Celebrating the Artist #3: Roger Deakins

Name: Roger Deakins A.S.C, B.S.C.

Born: May 24, 1949

First Film: Cruel Passion (1977)

Most Recent Film: Skyfall

Position: Director of Photography

Country of Origin: England

Number of Works: 69, including shorts

Awards: Nominated for 10 Academy Awards, Nominated for 7 and won 3 BAFTA Awards, and many others

 

Film is a visual medium first and foremost. A multitude of others elements come to play (words, performance, audio, effects), but often the first and most indelible memory one has associated with a film are the images. The director constructs his film, works with the actors, sets the tone and the pace, and in many cases frames the shots. Yet it is the director of photography (or cinematographer) that translates these images into a visual reality. Few directors of photography currently working are as skillful or as diverse as Roger Deakins. Deakins, who often operates his own camera, is a master of movement, light, framing, and shadow. The images he creates for the films he works on are like individual works of art; take any single frame and they could be framed and hung proudly on one’s wall, like a painting. Deakins has received 10 Oscar nominations over the past 17 years and won none of them. He is one of the great working cinema artists, though, awards or not. He has proven great versatility and has cultivated fruitful artistic partnerships with the likes of Sam Mendes and the Coen Brothers, who also allowed him to work in black and white. With his most recent film, Skyfall, Deakins almost single-handedly made the argument for the legitimacy of digital cinematography. My favorite work of his would have to be The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford; I lack the necessary words to explain how gorgeous I think his work on that film is. Thus, in some cases articulation is the best way to celebrate an artist. In the case of Roger Deakins, I will simply let the images speak on their own. I have selected these images to represent both Deakins’ incredible work with light/shadow and his versatility.

 

Skyfall. 2012. Dir: Sam Mendes:

 

True Grit. 2010. Dir: Joel and Ethan Coen:

A Serious Man. 2009. Dir: Joel and Ethan Coen:

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. 2007. Dir: Andrew Dominik:

No Country for Old Men. 2007. Dir: Joel and Ethan Coen:

Jarhead. 2005. Dir: Sam Mendes:

The Man Who Wasn’t There. 2001. Dir: Joel and Ethan Coen:

Kundun. 1997. Dir. Martin Scorsese:

Fargo. 1995. Dir: Joel and Ethan Coen:

The Shawshank Redemption. 1994. Dir: Frank Darabont:

 

Finally, an image of Mr. Deakins at work on the set of Skyfall. This  illustrates just how awesome he is: