John Seale

This article is about Australian cinematographer. For the British venereologist, see John R. Seale. For the British politician, see Sir John Henry Seale, 1st Baronet.

AM John Seale ACS ASC
Born	John Clement Seale (1942-10-05) 5 October 1942 (age 82) Warwick, Queensland, Australia
Years active	1966–2022
Title	ACS ASC

John Clement Seale AM ACS ASC (born 5 October 1942) is an Australian cinematographer.

He has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and an American Society of Cinematographers Award.

Early life

Seale was born in Warwick, Queensland, Australia, to Marjorie Lyndon (née Pool) and Eric Clement Seale. ^[1]

Career

Seale started his career collaborating with director Peter Weir, both as a camera operator and director of photography, gaining a reputation as one of Australia's leading cinematographers. He then earned international prominence working with directors such as Anthony Minghella, Wolfgang Petersen, Ron Howard, Sydney Pollack, and George Miller.

He received Oscar nominations for his work on Witness , Rain Man , and Cold Mountain , and won for The English Patient . Seale directed one film, Till There Was You , in 1990. He is a four-time Oscar nominee, five-time BAFTA nominee, and four-time ASC Award nominee.

His greatest commercial successes have been Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone , which grossed US$974 million; ^[2] Rain Man , which grossed US$354 million; ^[3] Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time , which grossed US$335 million; ^[4] The Perfect Storm , which grossed US$328 million; ^[5] and The Tourist , which grossed US$278 million. ^{[6] [7]}

He came out of retirement in 2012 to shoot Mad Max: Fury Road , for which he received another Academy Award nomination. ^[8]

Seale was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2002 Australia Day Honours in recognition of his "service to the arts as an Australian and internationally acclaimed cinematographer". ^[9]

Filmography

Film

Director

• Till There Was You (1991)

Cinematographer

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1976	Deathcheaters	Brian Trenchard-Smith
1980	Fatty Finn	Maurice Murphy
1981	Doctors and Nurses
	The Survivor	David Hemmings
1982	Ginger Meggs	Jonathan Dawson
	Fighting Back	Michael Caulfield
1983	Goodbye Paradise	Carl Schultz
	BMX Bandits	Brian Trenchard-Smith
	Careful, He Might Hear You	Carl Schultz
1984	Silver City	Sophia Turkiewicz
1985	Witness	Peter Weir
1986	The Hitcher	Robert Harmon
	Children of a Lesser God	Randa Haines
	The Mosquito Coast	Peter Weir
1987	Stakeout	John Badham
1988	Gorillas in the Mist	Michael Apted
	Rain Man	Barry Levinson
1989	Dead Poets Society	Peter Weir
1991	The Doctor	Randa Haines
1992	Lorenzo's Oil	George Miller
1993	The Firm	Sydney Pollack
1994	The Paper	Ron Howard
1995	Beyond Rangoon	John Boorman
	The American President	Rob Reiner
1996	The English Patient	Anthony Minghella
	Ghosts of Mississippi	Rob Reiner
1998	City of Angels	Brad Silberling
1999	At First Sight	Irwin Winkler
	The Talented Mr. Ripley	Anthony Minghella
2000	The Perfect Storm	Wolfgang Petersen
2001	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone	Chris Columbus
2003	Dreamcatcher	Lawrence Kasdan
	Cold Mountain	Anthony Minghella
2004	Spanglish	James L. Brooks
2006	Poseidon	Wolfgang Petersen
2010	Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time	Mike Newell
	The Tourist	Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
2015	Mad Max: Fury Road	George Miller
2022	Three Thousand Years of Longing

Television

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1979	New South Wales Images	Russell Boyd	Documentary film
1985	Winners	Carl Schultz	Episode "Top Kid"

Awards and nominations

Major awards

Academy Awards

Year	Category	Title	Result
1985	Best Cinematography	Witness	Nominated
1988		Rain Man	Nominated
1996		The English Patient	Won
2003		Cold Mountain	Nominated
2015		Mad Max: Fury Road	Nominated

