Michael Chapman, A.S.C.

American Society of Cinematographers

The American Society of Cinematographers is an educational, cultural, and professional organization. It is not a labor union, and it is not a guild. Membership is by invitation and is extended only to directors of photography and special effects experts with distinguished credits in the film...

 (born November 21, 1935) is an American cinematographer whose prominence owes most to his innovative work of the 1970s and 1980s.

He began his career as a camera operator, distinguishing himself on Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg

Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...

's Jaws

Jaws (film)

Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...

. As a cinematographer, he became famous for his two collaborations with Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese

Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...

, Taxi Driver

Taxi Driver

Taxi Driver is a 1976 American drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. The film is set in New York City, soon after the Vietnam War. The film stars Robert De Niro and features Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, and Cybill Shepherd. The film was nominated for four Academy...

and Raging Bull. Chapman was also cinematographer for the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 film)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a 1978 science fiction film based on the novel The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney. It is a remake of the 1956 film of the same name. It was directed by Philip Kaufman and starred Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams and Leonard Nimoy.A San Francisco health inspector and...

.

Chapman's style tends towards high contrasts and aggressive use of strong colors. He is also extremely adept at setting up complex camera movements quickly and improvising on the set. This style is epitomized in the boxing sequences in Raging Bull, during which the camera was often strapped to the actors through improvised rigs. Chapman was also the principal cinematographer on Scorsese's documentary The Last Waltz

The Last Waltz

The Last Waltz was a concert by the rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco...

.

Besides his work with Scorsese, Chapman has worked as Director of Photography for directors Hal Ashby

Hal Ashby

Hal Ashby was an American film director and film editor.-Birth and early years:Born William Hal Ashby in Ogden, Utah, Ashby grew up in a Mormon household and had a tumultuous childhood as part of a dysfunctional family which included the divorce of his parents, his father's suicide and his...

, Philip Kaufman

Philip Kaufman

Philip Kaufman is an American film director and screenwriter. His movies have adapted novels of widely different types – from Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being to Michael Crichton’s Rising Sun; from Tom Wolfe’s heroic epic The Right Stuff to the erotic writings of Anaïs Nin’s...

, Martin Ritt

Martin Ritt

Martin Ritt was an American director, actor, and playwright who worked in both film and theater. He was born in New York City.-Early career and influences:...

, Robert Towne

Robert Towne

Robert Towne is an American screenwriter and director. His most notable work may be his Academy Award-winning original screenplay for Roman Polanski's Chinatown .-Film:...

, Michael Caton-Jones

Michael Caton-Jones

Michael Caton-Jones is the director of such films as Scandal, Rob Roy, Memphis Belle and The Jackal...

, Andrew Davis

Andrew Davis (film director)

Andrew Davis is an American film director, producer and cinematographer, noted for the action films Code of Silence, The Fugitive, Chain Reaction, Collateral Damage, Above the Law, The Guardian and Under Siege.-Biography:Born on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, Davis has directed several films...

, and Ivan Reitman

Ivan Reitman

Ivan Reitman, OC is a Canadian film producer and director. He is known for the comedies he has directed and produced, especially in the 1980s and 1990s.He is the owner of The Montecito Picture Company, founded in 2000.-Early life:...

. He occasionally makes cameos in films he shoots. He has directed several films, the best known being All the Right Moves

All the Right Moves

All the Right Moves is a 1983 drama film directed by Michael Chapman and starring Tom Cruise, Craig T. Nelson, Lea Thompson, Chris Penn, and Gary Graham...

(1983), starring Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise

Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....

 in one of that actor's breakthrough roles.

His most recent film was Bridge to Terabithia

Bridge to Terabithia (2007 film)

Bridge to Terabithia is a 2007 fantasy drama film directed by Gábor Csupó and adapted for film by David L. Paterson and Jeff Stockwell. The film is based on the Katherine Paterson novel of the same name, and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures in the US. The film stars Josh Hutcherson, AnnaSophia...

