Willy Hameister
Willy Hameister (born Wilhelm Franz Hameister ; born December 3, 1889 in Kranzfelde ( Greifenhagen district , Pomerania ), † February 13, 1938 in Berlin ) was a German cameraman , a veteran of cinematography .
Life
Hameister began his professional career in 1904 at the ' Deutsche Bioscop '; his first work as a cameraman was so-called current events in 1906/07.
From 1912 Hameister concentrated on the feature film, he cranked his first work for the novice director Harry Piel . Immediately afterwards, Joe May from Vienna, who was a little more experienced as a director, signed him up . Above all, the director Otto Rippert , whom Willy Hameister had met as an actor in June 1912 during the cinematic reconstruction of the events surrounding the sinking of the Titanic (“ In Nacht und Eis ”), kept the cameraman busy at the beginning. After his military service from 1914 to 1918, Hameister resumed his work as a cameraman for Rippert's scandal-ridden 'Sittenfilm' " Hyenas of Lust ". Immediately afterwards he photographed one of his most opulent works for Rippert, the large-scale Renaissance picture sheet “ The Plague in Florence ”.
In the same year 1919, Willy Hameister was involved in one of the most legendary classics in cinema history, the expressionist masterpiece “ The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari ". Nevertheless, since then he has only been allowed to photograph high-class dramas and epics for a short time, including “ Genuine ” by Caligari director Robert Wiene , Urban Gad's “ Christian Wahnschaffe ” and Dimitri Buchowetzki's “ Peter the Great ” with Emil Jannings in the title role.
Soon afterwards, Hameister's oeuvre sank into mediocrity. He only photographed a considerable number of simple comedies, antics and pranks like " Princess Trulala ", " No Celebration Without Meyer " and " The Horror of the Garrison ", a handful of melodramas as well as adventure, set and sensational films with Ellen Richter .
From 1933 onwards he mostly only received orders for short films; for larger productions, Hameister had to move abroad several times ( Czechoslovakia and Portugal ). In the summer of 1936, Hameister was also one of several cameramen who had been involved in Leni Riefenstahl's Olympia film.
When he became seriously ill in May 1937, Willy Hameister withdrew from film. He died a year later, just a few months after his 48th birthday.
Filmography
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literature
- Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 3: F - H. Barry Fitzgerald - Ernst Hofbauer. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 500 f.
Web links
- Willy Hameister at filmportal.de
- Willy Hameister in the Internet Movie Database (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hameister, Willy |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hameister, Wilhelm Franz (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German cameraman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 3, 1889 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kranzfelde , district of Greifenhagen |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 13, 1938 |
| Place of death | Berlin |