American Cinematographer - March 2016 - 58

A Legacy of Excellence

Top: The cast and
crew of
Braveheart
prepare for battle
on location in
Scotland.
Bottom: The
cinematographer
studies the scene
alongside
Braveheart
actor-director
Mel Gibson.

our legs, and with great effort we could
move from the waist up. It worked brilliantly, but it's still the hardest shot I've
ever operated."
Cronenweth was also directing
commercials, Toll recalls, "and after Dr.
Pepper, he called me to do some of these
with him. Working with him was
amazing. When asked to describe his
work, I can only think of the word
'elegant.' He had an incredible eye and
would always light through the lens and
could absolutely see the image as film
would see it. He would encourage input
and was always excited about his work.
His enthusiasm was infectious."
In addition to numerous
commercials, Toll would operate for
Cronenweth on the cinematographer's
next two features: the drama Just
Between Friends, directed by Allan
Burns, and the comedic period fantasy
Peggy Sue Got Married, directed by
Francis Ford Coppola, for which
58

March 2016

Cronenweth won the very first ASC
Award for Outstanding Cinematography.
While operating for Robbie
Greenberg, ASC on the feature Sweet
Dreams (1985), Toll forged a strong
working relationship not only with the
cinematographer, but his 1st AC,
Conrad W. Hall. This led to another
turn in Toll's career, as he received a call
to operate for Conrad L. Hall on the
noir-inspired thriller Black Widow,
directed by Bob Rafelson.
"This was the first feature that
Conrad was going to shoot after being
on hiatus for a number of years," Toll
says. "He didn't have a regular operator,
and I was recommended to him by
Conrad W. It was great to work for him
and watch him do his job. He was
modest, and just honest. He'd tell me,
'I've forgotten how to do this; I don't
know what I'm doing,' and then turn
around and do something that was just
American Cinematographer

brilliant." Toll would subsequently shoot
2nd unit for Hall on the stylish drama
Tequila Sunrise.
At this point in his career, Toll
began shooting commercials full time,
and he soon met director Rob
Lieberman. "He was going to direct the
pilot for a Western series called The Young
Riders," the cinematographer recounts.
"He wanted to shoot it in a style that was
suggestive of a commercial style at the
time - a lot of available light and a
rough, realistic feeling with beautiful
photography."
Production of the pilot episode
entailed a difficult 17-day location shoot
near the Yosemite Valley during the
winter. "It rained almost every day, but it
worked out well, and I got an ASC
Award nomination in 1989 for my first
long-form project," the cinematographer
notes. "That was a great experience. The
day the program aired, I was in Tennessee
shooting second unit for Haskell Wexler
on Blaze. Haskell won an ASC Award
and was nominated for an Oscar for that
film. After that, I did one more TV movie
and then went back to shooting commercials."
Given Toll's growing reputation,
it's no surprise that he began to be offered
more opportunities on long-form
projects. But instead of jumping at the
first chance, he patiently waited for the
right one. His break eventually came with
director Carroll Ballard's sailing-drama
Wind.
Already an admirer of Ballard's
previous films - The Black Stallion and

Braveheart photos by Andrew Cooper, SMPSP.

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - March 2016