. According to the DVD commentary, Chapman was planning to retire after the film was finished, saying he would have the last film he shot be a good one.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1968	Frontier	Producer
1970	The Landlord The Landlord The Landlord is a 1970 film directed by Hal Ashby, which was based on the novel by Kristin Hunter. The film stars Beau Bridges in the lead role of a well to do white man who becomes landlord of an inner city tenement, unaware that the people he is responsible for are low-income, streetwise residents...	Camera Operator
1972	The Godfather The Godfather The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...	Camera Operator
1973	The Last Detail The Last Detail The Last Detail is a 1973 American comedy-drama film directed by Hal Ashby with a screenplay adapted by Robert Towne from a novel of the same name by Daryl Ponicsan. The film became known for its frequent use of profanity.-Plot:...	Cinematographer / Actor
1974	The White Dawn The White Dawn The White Dawn is a Canadian film, released in 1974, and directed by Philip Kaufman and stars Warren Oates, Timothy Bottoms, and Louis Gossett, Jr. It portrays the conflict between aboriginal peoples' traditional way of life and Europeans' eagerness to take advantage of them. The film employs...	Cinematographer
1975	Jaws Jaws (film) Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...	Camera Operator
	Death Be Not Proud (TV)	Cinematographer
1976	The Next Man The Next Man The Next Man is a 1976 American political action thriller film starring Sean Connery, Adolfo Celi, Cornelia Sharpe and Charles Cioffi. Critical reaction at its opening was not positive. Music for the film features New York guitarist Frederic Hand.-Plot:The film is set during the Arab oil embargo...  The Arab Conspiracy	Cinematographer
	The Front The Front The Front is a 1976 film drama about the Hollywood blacklist during the age of live television. It is written by Walter Bernstein, directed by Martin Ritt and stars Woody Allen and Zero Mostel....	Cinematographer
	Taxi Driver Taxi Driver Taxi Driver is a 1976 American drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. The film is set in New York City, soon after the Vietnam War. The film stars Robert De Niro and features Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, and Cybill Shepherd. The film was nominated for four Academy...	Cinematographer
1978	The Last Waltz The Last Waltz The Last Waltz was a concert by the rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco...  (Doc)	Cinematographer
	King: The Martin Luther King Story (TV)	Cinematographer
	Invasion of the Body Snatchers	Cinematographer
	Fingers Fingers (1978 film) Fingers is a 1978 drama film directed by James Toback.-Synopsis:The film features Harvey Keitel as a pianist who also works for his loan shark father as a "collector"...	Cinematographer
1979	The Wanderers	Cinematographer
	Hardcore	Cinematographer
1980	Raging Bull	Cinematographer
1982	Personal Best	Cinematographer
	Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid is a 1982 comedy film directed by Carl Reiner and starring Steve Martin and Rachel Ward. It is both a parody of, and an homage to, film noir and the pulp detective movies of the 1940s....	Cinematographer
1983	The Man with Two Brains The Man with Two Brains The Man with Two Brains is a 1983 American science fiction comedy film directed by Carl Reiner and starring Steve Martin and Kathleen Turner....	Cinematographer
	All the Right Moves All the Right Moves All the Right Moves is a 1983 drama film directed by Michael Chapman and starring Tom Cruise, Craig T. Nelson, Lea Thompson, Chris Penn, and Gary Graham...	Director / Cinematographer
1986	The Clan of the Cave Bear The Clan of the Cave Bear (film) The Clan of the Cave Bear is a 1986 film based on the book of the same name by Jean M. Auel and was directed by Michael Chapman.-Plot:The film stars Daryl Hannah as Ayla, a young Cro-Magnon woman who was separated from her family during an earthquake and found by a group of Neanderthals...	Director
	The Annihilator (TV)	Director
	Legal Eagles Legal Eagles Legal Eagles is a 1986 romantic crime comedy-drama film written and directed by Ivan Reitman, and starring Robert Redford, Debra Winger, and Daryl Hannah.-Plot:...	Songwriter
1987	The Lost Boys The Lost Boys The Lost Boys is a 1987 American teen comedy horror film directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Kiefer Sutherland, Jami Gertz, Corey Feldman, Dianne Wiest, Edward Herrmann, Alex Winter, Jamison Newlander, and Barnard Hughes....	Cinematographer
	Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery (TV Series)	Producer
1988	Shoot to Kill	Cinematographer / Actor
	Scrooged Scrooged Scrooged is a 1988 American comedy film, a modernization of Charles Dickens' novella, A Christmas Carol. The film was produced and directed by Richard Donner, and the cinematography was by Michael Chapman. The screenplay was written by Mitch Glazer and Michael O'Donoghue...	Cinematographer
	Gotham: The Dead Can't Lie	Cinematographer
1989	Third Degree Burn (TV)	Actor (Starring)
	Ghostbusters 2	Cinematographer
