Ben Davis (cinematographer)

Last updated

Ben Davis
Born
Benjamin Davis

(1961-09-06) 6 September 1961 (age 62)
London, England
NationalityBritish
Occupation Cinematographer
Years active1984–present
Spouse
Camille Griffin
(m. 2005)
Children5, including Roman Griffin Davis

Benjamin Davis (born 6 September 1961) is a British cinematographer. [1] His major works include Kick-Ass (2010), Hannibal Rising (2007) and the Marvel Studios films Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Doctor Strange (2016), Captain Marvel (2019) and Eternals (2021). He has collaborated with Matthew Vaughn on four films and Martin McDonagh on three films, including Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri .

Contents

Davis started his career at Samuelsons Camera House, now a part of the motion picture equipment company Panavision. He worked as clapper loader, focus puller, and camera operator in both feature films and commercials. During this period he worked with Billy Williams, Douglas Slocombe and Roger Deakins. He began his career as a cinematographer shooting spots. His first major feature film as a cinematographer was the 2002 British film Miranda . [1] [2]

His father was cinematographer and camera operator Mike Davis. [3] He is married to writer and director Camille Griffin. Their son is actor Roman Griffin Davis. [1]

Filmography

Key
Denotes films that have not yet been released
YearTitleDirectorNotes
2002 Miranda Marc Munden
2004 Layer Cake Matthew Vaughn 1st of 4 collaborations with Vaughn
2005 Imagine Me & You Ol Parker
2007 Hannibal Rising Peter Webber
Stardust Matthew Vaughn
Virgin Territory David Leland
2008 Franklyn Gerald McMorrow
Incendiary Sharon Maguire
2010 Kick-Ass Matthew Vaughn
Tamara Drewe Stephen Frears
The Debt John Madden
2011 The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The Rite Mikael Håfström
2012 Seven Psychopaths Martin McDonagh 1st of 3 collaborations with McDonagh
Wrath of the Titans Jonathan Liebesman
2013 I Give It a Year Dan Mazer
2014 A Long Way Down Pascal Chaumeil
Before I Go to Sleep Rowan Joffé
Guardians of the Galaxy James Gunn 1st of 5 collaborations with Marvel Studios
2015 Avengers: Age of Ultron Joss Whedon
2016 Doctor Strange Scott Derrickson
Genius Michael Grandage
2017 Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Martin McDonaghNominated – BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography
Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Cinematography
2019 Captain Marvel Anna Boden
Ryan Fleck
Dumbo Tim Burton
2021 Cry Macho Clint Eastwood
Eternals Chloé Zhao
The King's Man Matthew Vaughn
2022 The Banshees of Inisherin Martin McDonagh St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography
Nominated – San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Cinematography
Nominated – San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography
Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Cinematography
My Policeman Michael Grandage
2023 Wicked Little Letters Thea Sharrock
2024 Kraven the Hunter J. C. Chandor Post-production
TBA Heads of State Ilya Naishuller Filming

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Wyler</span> Swiss-German-American director and producer (1902–1981)

William Wyler was a German-born American film director and producer. Known for his work in numerous genres over five decades, he received numerous awards and accolades, including three Academy Awards. He holds the record of twelve nominations for the Academy Award for Best Director. For his oeuvre of work, Wyler was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, the Directors Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award, and the American Film Institute Life Achievement Award.

Lance Bangs is an American filmmaker and music video director. He directed the David Cross film Let America Laugh. Bangs has also been heavily involved in the filming and production of MTV's Jackass television series and its subsequent movies.

Oliver Wood was a British cinematographer, best known for his work on blockbuster action and comedy films such as Die Hard 2, Face/Off, Freaky Friday, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and the Bourne franchise. He collaborated with directors like Paul Greengrass, John Woo, Renny Harlin, Ron Underwood, and Adam McKay, and was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography for The Bourne Ultimatum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Cardiff</span> British cinematographer, director and photographer (1914–2009)

Jack Cardiff, was a British cinematographer, film and television director, and photographer. His career spanned the development of cinema, from silent film, through early experiments in Technicolor, to filmmaking more than half a century later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freddie Francis</span> English cinematographer and film director (1917–2007)

Frederick William Francis was an English cinematographer and film director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Richardson (cinematographer)</span> American cinematographer

Robert Bridge Richardson, ASC is an American cinematographer. Known for his trademark aggressively bright highlight as well as shapeshifting style, he is one of three living persons who has won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography three times, the others being Vittorio Storaro and Emmanuel Lubezki. He has frequently collaborated with Oliver Stone, Quentin Tarantino, and Martin Scorsese.

Chris Menges BSC, ASC is a British cinematographer and film director. He is a member of both the American and British Societies of Cinematographers.

Joseph Francis Biroc, ASC was an American cinematographer. He was born in New York City and began working in films at the Paragon Studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey. After working there for approximately six years, he moved to Los Angeles. Once in Southern California, Biroc worked at the RKO Pictures movie studio. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps and filmed the Liberation of Paris in August 1944. In 1950, Biroc left RKO Pictures and freelanced on projects at various studios. In addition to his film work, which included It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and The Flight of the Phoenix (1965), Biroc worked on various television series, including the Adventures of Superman and Wonder Woman. He frequently collaborated with film director Robert Aldrich.

