NEWTON THOMAS SIGEL

#2: "Superman Returns" [2005]

NEWTON THOMAS SIGEL ASC

Born: ? August 1955, Detroit, Michigan, USA. Also cred as Thomas Sigel & Tom Sigel.

Education: Studied painting in Detroit and New York.

Career: Started as painter, culminating with an artist-in-residency at the Whitney Museum, New York.

Ph and directed doc's. Ph music videos: 'Burning Down the House' [a: Talking Heads; d: David Byrne], 'So In Love' [1991; a: K.D. Lang; d: Percy Adlon], 'Barefoot' [1991; a: K.D. Lang; d: Percy Adlon], 'Burn' [1994; a: Nine Inch Nails; d: Hank Corwin & Trent Reznor], 'I Got You, Babe' [a: UB40; d: Jonathan Demme], a.o.

Member of the ASC since 2000. Married to prod/dir Lisa Chang.

Appeared in the doc's 'X-Men Production Scrapbook' [2000], "The Second Uncanny Issue of X-Men! Making 'X2'" [2003] & 'Cinematographer Style' [2005, Jon Fauer; ph: J. Fauer, Jeff Laszlo, Brian Heller & David Morgan].

Awards: As doph: CableACE Award nom [1988] for 'Home Fires'; Independent Spirit Award nom [1996] for 'The Usual Suspects'; Online Film Critics Society Award nom [2000] for 'Three Kings'.

As dir: USA FF 'Grand Prize' [2005; shared] & Malibu FF 'Audience Award' Best Short Film [2005; shared] for 'The Big Empty'.

Newton Thomas Sigel: 'When I got out of high school, I was invited to The Whitney Museum's fellowship program in New York City. I was painting and making little films that used to be called 'experimental', 'personal', or worse yet - 'avant-garde'. It was a great time in New York and every day was filled with creative inspiration. Sometimes, I would go across the street from my studio and listen to Phillip Glass rehearse. Other days I spent hours at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, just staring at the Vermeers. On Mercer Street was the Anthology Film Archives, which showed the works of people like Kenneth Anger and Maya Deren. To make matters worse, I was enamored of the New Wave filmmakers - Godard, Resnais, Fellini, Antonioni, and the like. Everything they did seemed so fresh and invigorating, so unpredictable; they made me stop painting to focus on filmmaking.

This was also, however, a time of great political turmoil, so I inevitably gravitated toward documentaries. With Pamela Yates and Peter Kinoy, I formed a team and traveled to the most tumultuous places to make our films. In particular, the work I did photographing the wars of Central America caught the eye of the great cinematographer, Haskell Wexler.

In 1983, Haskell wanted to make a film about the secret war that Ronald Reagan was orchestrating against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. He helped get Pam and me enough money to go to Honduras. From there we walked over the border to Nicaragua and became the first people to film these secret proxy-warriors, called the Contras. The resulting documentary was the basis for Haskell's film, 'Latino'. That was what I still think of as my 'film school'.

Haskell had no business hiring me, and I was too stupid and naïve to be scared. What I did know was that I never wanted to slow him down, or have him think, "Why don't I just shoot this myself?" There was a benefit to that - learning to shoot quickly.

I expected to soak up the magic of Haskell's lighting genius, but it wasn't really the case. He felt so freed by not having to be the DP, or having a director to restrict him, that every time I tried to use a little bounce card or something, he would say, "Don't f**k with Mother Nature." I was doing my first feature and wanted to light everything, so I had to remember that he hired me for the way I used available light.

A lot of what Haskell taught me, I didn't even realize until my next project. It was a small film with Angela Bassett and Bill Cobb, and a first-time director from the theater. On the first location scout, the A.D. asked how much of the location would be seen. The director turned to me and said, "I don't know. Tom, how much will we see?" That's when I realized I was on my own.

When they started to rehearse, I found myself gravitating toward certain vantage points and visualizing the camera as if it was another performer on the set. As I helped the actors with blocking and worked out camera choreography, I realized this instinct came from my days with Haskell.

On 'Latino', he had me following actors like I was shooting a documentary - always seeing how far the shot could go, how much we could push any individual set-up and letting the movement of the camera come organically from the performers. Without my being conscious of it, Haskell had given me a foundation in staging the actors and the camera. This is something that continues to influence me every day I step on a set. For that, I will always be grateful to Haskell. If you don't like my films, well, blame him.' [From article 'Under The Influence 2006 - ICG Members Reflect On The Art And People That Inspire Them To Create Memorable Images' compiled by Pauline Rogers.]