1990	Quick Change Quick Change Quick Change is a 1990 comedy film starring Bill Murray, who also co-directed with the film's screenwriter Howard Franklin. Geena Davis, Randy Quaid, and Jason Robards co-star. Other cast members include Tony Shalhoub, Stanley Tucci, Phil Hartman, Victor Argo, Kurtwood Smith, Bob Elliott, and...	Cinematographer / Actor
	Kindergarten Cop Kindergarten Cop Kindergarten Cop is a 1990 American comedy thriller film directed by Ivan Reitman and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger stars as John Kimble, a tough police detective, who must go undercover as a kindergarten teacher to catch drug dealer Cullen Crisp , before Crisp can get to his...	Cinematographer / Actor
1991	Doc Hollywood Doc Hollywood Doc Hollywood is a 1991 American romantic comedy film based on the book, What? Dead...Again?, by Neil B. Shulman, M.D. The film stars Michael J. Fox, Julie Warner, Woody Harrelson and Bridget Fonda. It was directed by Michael Caton-Jones. The filming took place in Micanopy, Florida.-Plot:Dr....	Cinematographer / Actor
1992	Whipsers in the Dark Whispers in the Dark (film) Whispers in the Dark is a 1992 thriller about a psychiatrist whose patient's lover may or may not be a serial killer. The film starred Annabella Sciorra, Jamey Sheridan, Alan Alda, Jill Clayburgh, John Leguizamo and Anthony LaPaglia. The film was released by Paramount Pictures on August 7, 1992...	Cinematographer
1993	Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography (Doc)	Interviewee
	The Fugitive The Fugitive (1993 film) The Fugitive is a 1993 American thriller film based on the television series of the same name. The film was directed by Andrew Davis and stars Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. The film was one of the few movies associated with a television series to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best...	Cinematographer
	Rising Sun Rising Sun (film) Rising Sun is a [1993 film directed by Philip Kaufman, starring Sean Connery , Wesley Snipes, Harvey Keitel, and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa...	Cinematographer / Actor
1995	The Viking Sagas The Viking Sagas The Viking Sagas is an American film from 1995, directed by Michael Chapman, starring Ralf Möller and Sven-Ole Thorsen.-Plot synopsis:The story takes place in Iceland around the height of the Viking Age, where a young man, Kjartan , must defeat a horde of evil Vikings, intent on taking over his...	Director
1996	Space Jam Space Jam Aside from Jordan, a number of NBA players and coaches appeared in the film. Larry Bird portrays a friend of Jordan who joins him for a game of golf. When the Monstars steal the NBA players' talent, they invade a game between the Phoenix Suns and the New York Knicks, causing the Knicks' Patrick...	Cinematographer
	Raven Hawk	Actor
	Primal Fear Primal Fear (film) Primal Fear is a 1996 American crime drama thriller film directed by Gregory Hoblit and starring Richard Gere and Edward Norton. The film tells the story of a defense attorney, Martin Vail , who defends an altar boy, Aaron Stampler , charged with the murder of a Catholic archbishop. The movie is an...	Cinematographer
1998	Six Days, Seven Nights	Cinematographer
1999	The Story of Us The Story of Us The Story of Us is a 1999 American film directed by Rob Reiner, and starring Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer as a couple married for fifteen years....	Cinematographer
2000	The Watcher The Watcher (film) The Watcher is a 2000 American thriller directed by Joe Charbanic and starring James Spader, Keanu Reeves and Marisa Tomei. Set in Chicago, the film is about a retired FBI agent who is stalked and taunted by a serial killer.-Plot:...	Cinematographer
2001	Evolution Evolution (film) Evolution is a 2001 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and starring David Duchovny, Orlando Jones, Seann William Scott, Julianne Moore and Ted Levine...	Cinematographer
2004	Suspect Zero Suspect Zero Suspect Zero is a 2004 thriller film directed by E. Elias Merhige. It opened to decidedly mixed reviews, and failed to earn back half of its estimated $27 million production costs at the box office.-Plot:...	Cinematographer / Actor
	House of D House of D House of D is 2005 drama film directed by David Duchovny as his directorial debut in film, having previously directed an episode of The X-Files for television. The film stars Erykah Badu, Frank Langella, Téa Leoni, Zelda Williams, Anton Yelchin, and Robin Williams...	Cinematographer / Actor
	Eulogy Eulogy (film) -Plot:The film opens with Kate Collins walking up to a house. She knocks and a woman answers the door. Kate explains that although she doesn't know her she has a long story to explain....	Cinematographer / Actor
2006	Hoot Hoot (film) Hoot is a 2006 American family comedy film based on Carl Hiaasen's novel of the same name. It was directed by Wil Shriner and produced by New Line Cinema and Walden Media. Hoot was released on May 5, 2006....	Cinematographer
2007	Bridge to Terabithia Bridge to Terabithia (2007 film) Bridge to Terabithia is a 2007 fantasy drama film directed by Gábor Csupó and adapted for film by David L. Paterson and Jeff Stockwell. The film is based on the Katherine Paterson novel of the same name, and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures in the US. The film stars Josh Hutcherson, AnnaSophia...	Cinematographer

External links

• Michael Chapman tells his life story at Web of Stories (video)