Dante Spinotti, A.S.C., A.I.C. is an Italian cinematographer and a member of the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He is known for his collaborations with directors Michael Mann, Michael Apted, Deon Taylor, and Brett Ratner, and is frequently credited with helping to pioneer the use of high-definition digital video in cinematography. He is a BAFTA Award recipient and two-time Academy Award nominee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Chapman (cinematographer)</span> American cinematographer (1935–2020)

Michael Crawford Chapman, American Society of Cinematographers was an American cinematographer and film director well known for his work on many films of the American New Wave of the 1970s and in the 1980s with directors such as Martin Scorsese and Ivan Reitman. He shot more than forty feature films, over half of those with only three different directors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denys Coop</span> English camera operator and cinematographer

Denys Neil Coop was an English camera operator and cinematographer. He was a president of the British Society of Cinematographers from 1973 to 1975.

David Russell Boyd, A.S.C. is an American cinematographer and director of television and film known for his role as director of photography for the Fox television series Firefly and the AMC series The Walking Dead. He also worked as cinematographer on the first three episodes of HBO's Deadwood. On the NBC television series Friday Night Lights he served as director of photography on 18 of 22 episodes in the first season and moved up to direct two more. He also directed the film Home Run, which was released in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desmond Davis</span> British film and television director (1926–2021)

Desmond Stanley Tracey Davis was a British film and television director, best known for his 1981 version of Clash of the Titans.

Oswald Norman Morris, BSC was a British cinematographer. Known to his colleagues by the nicknames "Os" or "Ossie", Morris's career in cinematography spanned six decades.

Ivor Daniel Mindel, ASC, BSC, SASC is a South African-American cinematographer best known for his work on blockbuster action films like Enemy of the State, Mission: Impossible III, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, working with directors like Tony Scott and J. J. Abrams.

Ronald Charles Taylor BSC was a British cinematographer, best known for his collaborations with directors Richard Attenborough and Dario Argento. Throughout his career, he was nominated for two BAFTA Awards for Best Cinematography and won an Academy Award for his work on Gandhi (1982), which he shared with Billy Williams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamara Benitez</span> Filipina cinematographer

Tamara Benitez is a Filipina Cinematographer and camera operator, based in Metro Manila, Philippines. Known primarily for her underwater videography, Benitez has worked extensively for the ABS-CBN Corporation and under its production companies Star Cinema and VIVA Films, and has worked with such directors as Lav Diaz, Wenn Deramas, Sig Sanchez, Paolo Herras, and Martin Aviles. She has also worked with Cinematographer Arvin Viola on numerous occasions. Benitez is one of few female Cinematographers working in the cinema of the Philippines. In 2006 she was Director of Photography for the featured pictures Heremias and Lambanog, and in 2011 shot footage for the TV series Survivor India and served as Director of Photography for the TV series Where's Tony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Kenzie</span> British cinematographer

Martin Kenzie was a British second unit director and cinematographer whose works include feature films such as The Shining (1980), Return of the Jedi (1983), Aliens (1986), The King's Speech (2010) and TV series including Rome (2005) and Game of Thrones (2012). He was a member of the British Society of Cinematographers as a Camera Operator and was later elected a "Full Member of the Society" with BSC accreditation in 2012. Kenzie was diagnosed with cancer and was being operated on with the help of Macmillan Cancer Support. He died on 16 July 2012 at the age of 56. The Game of Thrones season three premiere episode, "Valar Dohaeris", aired on 31 March 2013, was dedicated to the memory of Kenzie in the credits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M. J. Radhakrishnan</span> Indian cinematographer (died 2019)

M. J. Radhakrishnan was an Indian cinematographer working mainly in Malayalam films. He got National film award 2018 as best cinematographer for his work on Malayalam movie Oolu. He won Kerala State Award for Best Cinematography 7 times, equal with Mankada Ravi Varma. Earlier he worked as a still photographer and then as an associate to cinematographer turned director Shaji N. Karun. His important works included Deshadanam (1996), Karunam (1999) Naalu Pennungal (2007), Veettilekkulla Vazhi (2010) and Akasathinte Niram. His films were screened at several prominent film festivals around the world including Cannes, Shanghai, Cairo, Montreal, Telluride, Jeonju, Toronto, Chicago, Rhode Island and Rotterdam. One of his works, Marana Simhasanam, won Caméra d'Or in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. Another film Veyilmarangal won Golden Goblet award for Outstanding Artistic achievement at Shanghai International Film Festival 2019. He worked on over 117 feature films and several documentaries and worked with some of the prominent Indian filmmakers including Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Murali Nair, Shaji N. Karun, TV Chandran, Dr. Biju, Jayaraj and Renjith. He mostly worked on arthouse films and was known for his natural lighting styles. In a career spanning more than two decades, he worked with a number of young film makers, mostly in their maiden ventures. Film Kalamandalam Hyderali 2019, directed by Kiran G. Nath was his last completed work as director of photography.

Ernest Day, B.S.C. was a British cinematographer and director of film and television, known for his collaborations with David Lean and Lewis Gilbert. He spent the majority of his career as a camera operator, often referred to Lean as his "eyes", and was the first British cameraman to operate a 70mm film camera. He was nominated for an Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Lean's final film A Passage to India (1984).

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Ben Davis". Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  2. "Ben Davis". BenDavisBSC. Archived from the original on 21 May 2013. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  3. Pennington, Adrian (8 November 2018). "Craft leaders: Ben Davis, Cinematographer". IBC . Retrieved 12 December 2019.