Jeff Wexler Posted May 19, 2014 Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 The Cinema world has lost one of its shining stars and greatest masters. Gordon Willis was, of course, best known for his work as Director of Photography on the 'Godfather I, II, and III,' and also such films as 'All the President's Men,' 'Manhattan,' 'Annie Hall,' 'Klute,' 'Presumed Innocent,' 'Zelig,' 'The Parallax View,' 'The Paper Chase,' 'Little Murders,' and many others. Gordon's first feature was 'End of the Road,' in 1970, and his last film before retirement was 'The Devil's Own,' in 1997, 30 years of incredible Cinematography. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrd456 Posted May 19, 2014 Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 Gordon Willis was a Master and his work should be studied. Godfather was shot at a time when it was very difficult to do the dark type of effect he got in those scenes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted May 19, 2014 Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 Absolute top guy, one of the best. Annie Hall, The Godfather... what a legend. Willis often told the story about how the Paramount execs were incensed at how dark the dailies were when he was shooting The Godfather, and they kept trying to have him fired off the picture, but Coppola stood up for him and demanded he be left alone. Sadly, Willis was never even once nominated for Best Cinematography up until 1983, a victim of politics. He did get an honorary Oscar in 2009. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted May 19, 2014 Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 Sadly I never had the pleasure of working with Mr Willis, I only knew him through the stories of others like Jim Webb. I knew him though through his work as a Cameraman. A master craftsman/artist without dispute. Big fan of his work. My condolences to his family and friends. May he rest in peace. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted May 19, 2014 Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 Very nice short documentary on his work in The Godfather: And a nice tribute by ASC president Richard Crudo: “This is a momentous loss. He was one of the giants who absolutely changed the way movies looked. Up until the time of The Godfather 1 and 2, nothing previously shot looked that way. He changed the way films looked and the way people looked at films.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted May 19, 2014 Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 Willis was an undeniably great DP in an era in which DP politics were very tightly controlled by the ASC and the union. DPs who made waves, broke rules and spoke their minds suffered for doing so, no matter how good they were. Willis was one of those, as was the late Jim Glennon, as well as our patron DP-Saint, Haskell Wexler. They may not have won all the awards they should have, but their work will be studied (and copied) for as long as there are movies. philp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McL Posted May 19, 2014 Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 Sad day for light and shadow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted May 20, 2014 Report Share Posted May 20, 2014 Jan has the best obit line ever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottcompton Posted May 20, 2014 Report Share Posted May 20, 2014 Amazing. I can replay images of all of those movies listed above in my mind. In particular, the nighttime scenes in All the President's Men were so tense. Manhattan's slightly raised black values make it such a beautiful movie and the Godfather saga are the gold standard in my mind of motion picture photography. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted June 2, 2014 Report Share Posted June 2, 2014 A fitting tribute IMO http://www.theasc.com/blog/2014/06/02/gordy/#more-7151 CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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