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Last Active 01-20-16 12:20 am
Joined 01-20-16
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| Greatest Cinematographers
A list of the greatest cinematographers/D.P's to ever grace God's green earth and some of their high watermark moments. Debate, discuss, enjoy. | | 1 |  | Johann Johannsson
Sicario
Roger Deakins - Sicario, Skyfall, The Assassination of Jesse James, True Grit, No Country for Old Men, Shawshank Redemption.
And people thought Leo had it bad before The Revenant? Spare a thought for Roger. 13 Oscar nominations 0 wins. But I doubt Deakins would gauge his incredible career on a golden trophy. Sure it would be nice coming from his peers, but the man is too busy shooting quality films and giving film students advice in his own time on his website.
The reason why he's my favourite is how he elevates what would otherwise be typical standard fare movies into something more; grand, poetic and mesmerizing. It also helps that about 5 of his movies are in my top 10 of all time.
That twilight to nightfall sequence from Sicario with the Delta team submerging into the depths along with Johansson's tense score just blew me away. | | 2 |  | Steven Price
Gravity
Emmanuel Lubezki - Gravity, Birdman, The Revenant, The Tree of Life,
This man is a wizard behind the lens. You could claim he is the greatest of all time and not many would disagree. 3 Oscars in a row should tell you all you need to know. His sense of flow with Birdman (made to look like it was shot in one take) was mesmerizing. The only reason I like Deakins that tiny bit more is that Lubezki's shooting things that are already beautiful by nature (think space in Gravity) and i'm a big sucker for gritty movies that look amazing. It's all personal preference though. | | 3 |  | Joe Hisaishi
Spirited Away
Atsushi Okui - Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Howls Moving Castle
While not a "live action cinematographer" in the purest sense, Okui is still the man responsible for converting the hand-drawn Ghibli animation onto the big screen. I won't bore you with any more details, just go see and appreciate these movies once in your lifetime. | | 4 |  | Haruka Nakamura
Twilight
Asakazu Nakai. - Seven Samurai, High and Low, Ran, Rashomon
Another Japanese genius who's frequent collaborations with the legendary Kurosawa blessed cinema with some of the greatest films of all time. Some of the techniques and styles he used were revolutionary at the time and still hold up today. | | 5 |  | John Barry
You Only Live Twice
Freddie Young - Lawrence of Arabia, You Only Live Twice, Dr Zhivago
Although not boasting the quantity of output compared to the above, for Freddie Young it was more about quality. Lawrence of Arabia is pretty much the gold standard for cinematography in cinema history so he deserves his place in the greats. The other films aren't too shabby either. | | 6 |  | Wendy Carlos
The Shining
John Alcott - Barry Lyndon, 2001: A Space Oddysey, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining
A frequent collaborator with Stanley Kubrick, Alcott is responsible for some of the most memorable images in film history. | | 7 |  | Bernard Herrmann
Vertigo
Robert Burks - Vertigo, Rear Window, Rope, Strangers on a Train, To Catch A Thief
Burks teamed up to form a formidable duo with the legendary Alfred Hitchcock and was the cinematographer in every Hitchcock film from 1951-1964 (except Psycho). | | 8 |  | Nino Rota
The Godfather
Gordon Willis - The Godfather Trilogy, Annie Hall, Manhattan | | 9 |  | Citizen Cain
Serpents In Camouflage
Gregg Toland - Citizen Kane, Wuthering Heights, The Long Voyage Home
Similar to Freddie Young, Toland doesn't boast a large quantity of work but the work he has done is obviously of the highest quality. I mean Citizen Kane, imagine watching that for the first time in the 1940's just staring in awe at the cinematography. | | 10 |  | Bernard Herrmann
Taxi Driver: Original Soundtrack Recording
Michael Chapman - Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Last Waltz, Primal Fear
A frequent collaborator with Scorsese, a formidable duo. The way he shot the boxing scenes in Raging Bull are jaw-dropping in their brutality. | | 11 |  | Alexandre Desplat
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Robert Yeoman - Grand Budapest Hotel, Moonrise Kingdom, Rushmore, The Darjeeling Ltd
Working with Wes Anderson must bring out the best in Yeoman, he has shot five of his films so far. Grand Budapest Hotel being my favourite of his work. | | 12 |  | Arcade Fire
Her
Hoyte van Hoytema - Her, SPECTRE, Interstellar, Svidd Neger, The Fighter, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy | | 13 |  | Javier Navarrete
Pan's Labyrinth
Guillermo Navarro - Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy, Devils Backbone, Pacific Rim | | 14 |  | Hans Zimmer
Inception
Wally Pfister - Inception, Memento, The Dark Knight trilogy, The Prestige, Laurel Canyon | | 15 |  | Junkie XL
Mad Max: Fury Road
John Seale - Mad Max: Fury Road, The English Patient, Rain Man, | | 16 |  | Ennio Morricone
The Hateful Eight
Robert Richardson - The Hateful Eight, Inglorious Basterds, Django Unchained, Casino, The Aviator | | 17 |  | John Williams
Schindler's List
Janusz Kaminski - Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Munich, Tintin | | 18 |  | Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
Alone in Iz World
Harold Rosson - The Wizard of Oz, Singin in the Rain, El Dorado | | 19 |  | N.W.A.
