American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 75

Above: Country singer Rose Maddox takes
Lighthill's hand. Top right: At work on the
series Earth 2, the cinematographer checks
the light on actor Antonio Sabato Jr.
Bottom right: Lighthill with camera assistant
Keith Davis (second from right) on the set of
Nash Bridges.

cinematographer, and they needed an
operator who could do a lot of handheld
and keep up with Bruce," he explains.
"I learned a lot from Stefan, and
one of the things he taught me was that
the job of the cinematographer is to give
bad news to people all day long, but do
it in a way that keeps everybody calm.
The instructive moment was when we
were shooting a scene on Mount
Tamalpais that required Bruce Dern to
stop running and jump into a pond. I
was on a rig out over the water, and
Bruce got in the water and did the
scene. He was almost blue; it was freezing cold. Stefan asked me, 'How's the
shot?' And I said, 'Well, it's not perfect.
Here's what happened ...' and Stefan
said, 'Look, the bottom line is it's not
right, and we have to get it right.' I said,
'But Bruce is freezing,' and Stefan said,
'That's not your concern. You just have
to tell me if it's right.' So I said, 'No, it's
not right.' Stefan walked over to Rob
and said, 'We're doing it again.' We did
it again and got it right. I learned then

that your job is to serve the story, and
part of that is telling people exactly what
you think about what you've shot."
In the mid-1980s, when new
leadership and the cumulative effect of
years of litigation brought a turning of
the tide in Local 659, the union opened
up, and Lighthill jumped in to help.
George Spiro Dibie, ASC, who was
elected Local 659 president in 1984 and
served in that capacity for more than
two decades, recalls, "When the
membership finally agreed to open up to
young, talented camera crews, Stephen
became my right hand in educating our
new members. He is equally devoted to
his craft and his many colleagues; I've
www.ascmag.com

never seen someone so dedicated. When
[International
Cinematographers
Guild] Local 600 was created [in 1996],
I asked him to train our members on a
national scale."
"Sometimes someone tells you
something about yourself that surprises
you," says Lighthill, "and someone on a
film crew once said, 'You're a great cinematographer, but you're an even better
teacher. You should be teaching.' I
started teaching part time very early in
my career, and I always enjoyed it."
Keen to move into narrative filmmaking, Lighthill relocated to Los
Angeles in 1987. "When you move to
L.A., you give up all your connections
February 2018

75



http://www.ascmag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - February 2018

Contents
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - Sponsor
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 1
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 2
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - Contents
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 4
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 5
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 6
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 7
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 8
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 9
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 10
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 11
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 12
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 13
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 14
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 15
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 16
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 17
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 18
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 19
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 20
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 21
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 22
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 23
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 24
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 25
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 26
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 27
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 28
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 29
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 30
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 31
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 32
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 32a
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 32b
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 33
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 34
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 35
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 36
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 37
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 38
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 39
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 40
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 41
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 42
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 43
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 44
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 45
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 46
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 47
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 48
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 49
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 50
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 50a
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 50b
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 51
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 52
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 53
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 54
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 55
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 56
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 57
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 58
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 59
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 60
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 61
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 62
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 63
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 64
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 65
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 66
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 67
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 68
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 69
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 70
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 71
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 72
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 73
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 74
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 75
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 76
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 77
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 78
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 79
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 80
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 81
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 82
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 83
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 84
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 85
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 86
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 87
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 88
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - February 2018 - Cover4
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