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Gordon Willis was an American cinematographer and film director who worked on many acclaimed films, such as The Godfather, Annie Hall, and All the President's Men. He was known for his minimalist style, low-light photography, and visual storytelling.
Gordon Willis (1931-2014) was a renowned filmmaker who worked on The Godfather, Annie Hall, and Zelig. He was known for his low-light photography, sepia tones, and shadowy style, but never won an Oscar for his cinematography.
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- Astoria, Queens, New York City, New York, USA
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- North Falmouth, Massachusetts, USA
May 20, 2014 · Gordon Willis, the cinematographer behind several seminal films of the 1970s including “The Godfather” and “Manhattan,” died on Sunday. Chris Pizzello/Associated Press. By John Anderson. May 19,...
- 3 min
- A Groundbreaking Style
- The Prince of Darkness
- Telling The Story Through Lighting
- Stylized Naturalism
- Confidence and Patience
- A Timeless Masterpiece
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“The Godfather” was released only three years after Gordon Willis’ feature debut as a cinematographer, on Aram Avakian’s 1969 cult favorite “End of the Road.” In the period between “End of the Road” and “The Godfather” Willis shot six movies including “Klute,” (1971) a modern day film noir in which Willis pushed the limits of what was considered ac...
“The Godfather” announced its boldness with the opening shot, a slow reverse zoom that started in a close-up on actor Salvatore Corsitto as Bonasera and pulled back to show him surrounded by darkness before revealing the title character played by Marlon Brando. The sequence that followed not only established the visual template for the film but int...
Willis’ willingness to let his frames go dark was easily replicable by cinematographers looking to recreate his striking effects, but the real power of his technique was its inextricable connection to theme and his use of contrast — he knew that for a film to look truly dark, there had to be light for the darkness to react against. Nancy Schreiber ...
Perhaps the most influential aspect of Willis’ cinematography was not its innovations, but its marriage of those innovations to classical Hollywood storytelling. For all his new techniques, his end goal was still the same as that of the old guard: to make the filmmaking invisible and draw the audience into the narrative. John Matysiak (“Old Henry,”...
Part of what pulled the audience into “The Godfather” was Willis and director Francis Ford Coppola’s supreme visual confidence; from that opening scene in Brando’s office, the compositions, lighting, and cutting were so purposeful and deliberate that the viewer subconsciously registered that they’re in good hands — a feeling that made audiences wil...
Checco Varese: Cinematographers paint with light — Gordon Willis painted with shadows to make sure you were only seeing what he wanted you to see or what the director wanted you to see. He was the first one to say that there are some things you don’t needto see. In 1972 that was groundbreaking — it was like watching the first movie in color, or wit...
How did Gordon Willis change cinematography with his shadowy, practically lit style for Francis Ford Coppola's mob masterpiece? 17 DPs share their insights on the 50th anniversary of 'The Godfather'.
- Jim Hemphill
May 19, 2014 · Gordon Willis, the cinematographer on films including the Godfather trilogy, has died at the age of 82. Willis received an honorary lifetime achievement Oscar in 2010 and was...
Gordon Willis was an American cinematographer who worked on The Godfather, Annie Hall and Manhattan. He was known for his low-light photography, shadows and sepia tones, and received an honorary Oscar in 2009.
May 19, 2014 · Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Gordon Willis, who helped define the look of 70s cinema and worked closely with Francis Ford Coppola, Woody Allen and Alan Pakula, died on Sunday at 82.
