American Cinematographer - February 2009 - (Page 64)

Citizen of the World McAlpine collaborated with Noyce, a fellow Aussie, on the spy thrillers Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger, and the cinematographer admired Noyce’s ability to work on star-driven blockbusters and keep the focus on storytelling. “Phil is one of the best storytellers I’ve ever worked with,” he says. Although McAlpine found a great deal to like about working in the Hollywood system, he acknowledges that he has encountered what so many creative people in Tinseltown must cope with: typecasting. “Hollywood tries to typecast everybody. After Down and Out in Beverly Hills came out, I received four different scripts for movies with dogs! But I’ve always tried to do something different. If I have to choose between two scripts I like, I’ll go with the one that’s least like something I’ve done before.” That interest in diversity has led McAlpine to take on comedies such as Parenthood (1989) and Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), dramas such as Medicine Man (1992) and The Man Without a Face (1993), and effects-heavy fantasies such as Peter Pan (2003; AC Jan. ’04) and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005; AC Dec. ’05). In 1996, Luhrmann, another Aussie, offered McAlpine a new creative challenge. Luhrmann’s directorial debut, Strictly Ballroom, had impressed 20th Century Fox enough to get them interested in his next project, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The project wasn’t a “go” yet, but McAlpine accepted a meeting with Luhrmann to see what the director had in mind. “I was between films, and I’d been impressed with Strictly Ballroom,” he recalls. “I met Baz in his offices above a defunct Chinese restaurant, and when I walked in, the place was full of, well, ‘hippies’ is too strong a word, but they were certainly very infor- 64 February 2009 Top photo courtesy of McAlpine. Bottom photo by Merrick Morton, SMPSP, courtesy of Paramount Pictures. Above: McAlpine and director/actor Paul Newman work out a shot on Harry & Son (1984). Below: Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) races to protect his family in Patriot Games (1992). Of course, Bruce was right about bringing in all the extra cameras!” When Mazursky began prepping Tempest, a fantasy very loosely based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest, it so happened that The Getting of Wisdom, My Brilliant Career and Breaker Morant opened simultaneously in New York. Mazursky was impressed by the looks of all three films, and he contacted McAlpine about Tempest. In short order, the cinematographer found himself working with bigger crews and more gear than he’d ever had before. “It’s amazing how accepting I was of all of that,” he recalls. “I got used to it very quickly. I took it and ran with it!” He eventually shot three more films for Mazursky: Moscow on the Hudson (1984), Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986) and Moon Over Parador (1988).

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - February 2009

American Cinematographer - February 2009 Contents Editor's Note Short Takes: Circus Production Slate: The International Reverte 2 Worlds in 3 Dimensions Dead Reckoning Embracing Anamorphic Citizen of the World Post Focus: Restoring Manhatta New Products & Services International Marketplace Classified Ads Ad Index Clubhouse News ASC Close-Up: Peter Suschitzky

American Cinematographer - February 2009

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