Gilbert Taylor, BSC Will Receive ASC International Achievement Award

[Tim Tyler]

Gilbert Taylor, BSC will receive the 2006

American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) International Achievement Award,

which is presented annually to a cinematographer who compiled their main body

of work outside the United States. The presentation will be made during the

20th Annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards here at the Century Plaza Hotel

on February 26, 2006.

 

Taylor's career stretched over eight decades. He started as an assistant

cameraman in 1929 at the age of 15 and earned nearly 70 cinematography

credits, including such classics as DR. STRANGELOVE, A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, THE

OMEN and STAR WARS. Taylor received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the

British Society of Cinematographers in 2002.

 

"Gil Taylor's artistry contributed to many memorable films that made an

indelible impression on audiences," says Russ Alsobrook, ASC, chairman of the

organization's Awards Committee. "He expanded the vocabulary of visual story-

telling and inspired many cinematographers to explore new ideas."

 

Taylor joins a distinguished group of recipients of the ASC International

Achievement Award, including Freddie Young, BSC, Jack Cardiff, BSC, Gabriel

Figueroa, AMC, Henri Alekan, Raoul Coutard, Freddie Francis, BSC, Giuseppe

Rotunno, ASC, AIC, Oswald Morris, BSC, Billy Williams, BSC, Douglas Slocombe,

BSC, Witold Sobocinski, PSC, Miroslav Ondricek, ASC, ACK, and Tonino Delli

Colli, AIC.

 

"This recognition is more important to me than an Oscar or any other award I

can think of because it comes from my peers," Taylor says. "So many excellent

cameramen have received it. I am honored to be included among them."

 

Taylor was born in April 1914 in Bushey Heath, England. He began his career at

Gaumont-British studios as an assistant cameraman, and advanced to camera

operator on crews with such master cinematographers as Young and Harry Waxman.

 

Taylor served as an officer in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserves for six

years during World War II. He flew over Germany on Lancaster bombers and

filmed more than 1,000 night bomber raids, documenting the damage they caused.

He was one of the first persons to take a camera on these operations. Taylor

also filmed German prison camps and action on the front lines.

 

After the war ended, he briefly worked on documentaries and commercials before

earning his first narrative film credit as a cinematographer for JOURNEY

TOGETHER in 1946. Taylor shot some 25 films in England during the 1950s and

early '60s. In 1963, he recorded the iconic imagery for Stanley Kubrick's DR.

STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB. That film's

aerial footage and background plates required about 28,000 miles of flying

time in a B-17 Flying Fortress.

 

Taylor and director Richard Lester filmed the antics of the Beatles for A HARD

DAY'S NIGHT in 1964. That classic film proved to be a forerunner of music

videos. During the mid- to late-sixties, he collaborated with Roman Polanksi

on three visually compelling films, THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, REPULSION and CUL-

DE-SAC, the latter two which earned BAFTA nominations for Taylor's black-and-

white photography. When a character in REPULSION, played by Catherine Deneuve,

descended into madness, Taylor was quoted as saying, "I hate doing this to a

beautiful woman."

 

His 1971 collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock on FRENZY was a reunion of sorts.

He had served as clapper/film loader for cinematographers John A. Cox and

Bryan Langley during the filming of Hitchcock's NUMBER 17 in 1932.

 

In 1975, Taylor worked with Richard Donner on THE OMEN, which sparked a

revival of horror genre films. Two years later, he filmed STAR WARS with

George Lucas, and in 1978, he photographed DRACULA with director John Badham.

 

"Gil Taylor was an amazingly versatile cinematographer," observes ASC

President Richard Crudo. "He worked in black and white and color, in virtually

every genre from science fiction to humor, drama and fright films. His

approach to cinematography was original and artful and has stood the test of

time."

 

Taylor's credits during the 1980s, included LOSIN' IT and THE BEDROOM WINDOW,

directed by Curtis Hanson. He retired in 1994 after shooting DON'T GET ME

STARTED in order to concentrate on studying painting with artists on the Isle

of Wight and in Surrey.