This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(February 2013) |
Dante Spinotti | |
---|---|
Born | |
Occupation | Cinematographer |
Years active | 1972–present |
Awards | See below |
Dante Spinotti, ASC, AIC (born 22 August 1943) is an Italian cinematographer. He is known for his collaborations with directors such as Michael Mann, Michael Apted, Ermanno Olmi, Bruce Beresford, Curtis Hanson, and Brett Ratner. He received Academy Award nominations for L.A. Confidential (1997) and The Insider (1999), and won a BAFTA Award for The Last of the Mohicans (1992). He has also won two Italian David di Donatello Awards and two Nastro d'Argento Awards.
Spinotti was born in the commune of Tolmezzo, in Northern Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, near the Austrian border. At the age of 11, he began experimenting with still photography with a camera inherited from his uncle, a cinematographer and director who specialized in documentaries and newsreels. He left high school early to work in the film industry in Kenya, driven by his skills in freehand drawing. [1]
His first work as a cinematographer was the 1972 television drama I Nicotera. His first film was Il minestrone (1981), directed by Sergio Citti. His early work included collaborations with noted Italian directors Lina Wertmüller ( Softly, Softly ) and Liliana Cavani ( The Berlin Affair ). He moved to the United States in 1986, entering a highly competitive Hollywood environment.
Among the more notable films he has worked on are The Last of the Mohicans , Heat , L.A. Confidential , The Insider, Public Enemies, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, I Saw the Light, and Ant-Man and the Wasp . Spinotti also was the cinematographer for many of Brett Ratner's films, such as Red Dragon (2002), After the Sunset (2004), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), and Hercules (2014).
Spinotti was the cinematographer on both adaptations of the novel Red Dragon by Thomas Harris: Michael Mann's 1986 adaptation (titled Manhunter), and Brett Ratner's 2002 adaptation. [2]
Spinotti has highlighted the meticulous preparation and collaborative spirit essential to his work, particularly with director Michael Mann. He also discussed the process of remastering classics like Heat and adapting to new technologies, such as using digital cinematography [3] [4] and even iPhones for certain shots to enhance storytelling. [5]
He is a member of the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. [6] He won the Golden Camera 300 award at the Manaki Brothers Film Festival in North Macedonia for lifetime achievement. In 2012, he received the American Society of Cinematographers's Lifetime Achievement Award. [7]
† | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
Short film
Year | Title | Director | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1987 | Die tote Stadt | Bruce Beresford | Segment of Aria |
2002 | Mercedes 'Lucky Star' | Michael Mann |
Documentary film
Year | Title | Director | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman | Eric Bricker | With Aiken Weiss |
2023 | Posso entrare? An ode to Naples | Trudie Styler |
Acting roles
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1991 | Frankie and Johnny | Man on bus | Uncredited |
2008 | Deception | Herr Kleiner/Mr. Moretti | [8] |
2011 | Good Vs. Evil: Battle on the Sea | Direct-to-video |
Miniseries
Year | Title | Director |
---|---|---|
1972 | I Nicotera | Salvatore Nocita |
1979 | Paura sul mondo | Domenico Campan |
1982 | Colomba | Giacomo Battiato |
TV movies
Year | Title | Director |
---|---|---|
1975 | Tracce sulla neve | Alessandro Cane |
1980 | La signorina Else | Enzo Muzii |
1981 | Fosca | |
1983 | Le ambizioni sbagliate | Fabio Carpi |
2008 | Blue Blood | Brett Ratner |
2012 | Rogue | |
2015 | Edge | Shane Black |
TV series
Year | Title | Director | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1982 | La pietra di Marco Polo | Aldo Lado | |
2005 | Prison Break | Brett Ratner | Episode "Pilot" |
2007 | Women's Murder Club | ||
2011 | CHAOS | Brett Ratner | Episode "Pilot" |
Academy Awards
Year | Title | Category | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | L.A. Confidential | Best Cinematography | Nominated |
1999 | The Insider | Nominated | |
BAFTA Awards
Year | Title | Category | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1992 | The Last of the Mohicans | Best Cinematography | Won |
1997 | L.A. Confidential | Nominated | |
American Society of Cinematographers
