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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

RIP Gordan Willis ASC.

Emanuel A. said:
All this craziness on high ISOs comes from his legacy, among others, such as Kubrick or Storaro, of course.
Click to expand...
Note that Godfather was shot, I believe, on the old Kodak 5254 emulsion, which was rated at an ASA of 100 (!!!). It was replaced in 1974 by 5247, which was finer grained but rated at the same speed. They eventually got a 400 ASA film in 1983 with 5284, which was grainy as hell.

The genius of many DPs of the 1970s and 1980s was finding ways to work with these limitations, both in using lots of light to deal with the low sensitivity and/or pushing the film in the lab. Willis embraced the shadows of Godfather, which was a very brave step in 1972. The scene that impressed me the most were the dinner scenes where he'd pound the tablecloth with overhead lights, and most of the actors' fill all came from that. Nowadays, people use this sort of thing without even thinking about it, but back then, it was very cutting-edge stuff.

Willis had a lot of disdain for digital:

Asked in 2004 about shooting films digitally, Willis was at that time sceptical: "The organics aren’t the same," he said. "The interpretive levels suffer". He added: "Digital is another form of recording an image, but it won’t replace thinking".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Willis

Very old-school guy. But again, it's all about the lighting.
 
People still call what he did 40+ years ago brave today. That speaks volumes. Someone who the word master or maestro was created for.
 
Marc Wielage said:
Note that Godfather was shot, I believe, on the old Kodak 5254 emulsion, which was rated at an ASA of 100 (!!!). It was replaced in 1974 by 5247, which was finer grained but rated at the same speed. They eventually got a 400 ASA film in 1983 with 5284, which was grainy as hell.

The genius of many DPs of the 1970s and 1980s was finding ways to work with these limitations, both in using lots of light to deal with the low sensitivity and/or pushing the film in the lab. Willis embraced the shadows of Godfather, which was a very brave step in 1972. The scene that impressed me the most were the dinner scenes where he'd pound the tablecloth with overhead lights, and most of the actors' fill all came from that. Nowadays, people use this sort of thing without even thinking about it, but back then, it was very cutting-edge stuff.

Willis had a lot of disdain for digital:

Asked in 2004 about shooting films digitally, Willis was at that time sceptical: "The organics aren’t the same," he said. "The interpretive levels suffer". He added: "Digital is another form of recording an image, but it won’t replace thinking".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Willis

Very old-school guy. But again, it's all about the lighting.
Click to expand...
Sure, it is about lighting. And not a struggle between mediums. Hence, his much deep quote: "Digital is another form of recording an image, but it won’t replace thinking".

All the rest is secondary.

The point is we have today high ISOs as I remember from those oldies days to have 100 ASA in a sunshine day, 200 was already immense : D and 400 ASA straight for those cloudy days (and pushing the film a very common solution, for those dusk or night shots included). Impossible to mimic nowadays except when comes to mind the BMPC4K where higher than ISO200, you risk to find FPN... :P

The point on his legacy is beyond the technology but aesthetics versus business. He dared to go where only the misfits had been. Who else? TV had made the studios to forget the 'film noir'. Famous that Fritz Lang's quote on Cinemascope: "Oh, it wasn't meant for human beings. Just for snakes and funerals."

This is where his vision popped up. 21st Century Cinema owes him his part. Or we wouldn't have people to think miracles are possible with a C100, as it often happens today.

Here is a finest example of a truly indie feature film where I am only one among the producers:


(shot based on this workflow: http://www.pauljoy.com/gear/camera-accessories/atomos-ninja-2-review-with-canon-c100/)
 
A true master of the art of underexposure, he will always be one of my favorites. RIP Mr. Willis, you will be missed.
 
About 10 years ago I got a call to film an interview for a retrospective about the film "Klute" for AMC or something like that. The Director of the film was no longer living so they wanted to talk to Gordon Willis who was the Cinematographer. I was of course excited to go to his home and meet him as he was a huge influence on me, but at the same time I was nervous because I had to light an interview with the master of light, the Prince of Darkness. Of course he was kind and generous with his time and knowledge and a complete gentleman. It is a great loss to our community of one of the great modern cinematographers. A true master.
 
Man, I'm really going to miss hearing Mr. Willis talk about the art and craft of filmmaking. He may not agree with me, but I think one of his greatest contributions to the art was the intellectual rigor with which he approached his work. He insisted on knowing why you wanted to do something, not just what and how. By weeding out superfluous gestures, he arrived at a kind of elegant simplicity which made his work bold and meaningful.

He was a complete filmmaker, as evident in his commitment to storytelling from script, to blocking and coverage, to editing. I'm sure he got into hot water with directors at times for being so opinionated 'outside of his domain' but I think he showed us that cinematography can't be looked at in isolation. All the crafts rely on each other to execute a single shared vision. Otherwise, as I'm sure he'd say, you'd have daytime television.

Thanks for everything Gordon, we're all really gonna miss you.
 
Many year ago I had the pleasure of attending a Lighting workshop with Gordon Willis. We hit it off and spent many evenings with Gordon telling stories over a few glasses of wine. We stayed in touch for many years afterwards. He was a genius behind the lens of so many incredible films. A demanding DP who's work will always stand the test of time. He was a true gentleman, an inspiration and something of a mentor. He will be missed.
 
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