American Cinematographer - January 2008 - (Page 82) Cinematographer ABulletproof Command of craft is the cornerstone of artistry for ASC Lifetime Achievement honoree Stephen H. Burum, ASC. by Rachael K. Bosley asking in the glow of special recognition does not come easily to Stephen H. Burum, ASC, this year’s recipient of the Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award. When he was nominated for an Academy Award for Hoffa (1992), he was “the happiest person in the world” when a job on the East Coast kept him off the red carpet. And although he has been a regular presence at the ASC Awards since their inception in 1986, when he accepts the lifetime honor on Jan. 26, it will be with a measure of reluctance. “It’s gratifying that people like my work, B but for me the fun is doing the work,” says the 68-year-old cinematographer. “I’m not really an award kind of person.” Despite that disposition, Burum won an ASC Award for Hoffa and was also nominated by the Society for the black comedy The War of the Roses (1989; AC Jan. ’90) and the Prohibition-era crowdpleaser The Untouchables (1987; AC July ’87). A partial list of his other credits hints at the length and breadth of his career thus far: television’s The Special London Bridge Special (1972; AC Aug. ’72); the black-and-white art film Rumble Fish (1983; AC May ’84); the glossy suspense yarn Body Double (1984); the breezy ensemble comedy St. Elmo’s Fire (1985); the 19th-century romantic thriller The Bride (1985; AC May ’85); the action blockbuster Mission: Impossible (1996; AC June ’96); the noir whodunit Snake Eyes (1998; AC Aug. ’98); the deep-space drama Mission to Mars (2000; AC March ’00); and the tween comedy Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004). Burum joined the Society in June 1974 after being proposed for 82 January 2008
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