Vilmos Zsigmond
Encyclopedia
Vilmos Zsigmond, A.S.C. (born June 16, 1930) is a Hungarian-American cinematographer
.
In 2003, a survey conducted by the International Cinematographers Guild placed Zsigmond among the ten most influential cinematographers in history.
, Hungary
, the son of Bozena (née Illichman), an administrator, and Vilmos Zsigmond, a celebrated soccer player and coach. He studied cinema
at the Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest
. He received an MA in cinematography. He worked for five years in a Budapest feature film studio becoming "director of photography." Together with his friend and fellow student László Kovács
, he chronicled the events of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution in Budapest
on thirty thousand feet of film and then escaped to Austria shortly afterwards. This early chapter of his professional life, with some of their footage of the revolution, constitutes the opening segment of the bio-documentary by PBS's Independent Lens (2009) called "No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos".
In 1962, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He settled in Los Angeles
and worked in photo labs as a technician and photographer. During the 1960s, he worked on many low-budget independent films and educational films, as he attempted to break into the film industry. Some of the films that he worked on during this period credited him as "William Zsigmond," including the classic horror B-Film, The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies
. The first film he worked on in the United States was "The Sadist," starring Arch Hall, Jr.. In 1964 working with a favorite crew which included László Kovács, Jim Enochs, and Ernie Reed, Vilmos shot the European style, neo-noir, black and white film Summer Children (aka A Hot Summer Game) which has recently been fully restored digitally for DVD release.
He gained prominence during the 1970s after being hired by Robert Altman
as cinematographer for McCabe & Mrs. Miller
. Subsequent major films he shot include Altman's The Long Goodbye
, John Boorman
's Deliverance
and Steven Spielberg
's The Sugarland Express
and Close Encounters of the Third Kind
, the latter of which won him the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Zsigmond has worked with Brian De Palma
on Obsession, Blow Out
, The Bonfire of the Vanities
, and The Black Dahlia
, with Michael Cimino
on The Deer Hunter
and Heaven's Gate
, with Richard Donner
on Maverick
and Assassins
, with Kevin Smith
on Jersey Girl
and with Woody Allen
on Melinda and Melinda
, Cassandra's Dream, and You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
.
He has been a longtime user and endorser of Tiffen
filters, and is also associated with the technique known as 'flashing' or 'pre-fogging'. This involves carefully exposing the film negative to a small, controlled amount of light in order to create a muted colour pallette, pioneered by cinematographer Freddie Young
on the 1966 film The Deadly Affair
.
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
.
In 2003, a survey conducted by the International Cinematographers Guild placed Zsigmond among the ten most influential cinematographers in history.
Biography
Zsigmond was born in SzegedSzeged
' is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county town of Csongrád county. The University of Szeged is one of the most distinguished universities in Hungary....
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, the son of Bozena (née Illichman), an administrator, and Vilmos Zsigmond, a celebrated soccer player and coach. He studied cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
at the Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest
Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest
The Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest is a university founded in 1865 in Budapest, Hungary.-Notable alumni:*László Kovács *Vilmos Zsigmond*József Mikó*István Szabó*Miklós Jancsó*Lajos Koltai*Gábor Bódy*Dezső Magyar*Béla Tarr...
. He received an MA in cinematography. He worked for five years in a Budapest feature film studio becoming "director of photography." Together with his friend and fellow student László Kovács
László Kovács (cinematographer)
László Kovács, A.S.C. was a Hungarian cinematographer who was influential in the development of American New Wave films. Most famous for his award-winning work on Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces, Kovács was the recipient of numerous awards, including three Lifetime Achievement Awards...
, he chronicled the events of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
on thirty thousand feet of film and then escaped to Austria shortly afterwards. This early chapter of his professional life, with some of their footage of the revolution, constitutes the opening segment of the bio-documentary by PBS's Independent Lens (2009) called "No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos".
In 1962, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He settled in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and worked in photo labs as a technician and photographer. During the 1960s, he worked on many low-budget independent films and educational films, as he attempted to break into the film industry. Some of the films that he worked on during this period credited him as "William Zsigmond," including the classic horror B-Film, The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies
The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies
-DVD release:The DVD release of Incredibly Strange Creatures features a commentary track by "drive-in movie critic" Joe Bob Briggs.-In popular culture:...
. The first film he worked on in the United States was "The Sadist," starring Arch Hall, Jr.. In 1964 working with a favorite crew which included László Kovács, Jim Enochs, and Ernie Reed, Vilmos shot the European style, neo-noir, black and white film Summer Children (aka A Hot Summer Game) which has recently been fully restored digitally for DVD release.
He gained prominence during the 1970s after being hired by Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
as cinematographer for McCabe & Mrs. Miller
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
McCabe & Mrs. Miller is a 1971 American Western film starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie, and directed by Robert Altman. The screenplay is by Altman and Brian McKay from the novel McCabe by Edmund Naughton. The cinematography is by Vilmos Zsigmond and the soundtrack includes three songs by...
. Subsequent major films he shot include Altman's The Long Goodbye
The Long Goodbye (film)
The Long Goodbye is a 1973 neo noir, directed by Robert Altman and based on Raymond Chandler's 1953 novel of the same name. The screenplay was written by Leigh Brackett, who co-wrote the screenplay for The Big Sleep in 1946...
, John Boorman
John Boorman
John Boorman is a British filmmaker who is a long time resident of Ireland and is best known for his feature films such as Point Blank, Deliverance, Zardoz, Excalibur, The Emerald Forest, Hope and Glory, The General and The Tailor of Panama.-Early life:Boorman was born in Shepperton, Surrey,...
's Deliverance
Deliverance
Deliverance is a 1972 American thriller film produced and directed by John Boorman. Principal cast members include Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ronny Cox and Ned Beatty in his film debut. The film is based on a 1970 novel of the same name by American author James Dickey, who has a small role in the...
and 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 The Sugarland Express
The Sugarland Express
The Sugarland Express is a 1974 American drama film starring Goldie Hawn, Ben Johnson, William Atherton, and Michael Sacks. It was directed by Steven Spielberg, his first film to be intended as a theatrical release .It is about a husband and wife trying to outrun the law and was based on a...
and Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a 1977 science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, and Cary Guffey...
, the latter of which won him the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Zsigmond has worked with Brian De Palma
Brian De Palma
Brian Russell De Palma is an American film director and writer. In a career spanning over 40 years, he is probably best known for his suspense and crime thriller films, including such box office successes as the horror film Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, The Untouchables, and Mission:...
on Obsession, Blow Out
Blow Out
Blow Out is a 1981 thriller film, written and directed by Brian De Palma. The film stars John Travolta as Jack Terry, a movie sound effects technician from Philadelphia who, while recording sounds for a low-budget slasher film, serendipitously captures audio evidence of an assassination involving a...
, The Bonfire of the Vanities
The Bonfire of the Vanities (film)
The Bonfire of the Vanities is a 1990 American film adaptation of the best-selling novel of the same name by Tom Wolfe. The film was directed by Brian De Palma and stars Tom Hanks as Sherman McCoy, Bruce Willis as Peter Fallow, Melanie Griffith as Maria Ruskin, and Kim Cattrall as Judy McCoy,...
, and The Black Dahlia
The Black Dahlia (film)
The Black Dahlia is a 2006 neo noir crime film directed by Brian De Palma. It is based on the novel of the same name by James Ellroy, writer of L.A. Confidential and starred Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Aaron Eckhart and Hilary Swank. The story is based on the murder of Elizabeth Short...
, with Michael Cimino
Michael Cimino
Michael Cimino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and author. He is best known for writing and directing Academy Award-winning The Deer Hunter and the infamous Heaven's Gate. His films are characterized by their striking visual style and controversial subject...
on The Deer Hunter
The Deer Hunter
The Deer Hunter is a 1978 drama film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of Russian American steel worker friends and their infantry service in the Vietnam War. The film stars Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, John Savage, John Cazale, and George Dzundza...
and Heaven's Gate
Heaven's Gate (film)
Heaven's Gate is a 1980 American epic Western film based on the Johnson County War, a dispute between land barons and European immigrants in Wyoming in the 1890s...
, with Richard Donner
Richard Donner
Richard Donner is an American film director, film producer, and comic book writer.The production company The Donners' Company is owned by Donner and his wife, producer Lauren Shuler Donner. After directing the horror film The Omen, Donner became famous for the hailed creation of the first modern...
on Maverick
Maverick (film)
Maverick is a 1994 Western comedy film based on the 1950s television series of the same name, created by Roy Huggins. The film was directed by Richard Donner from a screenplay by William Goldman and features Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster and James Garner, as well as several cameo appearances...
and Assassins
Assassins (film)
Assassins is a 1995 American action film written by the Wachowskis and Brian Helgeland, directed by Richard Donner, and starring Sylvester Stallone, Antonio Banderas and Julianne Moore.-Plot:...
, with Kevin Smith
Kevin Smith
Kevin Patrick Smith is an American screenwriter, actor, film producer, and director, as well as a popular comic book writer, author, comedian/raconteur, and internet radio personality best recognized by viewers as Silent Bob...
on Jersey Girl
Jersey Girl
Jersey Girl may refer to:*Jersey Girl , a 2004 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Kevin Smith*"Jersey Girl" , a song composed and originally sung by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits...
and with Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
on Melinda and Melinda
Melinda and Melinda
Melinda and Melinda is a 2004 film written and directed by Woody Allen. It was premiered at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. The film is set in Manhattan and stars Radha Mitchell as the protagonist Melinda, in two storylines; one comic, one tragic...
, Cassandra's Dream, and You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is a 2010 English-language Spanish-American co-production comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. It features Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Gemma Jones, Freida Pinto, Lucy Punch, Naomi Watts, Roger Ashton-Griffiths and Pauline...
.
He has been a longtime user and endorser of Tiffen
Tiffen
Tiffen Manufacturing Corporation is a company in Hauppauge, New York, U.S.A. which manufactures filters for photography, and other professional film and photography-related products. Founded in 1945, by Sol Tiffen, the company has won several Academy Awards for technical achievements infiltration...
filters, and is also associated with the technique known as 'flashing' or 'pre-fogging'. This involves carefully exposing the film negative to a small, controlled amount of light in order to create a muted colour pallette, pioneered by cinematographer Freddie Young
Freddie Young
Freddie Young OBE, BSC , was one of Britain's most distinguished and influential cinematographers...
on the 1966 film The Deadly Affair
The Deadly Affair
The Deadly Affair is a 1966 British espionage–thriller film, based on John le Carré's first novel Call for the Dead. The film stars James Mason, Harry Andrews, Simone Signoret and Maximilian Schell and was directed by Sidney Lumet from a script by Paul Dehn. In it George Smiley, the central...
.
Awards and nominations
- Oscar, 1977, Close Encounters of the Third KindClose Encounters of the Third KindClose Encounters of the Third Kind is a 1977 science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, and Cary Guffey...
- Nomination, Academy Award, 1978, The Deer HunterThe Deer HunterThe Deer Hunter is a 1978 drama film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of Russian American steel worker friends and their infantry service in the Vietnam War. The film stars Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, John Savage, John Cazale, and George Dzundza...
- Nomination, Academy Award, 1984, Mark RydellMark RydellMark Rydell is an American actor, film director and producer.-Career:Rydell's initial training was in music. As a youth, he wanted to be a conductor. He began his career as an actor and first became known for his role as Walt Johnson on The Edge of Night and as Jeff Baker on As the World Turns,...
's The RiverThe River (1984 film)The River is a 1984 film which tells the story of a struggling farm family in the Tennessee valley trying keep its farm going in the face of bank foreclosures, floods, and other hard times. The father faces the dilemma of having to work as a strikebreaker in a steel mill to keep his family farm... - Nomination, Academy Award, 2006, The Black DahliaThe Black Dahlia (film)The Black Dahlia is a 2006 neo noir crime film directed by Brian De Palma. It is based on the novel of the same name by James Ellroy, writer of L.A. Confidential and starred Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Aaron Eckhart and Hilary Swank. The story is based on the murder of Elizabeth Short...
. - Lifetime Achievement Award, 1999, from the American Society of CinematographersAmerican Society of CinematographersThe 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...