FILMS
1972	Lucifer Rising [Kenneth Anger] 16mm (+ 35bu)/c; exp short/29m; uncred ph; uncred cph: Chris O'Dell
1979	We Are the Guinea Pigs [Joan Harvey] 16mm/c; doc/91m; co-addph; ph: Tom Hurwitz
1979	Valley of Tears [Hart Perry] 16mm+v-to-film/c; doc/82m; co-addph; ph: H. Perry; filmed over a 20-year period; released in 2003
198?	The Town of Hadley [Tom Sigel] ?; doc/?m
1981	El Salvador: Another Vietnam [Glenn Silber & Teté Vasconcellos] 16mm/c; doc/53m; addph: Michael Anderson (San Francisco), Peter Schnall (New York), Miguel Ehrenberg (El Salvador), a.o.
1981	Resurgence: The Movement for Equality vs. the Ku Klux Klan [Pamela Yates & Tom Sigel] 16mm/c; doc/54m
1982	La operación [Ana Maria García] 16mm/c; doc/40m
1982	Quest for Power: Sketches of the American New Right [Saul Landau] c; doc/52m; cph: Frans Bromet & Haskell Wexler
1982	In Our Hands [Robert Richter & Stanley Warnow] 16mm/c; doc/90m; cph: Oliver Wood, Ed Lachman, Steven Fierberg, Phil Parmet, Don Lenzer, Robert Leacock, a.o.
1983	Nicaragua: Report from the Front [Deborah Shaffer] 16mm/c; doc/32m; + co-prod
1983	When the Mountains Tremble [Pamela Yates] 16mm/c; doc + dram seq/83m; film was updated in 1992
1983	Los marielitos [Estela Bravo] 16mm/c; doc/57m; cph: Judy Irola
1983	Atomic Artist [Glenn Silber & Claudia Vianello] c; doc/30m; cph: Michael Anderson & Ron Fricke; also aired on PBS-tv
1983	Latino [Haskell Wexler] c
1984	Witness to War: Dr. Charlie Clements [Deborah Shaffer] 16mm/c; doc/30m; cph: Sandi Sissel
1984	One on Every Corner: Manhattan's Greek-Owned Coffee Shops [Doreen Moss & Andrea Hull] c; doc/48m
1985	True Stories [David Byrne] c; co-2uc Texas; ph: Ed Lachman
1986	Dead of Winter [Arthur Penn] c; co-2uc; ph: Jan Weincke
1986	Platoon [Oliver Stone] c; 2uc; ph: Robert Richardson
1986	Are We Winning, Mommy? America and the Cold War [Barbara Margolis] b&w-c; doc/87m; cph: Tom Hurwitz & Stuart Math
1986	Machito: A Latin Jazz Legacy [Carlos Ortiz] b&w-c; doc/58m; addph: Jose Garcia, Ghasem Ebrahimian & Stuart Math
1986	Matewan [John Sayles] c; 2uc; ph: Haskell Wexler
1987	Wall Street [Oliver Stone] c; 2uc; ph: Robert Richardson
1987	The Thin Blue Line [Errol Morris] c; doc/103m; co-addph; ph: Stefan Czapsky & Robert Chappell
1987	Inheritance [Bill Donovan] c; doc/80m; cph: Jacek Laskus, Robert Fulton, a.o.; prod started in 1978
1987	Exquisite Corpses [Temístocles López] 16mm/c; cph: Stephen McNutt
1987	American Dream [Barbara Kopple + 3 co-dir] 16mm/c; doc/98m; co-addph; ph: Peter Gilbert, Hart Perry, a.o.; released in 1990
1988	Comic Book Confidential [Ron Mann] b&w-c; doc/90m; co-addph; ph: Robert Fresco & Joan Churchill
1988	Heart of Dixie [Martin Davidson] c; addph; ph: Robert Elswit
1988	I'm Gonna Git You Sucka [Keenen Ivory Wayans] c; addph; ph: Tom Richmond
1988	Rude Awakening [Aaron Russo & David Greenwalt] c
1989	Wild Orchid [Zalman King] c; Kansas ph; ph: Gale Tattersall
1989	No More Disguises [Tom Sigel, Pamela Yates & Boryana Varbanov] v/c; doc/6m
1989	Teatro! [Edward Burke, Ruth Shapiro & Pamela Yates] c; doc/58m; cph: Reuben Aaronson
1989	H-2 Worker [Stephanie Black] 16mm/c; doc/70m; addph; ph: Maryse Alberti
