A question about the art

Filmosity · Dec 15, 2004

hi Mr. Mullen,

I've posted this in Roy Wagner's forum, but it also applies to you (and other ASC members and associates). I apologize for the nearly verbatim post, but most of it applies.

I am an aspiring cinematographer. I am basically getting experience on the job as a grip because I cannot afford film school. I'm currently trying to get jobs working as an AC. I've been reading Cinematography by Kris Malkiewicz, which is a fairly good read. But since I have this resource (Student Filmmakers), I'm interested in picking your brain a bit.

First off, I've found the art and craft of lighting to be difficult but amazingly rewarding and fun. I love it the more I do it, and wish I could spend so much more time perfecting it. I've also been reading American Cinematographer Magazine regularly (I have a subscription), and I try to take as much information in about the choices the cinematographers make.

What I'm now interested in is what your favorite movies are...the ones that inspired you; the ones whose lighting made your jaw drop and your mind reel; the movies that made you want to go out and get that lighting just right. What films would you recommend I watch to get that same response?

In that same vein, who are the cinematographers who have inspired you, or mentored you....and why? What is it about them that made them special? How did you get involved with them.

I'd also like to get your take (as well as any other ASC members who frequent this board) on the new Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. Have you been able to see an advanced screening of it? If so, what do you think of the lighting design and other aspects of the cinematography? If not, would you mind sharing your thoughts if/when you do see it?

I'm also curious for your opinions (without stepping on peoples toes or egos too much...please be honest, but not mean) on Ocean's 12.

Thanks for your answers. And thank you for all your replies to my other posts as well.

Chris

David Mullen ASC · Dec 16, 2004

You asked for it!

I'm not going to list anything after 2000 because I want time to think about it... And I'm sure I've forgotten some from each decade because someone always says "what about -- ?" and I go "how could I forget that!".

FAVORITE CINEMATOGRAPHY BY DECADE

Silent Era:
Broken Blossoms (1919)
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921)
The Last Laugh (1922)
Nosferatu (1922)
Battleship Potemkin (1925)
Sparrows (1926)
Metropolis (1927)
Sunrise (1927)
Wings (1927)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

1930’s:
All’s Quiet On the Western Front (1930)
Morocco (1930)
Dishonored (1931)
Scarlet Empress (1934)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935)
Garden of Allah (1936)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Alexander Nevsky (1938)
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
Gone With The Wind (1939)
Wuthering Heights (1939)
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)

1940’s:
Grapes of Wrath (1940)
The Long Voyage Home (1940)
Rebecca (1940)
Citizen Kane (1941)
How Green Was My Valley (1941)
Casablanca (1942)
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
The Life & Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
Henry V (1944)
Jane Eyre (1944)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Spellbound (1945)
Beauty and the Beast (1946)
Duel in the Sun (1946)
Great Expectations (1946)
A Matter of Life & Death (1946)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
Black Narcissus (1947)
The Fugitive (1947)
Out of the Past (1947)
Hamlet (1948)
Oliver Twist (1948)
The Red Shoes (1948)
The Third Man (1949)

1950’s:
Rashomon (1950)
An American in Paris (1951)
Moulin Rouge (1952)
Othello (1952)
Singin’ In The Rain (1952)
Ugetsu Monogatari (1953)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Night of the Hunter (1955)
Pather Panchali (1955)
Aparajito (1956)
Lust for Life (1956)
Moby Dick (1956)
The Searchers (1956)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
The Seventh Seal (1957)
Throne of Blood (1957)
Wild Strawberries (1957)
Touch of Evil (1958)
Vertigo (1958)
Apur Sansar (1959)
Ben-Hur (1959)

1960’s:
Psycho (1960)
Spartacus (1960)
El Cid (1961)
One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
Yojimbo (1961)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Cleopatra (1963)
8 1/2 (1963)
Hud (1963)
The Trial (1963)
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
I Am Cuba (1964)
Dr. Zhivago (1965)
Help! (1965)
Red Beard (1965)
Bonnie & Clyde (1967)
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1967)
In Cold Blood (1967)
Hell in the Pacific (1968)
Romeo & Juliet (1968)
2001 (1968)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
The Wild Bunch (1969)

1970’s:
The Conformist (1970)
Patton (1970)
Ryan’s Daughter (1970)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
The Devils (1971)
Fiddler On The Roof (1971)
The French Connection (1971)
Klute (1971)
The Last Picture Show (1971)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
Cabaret (1972)
Cries & Whispers (1972)
Deliverence (1972)
Fat City (1972)
The Godfather (1972)
Last Tango In Paris (1972)
The Exorcist (1973)
The Long Goodbye (1973)
Paper Moon (1973)
The Three Musketeers (1973)
Chinatown (1974)
The Godfather, Part II (1974)
Lucky Lady (1974)
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
The Sugerland Express (1974)
Barry Lyndon (1975)
Day of the Locust (1975)
Three Days of the Condor (1975)
All the President’s Men (1976)
Bound For Glory (1976)
Network (1976)
1900 (1976)
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976)
Robin & Marion (1976)
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
The Duelists (1977)
Eraserhead (1977)
The Exorcist II (1977)
Jesus of Nazarith (1977)
Days of Heaven (1978)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Interiors (1978)
Superman (1978)
Agatha (1979)
Alien (1979)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Dracula (1979)
Manhattan (1979)
1941 (1979)
Tess (1979)

