R.I.P. Michael Chapman

[Monterey Jack]

https://variety.com/2020/film/people-ne ... 234778398/

Terrific cinematographer, from Taxi Driver to Raging Bull to Philip Kaufman's remake of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (a superbly-shot film) to The Fugitive.

[Paul MacLean]

https://variety.com/2020/film/people-ne ... 234778398/

Terrific cinematographer, from Taxi Driver to Raging Bull to Philip Kaufman's remake of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (a superbly-shot film) to The Fugitive.

Sad news, but what a mark he made in the profession.

I was struck by his comment 'Visual splendor can be “a terrible mistake,” he told Variety...“It shouldn’t be beautiful — it should be appropriate.'" That's an age-old controversy, not unlike the argument "music should be felt not heard".



Sad day for the business though, considering we also lost Ron Cobb.

[AndyDursin]

Great cinematographer -- sure it's sad, but that's a full life and a brilliant career.

These passings also highlight how artists like Chapman haven't been replaced over the last few decades. Who's going to be bemoaning the cinematographers of today 30 or 40 years from now? Sure, there's Roger Deakins and...Roger Deakins...and...

The art form isn't what it once was, I don't know how you argue any other way.

[Monterey Jack]

These passings also highlight how artists like Chapman haven't been replaced over the last few decades. Who's going to be bemoaning the cinematographers of today 30 or 40 years from now? Sure, there's Roger Deakins and...Roger Deakins...and...

The art form isn't what it once was, I don't know how you argue any other way.

It's the same thing with all behind-the-scenes film craftspeople, from cinematographers to composers to F/X artists...a steady "blandification" of cinema. As little as a quarter-century ago, you could see a movie with a melodic, theme-driven musical score, colorful, beautifully-grainy cinematography and special effects that were truly special. Now, every movie looks and sounds the same, with the advent of digital camera systems squashing the spontaneity of get-it-on-the-fly photography in the era when movies were shot on actual celluloid. When I started getting heavily into movies around the beginning of the 90's, I began to notice the particular "look" of a movie shot by Chapman, or Conrad L. Hall, or Dean Cundey, whoever, and began to really study the block o' text at the bottom of movie posters, not just to see who was directing or starring, but also the heads of the various tech departments, from cinematography to music to the makeup people. Now, now matter who's working on a movie's lighting, it all looks the same, harsh, flat and eerily smooth. Look at Martin Scorsese's The Irishman compared to his previous films...despite the services of a top-notch DP (Rodrigo Prieto), it had that antiseptic "Netflix Sheen" that all streaming movies and shows have these days.