1989	Pump Up the Volume [Allan Moyle] c; addph; ph: Walt Lloyd
1990	The Doors [Oliver Stone] p/c; co-2uc; ph: Robert Richardson
1990	No Secrets [Dezsö Magyar] c; co-addph; ph: Sandi Sissel
1990	Red Hot + Blue [seg #10 (5m) 'So In Love' dir by Percy Adlon; a: kd lang] b&w-c/V; mus comp/111m; other ph: John de Borman, Ed Lachman, Declan Quinn, a.o.; this film (18 music videos + art breaks) accompanied the comp album (20 tracks) from the Red Hot Organization (an AIDS Benefit project); also an ABC-tv special
1990	Salmonberries [Percy Adlon] c
1991	Crossing the Bridge [Mike Binder] c
1991	Oliver Stone: Inside Out [Steven Fischler & Joel Sucher] c; doc/75m; cph: Martin Toub; addph: Guido Van De Vyvere
1991	Into the West [Mike Newell] c; 2uc: Des Whelan
1992	Indian Summer [Mike Binder] p/c; moose unit ph: Per-Inge Shei, K.E. Post, Len Gilday & Richard Stringer
1993	Money for Nothing [Ramon Menendez] p/c; 2uc (+ Steadicam op): Jim McConkey
1993	The Getaway [Roger Donaldson] p/c; uncred co-2uc; ph: Peter Menzies Jr.
1993	Blankman [Mike Binder] c
1994	Suspicious [David Koepp] c; short/10m
1994	The Usual Suspects [Bryan Singer] s35/c; addph: Bruce Douglas Johnson; 2uc: P. Scott Sakamoto (+ co-Steadicam op) & Eric Goldstein
1994	Casino [Martin Scorsese] s35/c; co-2uc; ph: Robert Richardson
1995	Foxfire [Annette Haywood-Carter] s35/c
1995	Nixon [Oliver Stone] p/c; co-2uc; ph: Robert Richardson
1995	Lost in Mississippi [Jim Chambers] 16mm-35bu/b&w-c; doc/85m; cph: Douglas Cooper
1995	The Trigger Effect [David Koepp] c
1995	Blood and Wine [Bob Rafelson] c; 2uc: Michael McGowan
1996	Apt Pupil [Bryan Singer] s35/c
1996	Fallen [Gregory Hoblit] p/c
1997	Brokedown Palace [Jonathan Kaplan] c
1998	Three Kings [David O. Russell] s35/c; 2uc: Philip Pfeiffer
1999	X-Men [Bryan Singer] p/c; 2uc: Paul Sarossy & Mike Benson; ph sfx scenes: Derek Vanlint
2002	Confessions of a Dangerous Mind [George Clooney] s35/c
2002	X2/X-Men 2 [Bryan Singer] s35/c; 2uc: Gary Capo; aph (addph Hawaii): Michael Prickett & Ron Condon; miniature ph: Dave Drzewiecki; vfx ph: David Stump & Eric Swenson; Pyro crew ph: Barry Walton; + small part
2003	Valley of Tears [Hart Perry] see 1979
2003	The Brothers Grimm [Terry Gilliam] c; replaced Nicola Pecorini as 1st unit ph; 2uc: Milan Chadima; addph: Nicola Pecorini; action unit ph: Ervin Sanders; model unit ph: Nigel Stone & Peter Talbot
2004	Keep Right [Tim Godsall] HD/c; short/4m
2004	The Big Empty [Lisa Chang & Newton Thomas Sigel] s35/c; short/20m; + co-adaptation
*2005*	Good Night, and Good Luck [George Clooney] scheduled as ph, but replaced by Robert Elswit
2005	Superman Returns [Bryan Singer] HD (Genesis)+s35 (high-speed)-to-35mm scope (+ IMAX-70bu & D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Ross Emery; baseball unit L.A. ph: Robert LaBonge; aph (New York & L.A.): Hans Bjerno; vfx ph: Bill Neil
*2005*	Logan's Run [Bryan Singer or James McTeigue] pre-production; project was shelved
2006	Towelhead/Nothing Is Private [Alan Ball] HD (Genesis)-to-35mm scope/c
2007	Leatherheads [George Clooney] s35-to-35mm/c
2007	The Hurt Locker [Kathryn Bigelow] s16+HD (REDLAKE Hi-Speed)-to-35mm/c; Canada ph; ph: Barry Ackroyd

