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Fri 10 Jan, 2003 03:35 pm
Oscar winning cinematographer Conrad L. Hall passed away in Santa Monica, CA on Jan. 4, 2003.
Hall is considered an Oscar contender this year for his work on "Road to Perdition" He won his first Oscar in 1969 for "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and his second in 1999 for "American Beauty". In all, he was nominated for nine Academy Awards.
In 1994 the American Society of Cinematogaphers honored Mr. Hall with its lifetime achievement award.
Richard D. Zanuck (20th Century Fox) said "With Road to Perdition" you could virtually take every frame of his work and blow it up and hang it over your fireplace. It was like Rembrandt at work".
Writer Robert Towne (Mission Impossible 1 & 2", "The Firm) said of Mr. Hall-"he's simply irreplaceable".
Conrad L. Hall's son Conrad W. has been following in his father's footsteps by working his way up thru the ranks of cinematography. Conrad W. was the cinematographer of the "Panic Room" and worked on "American Beauty" as director of photography: second unit.
Conrad L. Hall Feature Films:
Road to Perdition (2002)
American Beauty (1999)
Civil Action, A (1998)
Without Limits (1998)
Love Affair (1994)
Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)
Jennifer Eight (1992)
Class Action (1991)
Tequila Sunrise (1988)
Black Widow (1987)
Marathon Man (1976)
Smile (1975)
Day of the Locust, The (1975)
Catch My Soul (1974)
Electra Glide in Blue (1973)
Fat City (1972)
Happy Ending, The (1969)
Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Rogues' Gallery (1968)
Hell in the Pacific (1968)
In Cold Blood (1967)
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Divorce American Style (1967)
Professionals, The (1966)
Harper (1966)
Incubus (1965)
Morituri (1965)
Wild Seed (1965)
Edge of Fury (1958)
IF YOU HAVE A PERSONAL VIEWING MEMORY REGARDING HIS FILM WORK, PLEASE POST IT IN MEMORY TO THIS ARTIST WHO DEVOTED HIS CAREER TO FILM.
Of all those, "In Cold Blood" and "The Day of the Locust" stand out as masterpieces of cinemtography. The wide screen image has rarely been handled with such artistry and visual concept as in "Locust." The final riot scene makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck just thinking about it. "In Cold Blood" was film noir inspired cinematography brought to it's apex, very nearly on a plateau with "Citizen Kane." It's a film where nearly everything was done with the camera and without a dominant production design.
In honor of cinematographer Conrad L. Hall
The opening low angle shot in "The Day of the Locust" with the spraying water sprinkler in front of the apartment bungalows was poetry in motion. (It has been copied several times since by other cinematographers.)
Mr. Hall's vision in "Locust" had an intimate dreamy quality blended with unusual camera angles. Director John Schlesinger owes a debt to Mr. Hall for giving this film its memorable style. Mr. Hall received an Oscar nomination for his work in the film but lost to another outstanding cinematographer John Alcott for his work on "Barry Lyndon". (The following year John Schlesinger and Mr. Hall teamed up again in the film
"Marathon Man".)
It was what I prefer to call "paying homage to another filmmaker" with something like the lawn and sprinkler shot, notably by David Lynch in the opening shot of "Blue Velvet." He elaborated on the sequence with the bug's eye view of the lawn but the intent was the same. The benign, everyday workings of the Earth and how we all fit into the picture.
"Barry Lydon" is a masterpiece of cinematography (it was even criticized for looking like an art coffee table book, which I thought was a cheap shot). There was in a lot of input from Hall when used table lamps and overhead lights in "Locust," almost exactly like the raw candlelight which Kubrick and his cinematographer used in "Lyndon." A technical achievement Oscar went to those who developed the lens to take the candlelight shots (no artificial studio light was used). Hall used light sources, almost Rembrandt like, in many films. He was indeed a pioneer in advancing cinematography to the high state of the art it is today. Even the cheesiest blockbuster often excels in its cinematography where the rest of the picture underwhelms.
Lightwizard: You are being gracious in your term "paying homage to another filmmaker". I think I prefer the word copied. Case in point--opening scene in "Locust"--sprinkler, opening scene in " Blue Velvet"--
sprinkler.
I agree with you about the good cimematography in some low content blockbuster films.
I think you could trace this "copying" back to the great classics of the thirties and even the twenties. Another great example is in "Body Heat," the wind chime ambiance which was superb symbolism taken from "The Letter" with Bette Davis (one of my favorite films). Lynch did take it a few steps further and the cinematography by Frederick Elmes in that film is incredibly atmospheric, almost stiffling in some shots. Elmes owes a lot to Conrad Hall, from his first job of shooting "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" to "The Ice Storm." I was especially impressed with his cinematography in "In the Gloaming" which gave the film such a sad and poignant look but also an enlightenment. I'm not sure what he's shot recently. The relationship of the director and cinematographer is the most important part of a film -- it's a temporary marriage of the minds that either works or fritters away into mechancial mediocrity.
Back to Conrad, what's your assessment of his work in "Searching for Bobby Fischer" where photographing faces was so instrumental in the success of that picture?
Lightwizard: RE:"Searching for Bobby Fischer"
I saw this film about a young chess prodigy almost 10 years back. I don't remember minute visual details of this film other than Conard L. Hall's clean angeled close-ups during the matches. I don't recall a specific color theme but I believe it was cool in tone similar to "Marathon Man".
It had to be more spectacular than I am recalling because he was nominated for an Oscar for his work in this film.
Hall seldom used soft focus or any kind of filters. The high contrast of the playing scenes in "Bobby Fischer" almost has a noir look to them and hightened the suspense of the film. I think the cinematography was the star of that film.
One Conrad Hall film that really stands out is FAT CITY, where the cinematography was gritty, high contrast, like a film noir in color--perfectly suiting the story of a tank town (Stockton, California) bunch of grifters played by Stacy Keach and Jeff Bridges. BTW this is one of John Huston's forgotten masterpieces and Hall deserves a lot of the credit for its quality.
Thanks to the Academy members for nominating Conrad L. Hall for Oscar consideration in the "Achievement in Cinematography" category for his work in "Road to Perdition".
The five nominees are:
"Chicago" (Miramax) Dion Beebe
"Far from Heaven" (Focus Features) Edward Lachman
"Gangs of New York" (Miramax) Michael Ballhaus
"The Pianist" (Focus Features) Pawel Edelman
"Road to Perdition" Conrad L. Hall (DreamWorks/20th Cent. Fox)
I didn't see Road To Perdition, but I have to say Far From Heaven is the filmto beat this year for cinematography. I've admired Ed Lachman's work for 16 years but this time he really surpassed himself. The rich Fifties color was really astonishing, especially in the exteriors (the opening shots of the film in particular.)
British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) honored Conrad L. Hall with their cinematography award in February 2003 for his work in "Road to Perdition".
Even though I believe most of the visual style in "Road" was due to art director, Conrad did his usual outstanding camera work. Because of Conrad's recent passing, it put him in the front line for winning the award.
My preference in the 2002 film cinematography Oscar category is Polish cinematographer Pawel Edelman for "The Pianist". His discreet long shots and subtle camera angle choices made the viewer feel he/she was witnessing this story right along with the main character. I appreciated not seeing bold flashy shots because the material was strong and emotional.
Congratulations to Conrad L. Hall for his Best Cinematography Oscar win on March 23, 2003 for his work in "Road To Perdition".
It was a pleasure to see his son (a cinematographer) accept the award for his father.
If you rent (or purchase) the DVD "Road to Perdition" there's a nice tribute to Conrad Hall in the extras.
He was certainly a titan among his peers.
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