American Cinematographer - February 2009 - (Page 66)

Citizen of the World cinema in my career! The only noise I heard through the film was the sound of some girls sobbing at the appropriate places.” Moulin Rouge, his next collaboration with Luhrmann, was also extremely rewarding for McAlpine, who spent a year prepping the picture with Luhrmann and production/costume designer Catherine Martin, Luhrmann’s wife. The film brought McAlpine his first ASC and Academy Award nominations. “Baz is someone who can get the best out of every grip, electric, cameraman and actor,” he notes. “He inspires everyone around him, and he has brilliant judgment.” Being honored with the ASC’s International Award “was totally unexpected,” he says. “Over the years, I’ve read in American Cinematographer about the other people who’ve gotten the award, but it never occurred to me that I’d be considered for it. I don’t really think of myself as an Australian or American cinematographer; I think of myself as a citizen of the world. I’ve never really considered my nationality as a brand. “The thing I love most about my job is the interaction with people,” he continues. “Next to the director, the cinematographer is the one on a film who interacts more closely with more people than anyone else. It’s very rare to find a field where 100 people are all working together to realize a single creative endeavor. When it’s working like that and I’m part of the team, life is pretty good.” I Photos courtesy of McAlpine. 66 February 2009 Above: Director Martin Ritt (right) chats with McAlpine and actors Jane Fonda and Robert De Niro on the set of Stanley & Iris (1990). Below: The cinematographer on location in New York Armory for John Badham’s action comedy The Hard Way (1991). style you see in the film. I realized there and then that it was enthralling and involving and the language was absolutely understandable, and that’s when I signed on.” Shot in Mexico, Romeo + Juliet “was probably the most rewarding film I’ve ever worked on,” continues McAlpine. “I was shooting another film up in Canada when Romeo + Juliet was released, and my wife and I went to see it on a Saturday afternoon in Calgary. I had to speak to the manager to get a seat because it was sold out, and we sat there surrounded by teenagers, and they were all talking and shouting before the movie started, as kids do. I thought we wouldn’t be able to hear any of the film, but as soon as the opening scene came on, everyone in the audience just shut up. It was one of the greatest moments in

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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