Nancy Schreiber |
2005 |
The Loop [pilot dir by Betty Thomas] 17-part series, 2006-07; 1st season, 2006; other ph: Michael A. Price & Jonathan West |
2005 |
Briar & Graves [Michael Katleman] pilot; for FOX-tv |
2006 |
The Danny Comden Project [Robert Duncan McNeill] tvm/30m |
2006 |
Craft in America [ep #1 'Memory' dir by Nigel Noble, #2 'Landscape' dir by Daniel Seeger & #3 'Community' dir by Hilary Birmingham] 13-part doc series, 2007-14; (main) title ph; ph: Don Lenzer (#1 & 3), Peter Pilafian (#2) & Allan Palmer (#3); for PBS-tv |
2008 |
Raising the Bar [pilot dir by Jesse Bocho] 25-part series, 2008-09; other ph: Rick Bota & Frank Perl |
2009 |
Craft in America [ep #4 'Origins' dir by Nigel Noble & #5 'Process' dir by Daniel Seeger] (main) title ph; ph: Don Lenzer (#4) & Sidney Lubitsch (#5); see 2006 |
2009 |
Tap Dreams [Dean Hargrove] pilot/HD; for intended doc dance series |
2010 |
The Miles Davis Documentary [Christopher Wilkinson] doc/90m/HD; addph: Paolo Cascio; for HBO-tv |
2011 |
Craft in America [ep #6 'Messages' dir by (uncred) & #7 'Family' dir by Carol Sauvion] (main) title ph; ph: Sidney Lubitsch; see 2006 |
2012 |
Craft in America [ep #8 'Threads' dir by Carol Sauvion] (main) title ph; ph: Sidney Lubitsch; see 2006 |
2012 |
Hemlock Grove [pilot (ep #1) 'Jellyfish in the Sky' dir by Eli Roth] 33-part series/HD (Canon EOS C300 & 5D)-to-HD, 2013-15; 1st season, 2013 (13 ep); ph Pittsburgh unit: Michael Huss; aph: Patrick Longman; other ph: Fernando Arguelles; for Netflix |
2013 |
Gutsy Frog [Mark A.Z. Dippé] pilot; for ? |
MISCELLANEOUS | |
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1963 |
Blood Feast/Feast of Flesh [Herschell Gordon Lewis] uncred ?; ph: H.G. Lewis |
1965 |
Monster A-Go Go/Terror at Halfday [Bill Rebane] uncred ?; ph: Frank Pfeiffer |
1966 |
An Eye for an Eye [Herschell Gordon Lewis] ?; ph: H.G. Lewis; never completed and unreleased |
1967 |
The Girl, the Body, and the Pill/The Pill [Herschell Gordon Lewis] c.op; ph: Roy Collodi |
1977 |
A Wedding [Robert Altman] co-c.op; ph: Charles Rosher Jr. |