Straight Outta Compton
Matthew Libatique - Straight Outta Compton, The Fountain, Black Swan, Pi | | 20 |  | Yann Tiersen
Le fabuleux destin d'Amelie Poulain
Bruno Delbonnel - Amelie, Inside Llewyn Davis, Dark Shadows, Harry Potter series | | 21 |  | Jonny Greenwood
There Will Be Blood OST
Robert Elswit - There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Nightcrawler | | 22 |  | Cliff Martinez
Drive
Newton Thomas Sigel - Drive, The Usual Suspects, X-Men Days of Future Past, Brokedown Palace | | 23 |  | Cliff Martinez
Only God Forgives
Larry Smith - Only God Forgives, Bronson, The Guard | | 24 |  | Thomas Newman
Road to Perdition
Conrad Hall - Road to Perdition, American Beauty, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid | | 25 |  | Vangelis
Blade Runner Soundtrack
Honorable mentions -
Jordan Kronenweth - Blade Runner, Andrew Lesnie - Lord of the Rings, John Toll - The Thin Red Line, Colin Watkinson - The Fall, Gilbert Taylor - Star Wars. | |
ryu
09.14.16 | I would like to have included several Pixar, Disney and Laika films but I could not track down the cinematographers in the credits - my guess is these films are done by several people. For what it's worth Pete Docter (Pixar) and Travis Knight (Laika) would deserve their place in the greatest list. | Shadowmire
09.14.16 | great list | smaugman
09.14.16 | todd baron (the room) | RadicalEd
09.14.16 | Lubezki and Okui are magicians. This list is pre-cool.
You forgot "Hugo" as one of the major accomplishments of R.Richardson. | Piglet
09.14.16 | Vadim Yusov (Solaris, Andrei Rublev, Ivan's Childhood) | ryu
09.14.16 | Indeed. Hugo was stunning.
I also want to include a late entry for whoever shot Collateral, Heat, Insider
Michael Mann was it? | BigBlob
09.14.16 | Takeshi Kitano | RadicalEd
09.14.16 | Dante Spinotti shot heat, the last of the Mohicans and the insider (also LA Confidential and Public Enemies), Dion Beebe shot collateral | ryu
09.14.16 | Dante Spinotti. Will add to list.
| Stereochrome1
09.14.16 | Tonino Delli Colli should be on here | Stereochrome1
09.14.16 | Oh and Mo-Gae Lee | Havey
09.14.16 | Kazuo Miyagawa and Sven Nykvist are the best of all time | Havey
09.14.16 | I don't think Asakazu Nakai worked on Rashomon | Stereochrome1
09.14.16 | He didn't. He worked on Seven Samurai, Ran, Throne of Blood, and Ikiru. | Stereochrome1
09.14.16 | Kazuo Miyagawa did Rashomon and Yojimbo. | Stereochrome1
09.14.16 | Vittorio Storaro and Luciano Tovoli should be on here. | Polyethylene
09.14.16 | Sacha Vierny, for his work on Drowning By Numbers and The Cook The Thief His Wife & Her Lover. Rest in peace. | Havey
09.14.16 | Agreed on Vierny, but mostly because of the Resnais collaborations | porcupinetheater
09.14.16 | No mention of Yusov, Nykvist, Müller, or Gunnar Fischer, what you tryna play at? | ryu
09.14.16 | I have yet to be familiarised with any of these names. Could you list a few recommendations for me to watch? Chances are I'll probably know the movies just not the name of the D.P | porcupinetheater
09.14.16 | Paris, Texas (Müller)
Solaris (1972) (Yusov)
Andrei Rublev (Yusov)
Kings of the Road (Müller)
Winter Light (Nykvist)
Fanny & Alexander (Nykvist)
The Seventh Seal (Fischer) | Stereochrome1
09.14.16 | Dean Cundey - Halloween, The Fog, Escape From New York, Halloween II, The Thing, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Back To the Future (1-3), Big Trouble In Little China, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and Jurassic Park.
Vittorio Storaro - Apocalypse Now, The Last Emperor, Dick Tracy (not an incredible movie but the cinematography is stylish and it is a lot of fun), The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, and Last Tango In Paris.
Luciano Tovoli - Suspiria, Tenebre, and Titus.
Tonino Delli - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West, Once Upon a Time in America, Life Is Beautiful, Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom.
Mo-Gae Lee - I Saw the Devil, The Good the Bad and the Weird, A Tale of Two Sisters, and My Way.
Shigeyoshi Mine (not one of the best but one of his films is particularly stunning) - Tokyo Drifter
| Stereochrome1
09.14.16 | Georgi Rerberg - The Mirror and Stalker. | porcupinetheater
09.14.16 | Stereo - Did Mine shoot Branded to Kill as well? | Stereochrome1
09.15.16 | Kazue Nagatsuka shot Branded To Kill, which is arguably the actual better film but the cinematography in Tokyo Drifter is just so good. Nagatsuka also did Suzuki's Youth of the Beast |
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