1980’s:
The Elephant Man (1980)
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Heaven’s Gate (1980)
Raging Bull (1980)
The Shining (1980)
Stardust Memories (1980)
Chariots of Fire (1981)
Excalibur (1981)
Pennies From Heaven (1981)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Reds (1981)
True Confessions (1981)
Blade Runner (1982)
Das Boot (1982)
E.T. (1982)
One From the Heart (1982)
Sophie’s Choice (1982)
Fanny & Alexander (1983)
The Right Stuff (1983)
Rumblefish (1983)
Wagner (1983)
Yentl (1983)
Amadeus (1984)
Dune (1984)
Greystoke (1984)
The Natural (1984)
1984 (1984)
Brazil (1985)
The Color Purple (1985)
Ladyhawke (1985)
Legend (1985)
Mishima (1985)
Out of Africa (1985)
Ran (1985)
Blue Velvet (1986)
The Mission (1986)
A Room With A View (1986)
Angel Heart (1987)
Empire of the Sun (1987)
The Last Emperor (1987)
Red Sorghum (1987)
Someone to Watch Over Me (1987)
Baron Munchausen (1988)
Tequila Sunrise (1988)
Tucker (1988)
Born On the Fourth of July (1989)
Fat Man & Little Boy (1989)
Mountains of the Moon (1989)

1990’s:
Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams
Dick Tracy (1990)
Ju Dou (1990)
The Godfather, Part III (1990)
Hamlet (Zefferilli) (1990)
Henry & June (1990)
Memphis Belle (1990)
Miller’s Crossing (1990)
The Sheltering Sky (1990)
Barton Fink (1991)
Bugsy (1991)
Delicatessen (1991)
The Doors (1991)
JFK (1991)
Raise the Red Lantern (1991)
Terminator II (1991)
Tous Les Matins Du Monde (1991)
Batman Returns (1992)
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
Far & Away (1992)
1492 (1992)
Jennifer 8 (1992)
Howard’s End (1992)
Like Water For Chocolate (1992)
Unforgiven (1992)
The Age of Innocence (1993)
Little Buddha (1993)
The Piano (1993)
Remains of the Day (1993)
Schindler’s List (1993)
Searching For Bobby Fischer (1993)
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
Legends of the Fall (1994)
Natural Born Killers (1994)
The Secret of Roan Inish (1994)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Wyatt Earp (1994)
Braveheart (1995)
Casino (1995)
City of Lost Children (1995)
Crimson Tide (1995)
Flamenco (1995)
A Little Princess (1995)
Nixon (1995)
Seven (1995)
A Walk in the Clouds (1995)
The English Patient (1996)
Evita (1996)
Fargo (1996)
Michael Collins (1996)
Amistad (1997)
Character (1997)
Kundun (1997)
Titanic (1997)
A Civil Action (1998)
Dark City (1998)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Tango (1998)
The Thin Red Line (1998)
The Matrix (1999)
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Snow Falling On Cedars (1999)

David Mullen ASC · Dec 16, 2004

As for my developing interest in cinematography, it all started when I was a kid watching "Star Trek" and Japanese monster movies. This led to an interest in reading science fiction which in turn got me to see "2001" (on TV) and read everything on the making of it.

I was in high school in the late 1970's and saw a lot of movies that inspired me to want to make movies. In particular, there were two films: "Superman", which got me interested in who the cinematographer was and what he did since the movie is dedicated to the late Geoffrey Unsworth (who I knew had shot "2001" as well) and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", a film where I first noticed camera movement and editing and how it worked together (Spielberg being great for learning that aspect, just like studying Hitchcock is a good idea.)

At the end of high school, beginning of college, I saw two more influential films, "Alien" and "Apocalypse Now." At this point, I was starting to watch older movies and foreign movies. I got up on Kubrick's other movies (and "The Shining" was released around this time) plus was amazed by Kurosawa's "Kagemusha" when it was released (being half-Japanese, I'm sort of fascinated by Japanese cinema and art.) In college, I became a major Kurosawa addict.

Cinematography-wise, I was still heavily into a lot of British cinematographers, thanks to Kubrick partly, but also David Lean: Unsworth, Alcott, Ozzie Morris, David Watkin, Freddie Young, Freddie Francis, and Jack Cardiff later when I fell in love with those 3-strip Technicolor Powell-Pressburger movies.

Then I got into Storaro big-time (this was the heyday of "Apocalypse Now", "Reds", etc. plus I was catching up on "The Conformist" and "Last Tango in Paris", etc.). I still consider myself somewhat of a follower of Storaro, just like Caravaggio had followers...

My studies of classic movies led me into the great works of American cinema -- "Citizen Kane" and then more Welles movies but also John Ford, Hitchcock, film noir, old Technicolor movies, etc. This led even further back into an interest in Silent Era films, especially Buster Keaton's. Of those people, Gregg Toland and James Wong Howe are particular favorites both as shooters and as philosophers about cinematography.

And then there are the greats of the late 1960's and later on, especially Gordon Willis and Conrad Hall, giants in my book.