Year | Title | Category | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1992 | The Last of the Mohicans | Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography | Nominated |
1997 | L.A. Confidential | Nominated | |
1999 | The Insider | Nominated | |
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
Year | Title | Category | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | L.A. Confidential | Best Cinematography | Won |
1999 | The Insider | Won | |
Satellite Awards
Year | Title | Category | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | L.A. Confidential | Best Cinematography | Nominated |
2006 | X-Men: The Last Stand | Nominated | |
2009 | Public Enemies | Nominated | |
Chicago Film Critics Association
Year | Title | Category | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1995 | Heat | Best Cinematography | Nominated |
National Society of Film Critics
Year | Title | Category | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | L.A. Confidential | Best Cinematography | Nominated |
Michael Kenneth Mann is an American film director, screenwriter, author, and producer, best known for his stylized crime dramas. He has received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards as well as nominations for four Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. His most acclaimed works include the films Thief (1981), Manhunter (1986), The Last of the Mohicans (1992), Heat (1995), The Insider (1999), Ali (2001), Collateral (2004), Public Enemies (2009), and Ferrari (2023). He is also known for his role as executive producer on the popular TV series Miami Vice (1984–90), which he adapted into a 2006 feature film.
Conrad Lafcadio Hall, ASC was a French Polynesian-born American cinematographer. Named after writers Joseph Conrad and Lafcadio Hearn, he became widely prominent as a cinematographer earning numerous accolades including three Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards and five American Society of Cinematographers Awards.
Manhunter is a 1986 American thriller film directed and written by Michael Mann. Based on the 1981 novel Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, it stars William Petersen as FBI profiler Will Graham. Also featured are Tom Noonan as serial killer Francis Dollarhyde, Dennis Farina as Graham's FBI superior Jack Crawford, and Brian Cox as incarcerated killer Hannibal Lecktor. The film focuses on Graham coming out of retirement to lend his talents to an investigation on Dollarhyde, a killer known as the Tooth Fairy. In doing so, he must confront the demons of his past and meet with Lecktor, who nearly killed Graham.
Red Dragon is a 2002 psychological thriller film based on the 1981 novel by Thomas Harris. It was directed by Brett Ratner and written by Ted Tally. It is the third film of a series produced by Dino De Laurentiis Company including Manhunter (1986) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991), the last film of the series distributed by Universal Pictures, and the last film to star Anthony Hopkins as Lecter. Set before the events of The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Hannibal (2001), it was followed by Hannibal Rising (2007) which depicted Lecter's youth. The film sees FBI agent Will Graham enlisting the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to catch another killer, Francis Dolarhyde. Harvey Keitel, Emily Watson, Mary-Louise Parker, and Philip Seymour Hoffman also star.
Sir Roger Alexander Deakins is an English cinematographer. He is the recipient of five BAFTA Awards for Best Cinematography, and two Academy Awards for Best Cinematography from sixteen nominations. He has collaborated multiple times with directors such as the Coen brothers, Sam Mendes, and Denis Villeneuve. His best-known works include The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Fargo (1996), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Skyfall (2012), Sicario (2015), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), and 1917 (2019), the last two of which earned him Academy Awards.
John Toll, ASC is an American cinematographer and television producer. Toll's filmography spans a wide variety of genres, including epic period drama, comedy, science fiction, and contemporary drama. He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography in both 1994 and 1995 for Legends of the Fall and Braveheart respectively, and has also won numerous BAFTA, ASC, and Satellite Awards. He has collaborated with such directors as Francis Ford Coppola, Edward Zwick, Terrence Malick, Mel Gibson, Cameron Crowe, The Wachowskis, and Ang Lee.
