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If You Could APPRENTICE with ONE CINEMATOGRAPHER Now...?


Tom Lowe

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If conrad hall were alive today...but I guess kevin Zanit will do :P wait I already have. I actually got to see Astronaut Farmer on a plane from Europe and was very impressed with the visuals and I haven't seen very many forums where David has not responded to a question so he has my highest respect.

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I was watching the extras on the New World DVD and he seemed like a really great, positive, exciting and energetic guy to be around.

 

 

Indeed. I too just watched the extras, and he was very active and friendly. Those few glimpses left me wanting more footage of him.

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In no particular order, I'd say Kaminski, Lubeski, Toll, David Mullen, Larry Fong. I agree with what some have said about Emmanuel Lubeski, he seems like he would be a cool guy to work for, but honestly, I think it has to come down to how well the guy (or woman) is able to communicate their knowledge to you. Not to jump on the brown-nosing bandwagon or anything, but of all of those I listed, David Mullen's 4,000-some-odd posts make it clear that he definitely knows how to teach; the other guys probably can too, but I've seen what David does for all of us here. So for that, he would be tops.

 

But until I get such an internship, this forum will definitely keep me busy learning. Props to you guys for sharing your knowledge and experience!

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Im actually trying to meet up with Chris Doyle to see i could work with him and be his intern, if he ever takes one. We're both quite similar , i lived in taiwan for 16 years, he studied his mandarin in Taiwan, he shot loads of films in china, Immmm starting to work on features in china.. who knows huh..

Darius Khondji would be my next pick, the amazing shadows of Se7en and the crazy experimental documentary he shot of Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait .

 

If you spend some time hanging out in HK bars, you might stumble onto Doyle. :)

 

Of course I also agree about Mullen. I've never asked David something he hasn't taken the time to answer, even stupid questions I probably shouldn't bother him with.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've been fortunate enough to visit quite a few DPs while they are working, and being a great DP does not at all imply that someone will be a great teacher. Doyle, while being a brilliant cinematographer, is a well known drunk and apparently hates to talk about the craft. That doesn't mean that he is a bad person, it just means that he might not be excited to tell you his printer lights. Many of the DPs mentioned here have similar, and much worse in other cases, attributes (I won't get into who). I will say that I saw Lubeski at the ASC open house patiently and engagingly talking to a gaggle of young filmmakers. I just want to make the point that if you are looking for a mentor it is not always the best choice to pick someone out of the credits of your favorite film. There are several brilliant teachers of cinematography that are known in the industry but are not necessarily as famous as the guys who shoot the big features.

 

I'm not trying to take the fun out of this thread. In fact, just for fun I will throw in my pick: Roger Deakins. He is a brilliant DP and a very articulate and giving teacher (at least on his website, and I've never heard anything otherwise).

 

As for David Mullin, we have all been fortunate enough to be taken on his sets through his postings. Thanks again.

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  • 4 weeks later...

For me it would be Aussie born John Seale.

 

I have met him once in person he is very down to earth and easy to talk to dispite the fact that his is brilliant at what he does and is well known. He won an Oscar for English Patient.

 

JamesJJ

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  • Premium Member
Unless "JamesJJ" is your professional name in credits, you need to go to My Controls and edit your Display Name into a real first and last name, as per the forum rules. Thanks.

 

 

Billy Bitzer, Greg Toland, James Wong Howe, Conrad Hall, Gordon Willis, Vilmos Zsigmond,

Chris Menges, Robert Richardson and David Mullen.

 

David's work looks great but I think that when he, like many talented people, gets the right project

where he can really cut loose and do more than he may have been free or budgeted to do so far,

he's going to have people (other than those on this forum) saying "I had no idea...."

 

Also, David reminds me of the mechanics that I liked to hang out with at my local gas stations when

I was a teenager. Their knowledge was encyclopediac. They could list the displacment of motors on

almost any car you could name going way back and knew strange facts like the years that Chrysler

reversed the tighten/loosen direction of its lugnuts.

 

Similarly, except rarer I think, David can tell you the stock and ASA of some random film shot

in June, 1953. If you got to watch him work, it would undoubtedly be worthwhile but might be on

a day when he's shooting a more ordinary production at least in technical terms.

 

I'd rather just listen to him talk, barrage him with questions and If I had the money finance a project

with a good script and just say hey do what you want and watch what happens then.

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My top three are

Chris Doyle (He is the guy who introduced me to cinematography. Even though he refuses to teach any techniques, I think it's still worthy to see how he works)

Vittorio Storaro

Robby Muller

Edited by Yutine Fung
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Why do you say Doyle refuses to teach techniques?

 

I had just read through this thread and saw Schneider wrote Doyle "apparently hates to talk about the craft."

I don't know whether this's true or not, but I'd still love to apprentice with Doyle if there's such an opportunity...

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From reading this and "other" forum's I have to agree with the other guys that David Mullen would be a fine choice. I'm a big fan of David's work and even a bigger fan of his personal character. For someone as accomplished as David to be on this and other sites and willing to answer almost any "professional" question shows a true love of the craft. You can learn a lot just reading his post. I bet working with him would be a great learning experience.

 

Toby the "Fanboy"

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