[Left] with actor Tom Cruise and dir Bryan Singer - "Valkyrie"

2007	Valkyrie/Walküre [Bryan Singer] s35-to-35mm (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Josh Bleibtreu & Ross Emery; aph: John Marzano; reshoots in June 2008
*2007*	[Superman:] Man of Steel/Superman Unleashed [Bryan Singer] announced; filmed 2011-12 by dir Zack Snyder and ph Amir Mokri
2008	Frankie & Alice [Geoffrey Sax] s35/c
2009	Prodigy [Brandon Camp] c; short/10m; prod for The Responsibility Project sponsored by Liberty Mutual Insurance
2009	Leap Year [Anand Tucker] p (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Howard Atherton (Dublin) & David Higgs (West of Ireland; + 2ud)
2009	The Conspirator [Robert Redford] s35 (+ D-Cinema)/c
2010	Movie 43/Truth or Dare [seg 'Happy Birthday' dir by Brett Ratner] RED-to-35mm (+ D-Cinema)/c; 14 seg; other ph: William Rexer, Daryn Okada, Matthew Leonetti, Eric Scherbarth, Mattias Andersson Rudh, Steve Gainer, Frank DeMarco & Tim Suhrstedt; released in 2013
2010	Drive [Nicolas Winding Refn] HD (ARRI ALEXA + Canon EOS 5D)-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema)/c
2011	Jack the Giant Slayer/Jack the Giant Killer [Bryan Singer] HD (Genesis + ARRI ALEXA)+RED Epic-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema [also 3-D version] & IMAX-70bu [also 3-D version])/c; aph: Jeremy Braben & (add) John Marzano; vfx ph: Steven Hall
2011	World War Z [Marc Forster] HD (ARRI ALEXA M & Studio)+s35-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema)/c; uncred cph (finished film when R. Richardson had to leave to work on 'Django Unchained'); uncred cph: Robert Richardson; ph (reshoots November-December 2012): Ben Seresin (got sole credit as ph); 2uc: Igor Meglic & Balazs Bolygo; aph: Adam Dale & John Marzano
2012	The Seventh Son [Sergei Bodrov] HD (ARRI ALEXA)-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema [also 3-D version])/c; 2uc: Brian Pearson & Ronald Hersey; aph: Dylan Goss
2013	X-Men: Days of Future Past [Bryan Singer] HD (ARRI ALEXA M & XT)+s8+s16-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema [also 3-D version])/c; 2uc: Larry Blanford; aph 2u: Hans Bjerno; aph Washington DC vfx unit: Brian Heller
2015	X-Men: Apocalypse [Bryan Singer] RED Epic Dragon-to-D-Cinema (scope [also 3-D version])/c; 2uc: Larry Blanford; splinter unit ph: Sylvaine Dufaux; add splinter unit ph: Andrew Huebscher
2015	Marshall [Reginald Hudlin] HD (ARRI ALEXA 65)-to-D-Cinema (2.20:1)/c; ph Los Angeles: Tim Angulo; filmed 2015-16
2017	Bohemian Rhapsody [Bryan Singer] HD (ARRI ALEXA 65 & SXT)+35mm-to-digital (scope)/c; addph: Chris Clarke; 2uc: Nanu Segal & Rina Yang