Vilmos Zsigmond was a Hungarian-American cinematographer. His work in cinematography helped shape the look of American movies in the 1970s, making him one of the leading figures in the American New Wave movement.
Ralph Douglas Vladimir Slocombe OBE, BSC, ASC, GBCT was a British cinematographer, particularly known for his work at Ealing Studios in the 1940s and 1950s, as well as the first three Indiana Jones films. He won BAFTA Awards in 1964, 1975, and 1979, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography on three occasions.
William Ashman Fraker, A.S.C., B.S.C. was an American cinematographer, film director and producer. He was nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. In 2000, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) honoring his career. Fraker graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 1950.
The 25th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, honoring the best in film for 1999, were announced on December 11, 1999 and awarded on January 19, 2000.
Frederick James Koenekamp, A.S.C. was an American cinematographer. He was the son of cinematographer Hans F. Koenekamp.
Dion Beebe A.C.S. A.S.C. is an Australian–South African cinematographer. Originally from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, his family moved to Cape Town, South Africa, in 1972. Dion studied cinematography at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School from 1987 to 1989. Beebe was nominated for an Academy Award and a BAFTA for his work on Rob Marshall's Chicago, and won the 2006 Academy Award for his work on the director's later Memoirs of a Geisha. He is known for his use of stylized, highly saturated colour palettes and for his experimental use of high-speed digital video on Michael Mann's Collateral and Miami Vice. He is also a member of the Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) and the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC). Dion was inducted into the ACS' Hall of Fame at the National Awards on 16 May 2020.
The 14th American Society of Cinematographers Awards were held on February 20, 2000, honoring the best cinematographers of film and television in 1999.
Jordan Scott Cronenweth, ASC was an American cinematographer based in Los Angeles, California. Considered to be one of the greatest and most influential cinematographers of all time, he is best remembered for his BAFTA Award-winning work on the groundbreaking science fiction film Blade Runner, which is credited as codifying the cyberpunk aesthetic. A contemporary of Conrad Hall, his style consisted of heavily textured, film noir-inspired photography, seen in numerous classic films, including Zandy's Bride, Gable and Lombard, Altered States, and Peggy Sue Got Married.
John Ira BaileyASC was an American cinematographer and film director known for his collaborations with directors Paul Schrader, Lawrence Kasdan, Michael Apted, and Ken Kwapis. In August 2017, Bailey was elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He was succeeded by casting director David Rubin in August 2019.
Javier Aguirresarobe Zubía is a Basque Spanish cinematographer. After garnering several Goya Awards in his home country, he became widely known internationally for his work on The Others (2001), directed by Alejandro Amenábar. Among many others, he has worked on Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Twilight film series (2009–2010), and Thor: Ragnarok (2017).
Philippe Rousselot, AFC, ASC is a French cinematographer and film director best known for his wide range of work in both European and mainstream American cinema, ranging in genres from drama, to fantasy, to blockbusters. He has collaborated with directors such as Robert Redford, Neil Jordan, Stephen Frears, Tim Burton, David Yates, and Guy Ritchie. He is the recipient of three César Awards, a BAFTA, an Oscar, and is a nominee for the Palme d'Or.
Hoyte van Hoytema, ASC is a Dutch-Swedish cinematographer.
Don Michael Burgess, is an American cinematographer, best known for his collaborations with director Robert Zemeckis. He was nominated for the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography for Zemeckis' Forrest Gump (1994). In 2024, he received the American Society of Cinematographers' Lifetime Achievement Award.
The Hannibal Lecter franchise is an American media franchise based around the titular character, Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant, cannibalistic serial killer whose assistance is routinely sought out by law enforcement personnel to aid in the capture of other criminals. He originally appeared in a series of novels by Thomas Harris. The series has since expanded into film and television, having four timeline-connected franchise films: The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Hannibal (2001), Red Dragon (2002) and Hannibal Rising (2007), with three starring Anthony Hopkins.