The sudden death of Will Gibson.

[James Brown]

Below is a notice from screen hub.

 

"Wednesday 21 March, 2007

 

Will Gibson, cinematographer, has died unexpectedly.

 

The Melbourne independent production community is in a sombre mood about the unexpected death of Will Gibson.

 

He was the cinematographer on Macbeth, Wolf Creek, Kick and Rogue.

 

He was an excellent DOP, who worked well in difficult conditions, on low budgets, able to provide the angles and the look which made each of these films visually memorable.

 

He embraced and encouraged the use of HD, in which he was an expert.

 

Between films, he was looking forward to new projects, courted by producers eager to involve his eye and skills. Words like passionate, charismatic, infectiously energetic, physically and mentally strong, and a true leader are used by crews for whom his death leaves a painful absence.

 

We understand he was away from people close to him for a few days, and his body was discovered in Apollo Bay on Monday. A fall was involved.

 

We will provide further information with the approval of his family."

 

I'm not at liberty to provide any further information. This is a huge loss for the Australian film community.

[Matthew Buick]

Poor soul. :(

 

How old was he?

[James Brown]

Below is an email forwarded to ACS members from John Bowring in respect to Will Gibson.

 

"It seems incomprehensible and a real tragedy that we have lost Will Gibson. A top bloke and a brilliant cinematographer who was well on his way to being globally recognized for his work.

 

Will started his career casually assisting John Hawley and then joined us at Lemac in 1988 for nearly six years assisting me and Noel Jones. A very intelligent bloke, a quick learner and so so enthusiastic for

his craft, Will was soon shooting - and in all formats. With us he did corporates, promos and ads - his last job on staff was with me as 2nd unit photography on Clive James "Postcard from Cairo" which led him to a lot of work for the BBC.

 

More recently his stunning cinematography on the low, low budget feature "Wolf Creek" was the job that finally made people sit up and really notice. He won Gold at the ACS awards in 2005 for it. "MacBeth" followed and he cut new ground in digital cinematography. His last feature "Rogue" and the cutting edge TV drama "Kick" - we've all yet to see - and it is so sad that he will not be there to receive the inevitable accolades. We've all been so proud of Will and his achievements.

 

I never knew - until his death - that Will had battled all his life with bi-polar disease - which apparently one in five sufferers ends this way. Just recently, after a long hiatus, Will's dark cloud came back, so last Monday, Will went flying at his favourite spot at Apollo Bay.

 

Wouldn't it be great just to be able to wind back the clock just a bit. We will all miss him. Our sympathies to Jarrad and Jody

 

John Bowring, ACS