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Page 1: From First Cameraman to Director of Photography
Page 2: Film vs. Digital Video
Page 3: Oliver Stapleton: So You Wanna Work in Movies?
Page 4: What It Took to Create 'Collateral'
Page 5: Bleach Bypass - Digital Intermediate - Steadicam - Louma Crane
Page 6: Cinematographers-Turned-Director: A - F
Page 7: Cinematographers-Turned-Director: G - Q
Page 8: Cinematographers-Turned-Director: R - Z
Page 9: A History of Aerial Cinematography
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Guy Green - Bernard Knowles - Rudolph Maté - Ronald Neame - Bruno Nuytten Thaddeus O'Sullivan - C.M. Pennington-Richards
Born: 5 November 1913, Frome, Somerset, UK. Died: 15 September 2005, Beverly Hills, Calif., USA. Worked as a projectionist for the Commercial Maritime Film Service on the ocean liner 'The Majestic', ran a portrait studio in London and served as a clapper boy for Sound City, an advertising company, before entering the film industry as a c.asst in 1933 at Elstree Studios, becoming c.op in 1935. Became doph in 1940 and director in 1953. Was co-founder of the BSC. Received an 'Oscar' AA [1947; b&w] for 'Great Expectations', the ASC 'President's Award' [2000] and a BAFTA Lifetime Achievement Award [2001].
Born: 20 February 1900, Manchester, UK, as Bernard Joseph Knowles. Died: 12 February 1975, Taplow, Bucks., UK. Started career as newspaper ph, at one point going to the USA to work for the Detroit News. Returned to the UK in 1922. Became c.asst at Gainsborough [Islington Studios]. Brother Cyril [1905-61] was a doph.
see entry
Born: 23 April 1911, Hampstead Garden, London, UK, as Ronald Elwin Neame, son of actress Ivy Close [1890-1968] and portrait ph and dir Elwin Neame [1885-1923]. Died: 16 June 2010, Los Angeles, Calif., USA. Studied at the University College, London, and Hurstpierpoint College, West Sussex. Financial problems caused by his father's death in 1923 forced him to leave public school and he went to work at British International Pictures' newly opened Elstree Studios as a gofer. Was clapper boy on Alfred Hitchcock's 'Blackmail' [1929; ph: Jack Cox], before becoming c.asst to doph Jack Cox and Claude Friese-Greene. Became doph in 1933. Ph many 'quota quickies' before graduating to more prestigious films at Ealing Studios, including several George Formby comedies. The association on 'In Which We Serve' [1942] with director David Lean and [associate] producer Anthony Havelock-Allan was formalized as Cineguild in 1944, formed by Havelock-Allan who invited the others to join, and the resulting prod company contributed substantially to the prestige of 1940s British cinema. Active as prod, e.g. 'Brief Encounter' [1945, David Lean] and 'Oliver Twist' [1948, David Lean]. After the demise of Cineguild in 1947, he turned to directing. Received many awards/nominations, e.g. Venice FF 'Golden Lion' nom [1958] for 'The Horse's Mouth', BAFTA Film Award nom [1961] for 'Tunes of Glory' & Cannes FF 'Palme d'or' nom [1969] for 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'. His son Christopher [1942-] is a film prod.
Born: 28 August 1945, Melun, France. Failed entrance exam to the Paris film school IDHEC, but secured a place at the INSAS, the French language film school in Brussels, Belgium. Became c.asst working with Ghislain Cloquet, Ricardo Aronovich & Claude Lecomte. Ph his first film in 1968. Turned director in 1987 with 'Camille Claudel'. Received awards/nominations, e.g. 'César' Award [1977] for 'Barocco', 'César' Award [1984] for 'Tchao pantin' & BAFTA Film Award [1988] for 'Jean de Florette'.
Born: 2 May 1947, Dublin, Ireland. Moved to London in 1966, where he received his early film training at the Ealing School of Art and the Royal College of Art. In the late 1970s he made two influential experimental films about the life of the Irish immigrant in London: the short film 'A Pint of Plain' and the feature-length 'On a Paving Stone Mounted' [1978]. During the 1980s, he developed into a highly-regarded lighting cameraman, working on important Irish independent films. His international breakthrough came as doph on Andrew Grieve's 'On the Black Hill', which was critically acclaimed for its beautiful and evocative landscapes. He continued to direct his own films during this period. His first fiction feature as director was 'December Bride'. Also active as dir for the theatre ['A Country in Our Heads', 1991, Dublin]. Received awards/nominations, e.g. European Film Awards 'Special Jury Award II' [1990] for 'December Bride' & Venice FF 'Golden Lion' nom [1995] for 'Nothing Personal'. [Using quotes from article by Martin McLoone on the screenonline website.]
Born: 17 December 1911, South Norwood, London, UK., as Cyril Montague Pennington Richards [his surname is Richards not Pennington-Richards]. Died: 2 January 2005, Chichester, West Sussex, UK. Became involved with filmmaking when his skill as an inventive ph was tapped by J. Arthur Rank, who in 1934 abandoned working for his father's prosperous flour business to produce films for the Religious Film Society. Forming his own company, Religious Films Ltd, Rank took Pennington-Richards under his wing, and 'Penny' later recalled how they made films using Rank's airing-cupboard as their 'studio', making movies with an elaborate arrangement of lathes and puppets, with openings made either side of the cupboard so that the puppets could be animated against scenery which lined the cupboard's walls. The results were shown in Sunday Schools and Methodist halls, and their live-action shorts included 'Inasmuch' [1934], which gave Greer Garson her first screen role, and 'William Tyndale' [1937]. His feature debut as doph was the low-budget 'Blarney'. During national service with the Crown Film Unit, he was employed as doph on Humphrey Jennings landmark doc 'I Was a Fireman/Fires Were Started'. After the war, he filmed segments for the magazine series 'Pathé Pictorial', then he resumed working for Rank. In 1951, he ph Brian Desmond Hurst's 'Scrooge', which received a mixed reception at the time of release but is now considered the definitive version of Dickens's tale. He made 3 films with the blacklisted American director Edward Dmytryk, e.g. the noirish thriller 'Obsession'. Dmytryk wrote in his autobiography: 'The photographer on the film was a bearded young man named C. Pennington Richards - 'Penny' for short. He was one of those rare Englishmen with whom an American can find no fault at all. 'Penny' was more than willing. Our main set, the sub-basement, was supposed to be lit with two bright overhead hanging work lights, shaded with those large green enamel shades so common in old workrooms. 'Penny' inserted a photo-flood bulb in each. When we walked on the set in the morning, a pull on the lamp cords lit the set. When an actor walked close to a light, he was hot; when he backed too far away, he nearly disappeared in the background. But God, did it look real!' Made his directorial debut with the 'The Oracle/The Horse's Mouth'. Also dir ep of several tv-series. Directed his last film, 'Sky Pirates', in 1976, then retired to Bognor Regis, West Sussex, with his second wife, Beausie, a daughter of the King of Fiji. He bought a motor-bike at the age of 75 and became a courier, but his wife persuaded him to give it up five years later after he had an accident. [Using quotes from obituary by Tom Vallance published in The Independent, 14 January 2005.]
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