TELEVISION & INTERNET
1982	CBS Reports: Guatemala [Martin Smith] doc/60m; for CBS News
1982	The Brazilian Connection - A Struggle for Democracy/A conexão brasileira [Helena Solberg] 16mm-to-tape/c; doc/58m; cph: Affonso Beato & Ron Zinnerman; for PBS-tv
1983	Captive in El Salvador [prod: Ofra Bikel] doc/60m; ep PBS-tv public affairs series 'Frontline' (1984)
1984	Crisis in Central America [ep #3 'Revolution in Nicaragua' prod by Martin Smith] 4-part doc special for PBS-tv public affairs series 'Frontline' (1985)
1984	What About Mom and Dad?/Our Aging Parents [prod: Ofra Bikel] doc/60m; for PBS-tv public affairs series 'Frontline' (1985)
1985	Will There Always Be an England?/The Other England [prod: Ofra Bikel] doc/60m; ep PBS-tv public affairs series 'Frontline' (1986)
1987	Home Fires [Michael Toshiyuki Uno] 2-part tvm; 2uc: Sandi Sissel
1987	Tales from the Hollywood Hills [ep 'Pat Hobby Teamed with Genius' dir by Robert C. Thompson, 'Natica Jackson' dir by Paul Bogart & 'A Table at Ciro's' dir by Leon Ichaso] 6-part PBS-tv series; 2uc: Sandi Sissel
1987	Power, Passion and Murder [Paul Bogart & Leon Ichaso] tvm/102m; comp of 'Natica Jackson' & 'A Table at Ciro's'
1987	[Ann Magnuson's] Vandemonium Plus [Tom Sigel, Tom Rubnitz & Stephen Oakes] doc/43m
1987	Perfect People [Bruce Seth Green] tvm
1987	The Wonder Years [pilot dir by Steve Miner, #2 'Swingers' dir by Neal Marlens & Carol Black & #3 'My Father's Office' dir by Jeffrey Brown] 115-part series/16mm, 1988-93; 1st season, 1988; other ph: Sandi Sissel (+ c.op #2-3)
1987	Doll Day Afternoon [Sandy McLeod] tvm/4m; seg NBC-tv series 'Saturday Night Live'
1989	Roe vs. Wade [Gregory Hoblit] tvm
1989	Martin Scorsese Directs [Joel Sucher & Steven Fischler] doc/56m; cph: Joan Churchill, Martin Toub, a.o.; ep PBS-tv series 'American Masters'
1989	Challenger [Glenn Jordan] tvm
1989	Rock Hudson [John Nicolella] tvm
1990	Cop Rock [pilot dir by Gregory Hoblit] 11-part series
1990	Turner & Hooch/The Kid [Donald Petrie] pilot/30m; for NBC-tv
1990	A Promise to Keep [Rod Holcomb] tvm
1991	Murder in High Places [John Byrum] tvm
1991	A Comedy Salute to Michael Jordan [Paul Miller] special/60m; cph: Dick Sato, Emmett Wilson, Hector Ramirez, a.o.
1992	Daybreak/Bloodstream [Stephen Tolkin] tvm
1994	A Time to Heal/Jenny's Story [Michael Toshiyuki Uno] tvm
1994	TV Nation/The Naked Eye [Michael Moore] 17-part comic investigative series, 1994 (NBC-tv) & 1995 (Fox-tv); other ph: Tom Hurwitz, Hart Perry, a.o.
1995	In the Beginning: The Creationist Controversy [Cynthia Malek & Jack Ginay] 2-part doc/112m; + co-ed; revised and aired again in 2001

[Right] with dir John Frankenheimer - "Ambush"

2000	Ambush [John Frankenheimer] s35/c; short/6m; seg of 5-part internet film series 'The Hire' for carmaker BMW
2004	House M.D. [pilot dir by Bryan Singer] 176-part series/s35-to-HD, 2004-12; 1st season, 2004-05; other ph: Walt Lloyd & Roy H. Wagner
2014	Battle Creek [pilot 'The Battle Creek Way' dir by Bryan Singer] 13-part series/HD (Sony F55), 2015
2014	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny/Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend [Yuen Woo-ping] RED Epic Dragon-to-UHD (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc action unit: Richard Bluck; for Netflix
2017	The Gifted [ep #1 'eXposed' dir by Bryan Singer] series, 2017-present; 1st season, 2017-18 (13 ep); uncred 2uc: Brian Pearson
2018	Dhaka [Sam Hargrave] HD/c; for Netflix

FILMS & TELEVISION AS [2U] DIRECTOR
198?	The Town of Hadley [+ ph] see Films
1981	Resurgence: The Movement for Equality vs. the Ku Klux Klan [co-d; + ph] see Films
1987	[Ann Magnuson's] Vandemonium Plus [co-d; + ph] see Television & Internet
1989	No More Disguises [co-d; + ph] see Films
2002	Point of Origin/In the Heat of Fire [tvm] ph: Anthony Nakonechnyj
2004	House M.D. [ep #4 'Maternity'; tv-series, 1st season] ph: Walt Lloyd
2004	The Big Empty [co-d; + co-adaptation/ph] see Films
2006	House M.D. [ep #50 'Lines in the Sand'; tv-series, 3rd season] ph: Gale Tattersall
2009	Eat Pray Love [Ryan Murphy] 35mm (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2ud Italy; ph: Robert Richardson