William A Fraker ASC

[Guest Tim Partridge]

I have just read that the great cinematographer died on Tuesday.

 

Six time Oscar nominee (nominated for both cinematography AND visual effects on Spielberg's 1941).

[John Holland]

Thats sad to hear .

[Ignacio Aguilar]

He had a tremendous body of work from the late 60's to the early 80's. I will always admire what he did on "Bullitt", "Rosemary's Baby", "The Exorcist II", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" or "1941", which may well be his masterpiece. And he seemed like a real nice man.

 

Rest in peace, Mr. Fraker.

[Tom Jensen]

He was a good man with a kind heart. On the set he was tough but fair. He never failed to acknowledge your work after a hard day. He had more energy that those half his age. He was a great mentor and I, for one, will miss him.

[Gregory Irwin]

He was a good man with a kind heart. On the set he was tough but fair. He never failed to acknowledge your work after a hard day. He had more energy that those half his age. He was a great mentor and I, for one, will miss him.

 

I couldn't agree more with Tom. Tom, you have stated this perfectly. I just returned from Europe to learn of this very sad news. I had the pleasure of being his First AC during the 1980's and 1990's. He was more than a boss to me. He was my mentor and a sort of a "movie dad". He taught me the discipline and the respect needed to be a top member of the camera department. Was he tough? You bet he was. But he had an effectiveness that wanted you to be more and better - for him. He understood how difficult the job could be and he never failed to show his appreciation for one's efforts. He was always very clear on what he expected of everyone around him, whether you were working directly for him or otherwise. But he was always the gentleman. He taught me the importance of being a gentleman and always exhibiting politeness while on set towards your fellow co-workers. No other way would do with Billy. He was my role model on how to act and portray my professionalism as a cameraman. I too, will miss him profoundly.

 

Cheers Billy! You will always be a part of me.

 

Gregory Irwin

Edited June 20, 2010 by Gregory Irwin

[David Mullen ASC]

I was just looking at the opening of "1941" again for some ideas on a project:

 

 

 

 

 

[Ignacio Aguilar]

I rewatched the very disturbing "Looking for Mr. Goodbar", which was directed by Richard Brooks in 1977. This was Fraker's first Academy Award nomination and one of his best efforts. It's interesting because while being fond of the classical style of the classic "studio look", on "Goodbar" Fraker adopted a very low key look for most scenes and mixed hard and soft sources. But instead of going extremely realistic, he managed to keep a low-con & romantic look, with lots of halation from highlights due to the use of his regular filter pack (most likely a Fog #1 combined with a Mitchell A diffuser) to make the look a bit more friendly to the viewer, since the felt the film itself already was too depressing. The very last scene, with a strobe light that leaves random frames unexposed, is amazing and unforgettable.