BAFTA Awards

Year	Category	Title	Result
1985	Best Cinematography	Witness	Nominated
1988		Gorillas in the Mist	Nominated
1996		The English Patient	Won
1999		The Talented Mr. Ripley	Nominated
2003		Cold Mountain	Nominated
2015		Mad Max: Fury Road	Nominated

American Society of Cinematographers

Year	Category	Title	Result
1988	Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography	Rain Man	Nominated
1996		The English Patient	Won
2000		The Perfect Storm	Nominated
2000		Cold Mountain	Nominated
2011	International Award		Won
2015	Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography	Mad Max: Fury Road	Nominated

Miscellaneous awards

British Society of Cinematographers

Year	Category	Title	Result
1985	Best Cinematography	Witness	Nominated
1988		Dead Poets Society	Nominated
1996		The English Patient	Nominated
2003		Cold Mountain	Nominated
2015		Mad Max: Fury Road	Nominated

Satellite Awards

Year	Category	Title	Result
1996	Best Cinematography	The English Patient	Won
1999		The Talented Mr. Ripley	Nominated
2015		Mad Max: Fury Road	Won

Chicago Film Critics Association

Year	Category	Title	Result
1996	Best Cinematography	The English Patient	Won
1999		The Talented Mr. Ripley	Won
2003		Cold Mountain	Nominated
2015		Mad Max: Fury Road	Won

Boston Society of Film Critics

Year	Category	Title	Result
1996	Best Cinematography	The English Patient	Won
1999		The Talented Mr. Ripley	Won
2003		Cold Mountain	Nominated

Australian Film Institute

Year	Category	Title	Result
1981	Best Achievement in Cinematography	The Survivor	Nominated
1983		Careful, He Might Hear You	Won
1984		Silver City	Nominated

Australian Cinematographers Society

Year	Category	Title	Result
1983	Cinematography of the Year	Goodbye Paradise	Won
1985		Witness	Won

National Society of Film Critics

Year	Category	Title	Result
1996	Best Cinematography	The English Patient	Won
2015		Mad Max: Fury Road	Won

Los Angeles Film Critics Association

Year	Category	Title	Result
1996	Best Cinematography	The English Patient	Won
2015		Mad Max: Fury Road	Won

Florida Film Critics Circle

Year	Category	Title	Result
1996	Best Cinematography	The English Patient	Won
2015		Mad Max: Fury Road	Won

Other awards

Year	Association	Category	Title	Result
1996	Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association	Best Cinematography	The English Patient	Won
	European Film Award	Best Cinematography		Won
1997	Brisbane International Film Festival	Chauvel Award		Won
2015	AACTA Awards	Best Cinematography	Mad Max: Fury Road	Won
	Australian Film Critics Association	Best Cinematography		Won
	Santa Barbara International Film Festival	Artisan Award		Won
	New York Film Critics Circle	Best Cinematographer		Won
	Film Critics Circle of Australia	Best Cinematography		Won
	Online Film Critics Society	Best Cinematography		Won
	African-American Film Critics Association	Best Cinematography		Won
	Austin Film Critics Association	Best Cinematography		Nominated
	Broadcast Film Critics Association	Best Cinematography		Nominated
	Houston Film Critics Society	Best Cinematography		Nominated
	London Film Critics' Circle	Technical Achievement of the Year		Nominated
	Camerimage International Film Festival	Golden Frog Award		Nominated
	Santa Barbara International Film Festival	Artisan Award in Cinematography		Won

References

1. John Seale Biography (1942–). Filmreference.com. Retrieved on 2012-06-01.
2. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
3. "Rain Man". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
4. "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
5. "The Perfect Storm". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
6. "The Tourist". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
7. "Filmography- John Seale". IMDb Pro. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
8. Radish, Christina (1 May 2015). "MAD MAX: FURY ROAD: 18 Things to Know about the Making of George Miller's Epic". Collider . Complex . Retrieved 20 May 2015.
9. "John Clement Seale". Australian Honours Search Facility, Dept of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 25 July 2020.

External links

• John Seale at IMDb