John Alcott

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John Alcott (* 1931 in London ; † July 28, 1986 in Cannes , France ) was an English cameraman . He was best known through his longstanding collaboration with Stanley Kubrick .

Life

He came to film through his father Arthur Alcott, who worked at Gainsborough Studios in the 1940s. Alcott got to know the camera trade from the ground up, first as a camera assistant , then as the person responsible for the depth of field . With Geoffrey Unsworth's team , he was promoted to chief lighting technician on the set of 2001: A Space Odyssey when Unsworth had responsibilities on other projects. With his approach of using as much natural light as possible when lighting, his working method corresponded exactly to the desired style of Kubrick. Alcott photographed the next three Kubrick films, especially noteworthy are various interior shots while shooting Barry Lyndon, in which the set was partially only lit by candles . For this purpose, the Planar f0.7 / 50 mm, a particularly bright lens from Zeiss , which was originally developed for NASA , was used. For his work on Barry Lyndon , John Alcott was awarded the 1976 Oscar for Best Cinematography.

After shooting Shining , Alcott went to the United States in 1980, where he shot five films over the next three years. This was followed by the political drama Under Fire and the Tarzan remake Greystoke - The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes . Alcott had to cancel the filming of Full Metal Jacket due to deadlines , but put his longtime assistant Douglas Milsome on to Kubrick. The political thriller No Way Out by Roger Donaldson with Kevin Costner in the lead role was the last film by John Alcott, a dedication in the credits commemorates him, who died of a heart attack in Cannes in 1986 .

Filmography

Awards

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Alcott, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British cameraman
DATE OF BIRTH 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH London , England, UK
DATE OF DEATH July 28, 1986
Place of death Cannes , France