Elliot Davis (cinematographer)

Elliot Davis
Born	(1948-05-23) May 23, 1948 (age 77) USA
Occupation	Cinematographer
Years active	1976–present

Elliot Davis (born May 23, 1948) is an American cinematographer.

Davis graduated from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and a Master of Fine Arts in Film from UCLA. ^[1] Davis feels his tenure as an architect carries over into his shooting style. ^[2]

Davis began his career in the mid 1970s, acting as cinematographer on the drama Harvest: 3,000 Years . He also would act as the camera operator for various films, including Francis Ford Coppola's The Outsiders and Joel Schumacher's St. Elmo's Fire . Davis would collaborate frequently with several directors, including Steven Soderbergh ( King of the Hill , The Underneath , Gray's Anatomy , Out of Sight ), Catherine Hardwicke ( Thirteen , Lords of Dogtown , The Nativity Story , Twilight ), and Jessie Nelson ( I Am Sam , Love the Coopers ).

Davis was the director of photography for Nate Parker's controversial directorial debut The Birth of a Nation . Davis was not familiar with Parker prior to receiving the script, but soon forged a creative connection with him, using films such as The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford as influence for the look of Nation. ^[3]

Additional works include The Cutting Edge , Father of the Bride Part II , Equinox , Larger than Life , Forces of Nature , 40 Days and 40 Nights , White Oleander , Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde , A Love Song for Bobby Long , The Iron Lady , Man of Tai Chi and the upcoming Above Suspicion .

For his work on Equinox and The Underneath, Davis received two nominations for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1976	Harvest: 3,000 Years	Haile Gerima
	Independence Day	Bobby Roth
1979	The Onion Field	Harold Becker	Camera operator
1980	Used Cars	Robert Zemeckis	Camera operator (uncredited)
1981	Broken English	Michie Gleason
1982	Death Valley	Dick Richards	Camera operator
1983	The Outsiders	Francis Ford Coppola	Camera operator
	Something Wicked This Way Comes	Jack Clayton	Camera operator
	Return Engagement	Alan Rudolph	Documentary, Camera operator
1984	Racing with the Moon	Richard Benjamin	Camera operator: additional phot. (uncredited)
1985	Tuff Turf	Fritz Kiersch	Camera operator
	St. Elmo's Fire	Joel Schumacher	Camera operator
	Trouble in Mind	Alan Rudolph	Camera operator
1986	8 Million Ways to Die	Hal Ashby	Camera operator
	Blue City	Michelle Manning	Camera operator: second unit
	Vamp	Richard Wenk
1987	Summer Heat	Michie Gleason
1988	Miles from Home	Gary Sinise
	1969	Ernest Thompson	Co-additional photography
1989	Signs of Life	John David Coles
	Bloodhounds of Broadway	Howard Brookner
1990	Bright Angel	Michael Fields
	Love at Large	Alan Rudolph
1991	Shakes the Clown	Bobcat Goldthwait
	Mortal Thoughts	Alan Rudolph
1992	The Cutting Edge	Paul Michael Glaser
	Equinox	Alan Rudolph	Nominated - Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography
1993	King of the Hill	Steven Soderbergh
	Mother's Boys	Yves Simoneau
1994	Mr. Write	Charlie Loventhal
	The Glass Shield	Charles Burnett
1995	Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead	Gary Fleder
	Father of the Bride Part II	Charles Shyer	With William A. Fraker
	The Underneath	Steven Soderbergh	Nominated - Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography
1996	Gray's Anatomy
	Get on the Bus	Spike Lee
	Larger than Life	Howard Franklin
1997	Lawn Dogs	John Duigan
1998	Out of Sight	Steven Soderbergh
	Finding Graceland	David Winkler
1999	Forces of Nature	Bronwen Hughes
	Light It Up	Craig Bolotin
	Breakfast of Champions	Alan Rudolph
2000	The Next Best Thing	John Schlesinger
2001	I Am Sam	Jessie Nelson
	Happy Campers	Daniel Waters
2002	40 Days and 40 Nights	Michael Lehmann
	White Oleander	Peter Kosminsky
2003	Thirteen	Catherine Hardwicke
	Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde	Charles Herman-Wurmfeld
2004	A Love Song for Bobby Long	Shainee Gabel
2005	Lords of Dogtown	Catherine Hardwicke
2006	The Nativity Story
2008	Surfer, Dude	S.R. Bindler
	Twilight	Catherine Hardwicke
	Personal Effects	David Hollander
2011	The Iron Lady	Phyllida Lloyd
	A Year in Mooring	Chris Eyre	SXSW Film Festival - Best Cinematography - Narrative Competition
2013	Man of Tai Chi	Keanu Reeves
	Louder Than Words	Anthony Fabian
2015	The Runner	Austin Stark
	Love the Coopers	Jessie Nelson
	Miss You Already	Catherine Hardwicke
2016	The Birth of a Nation	Nate Parker
2018	A Love of Money	Elliot Davis
	Dumplin'	Anne Fletcher
	Surfing in Afghanistan	R.T. Herwig
2019	Above Suspicion	Phillip Noyce
2020	Uncorked	Prentice Penny
2022	Gigi & Nate	Nick Hamm
	Hocus Pocus 2	Anne Fletcher

TV movies

Year	Title	Director
1979	The Tenth Month	Joan Tewkesbury
1997	Mayflower Madam	Lou Antonio
1992	Memphis	Yves Simoneau
1996	Nightjohn	Charles Burnett

References

1. "Elliot Davis". Cinematographers.nl. 1948-05-23. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
2. Dana Harris (2016-01-26). "How I Shot That: DP Elliot Davis on the Rigor and Speed it Took to Create 'The Birth of a Nation'". IndieWire. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
3. "DP Elliot Davis Focuses on "The Birth of a Nation"". SHOOTonline.com. 2016-11-17. Retrieved 2017-02-07.

External links

• Elliot Davis at the Internet Movie Database