American Cinematographer - April 2016 - 10

This month's issue honors a pair of ASC icons whose
legacy as cinematographers is equaled by their contributions to the Society, dedicated mentorship of students, and
passionately held principles. Over the course of their illustrious careers, Vilmos Zsigmond and Haskell Wexler
brought vision, insight and integrity to their achievements,
both onscreen and off.
Their artistry will live on, and was duly saluted by their
peers. Collectively, Vilmos and Haskell earned three
Academy Awards and six other Oscar nominations, two
ASC Lifetime Achievement Awards, two more careerachievement honors from Camerimage, an Emmy Award
and two additional Emmy nominations. Their film titles
alone inspire awe and immense gratitude among all movie
lovers: McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Deliverance, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Deer
Hunter, Medium Cool, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Bound for Glory, Matewan, and
many more.
I had the great privilege to know these singular cinematographers personally, and I can
assure you they lived up to their legends. Vilmos was a savvy Hollywood veteran who knew
all the angles, but also a kind, soft-spoken ambassador of cinema; his sandpapery accent was
always a welcome sound that carried the promise of good movie talk and memorable recollections of a very colorful career. Haskell, as his reputation contends, was a strong and willful
firebrand who spat vinegar till his final days, whether the topic at hand was film history or
politics and current events. Sitting next to him at ASC board meetings was like being next to
a dormant cobra that would suddenly spring forth when provoked, but I also appreciated his
wry sense of humor and his compassionate concern for humanity and the common good.
The two died within days of each other, prompting consecutive waves of praise and
fond regards. To further celebrate their memories, our team of AC writers and editors sought
observations from as many friends and collaborators as we could get on the record. Hopefully,
the resulting tributes will reveal more of the qualities that made both Vilmos ("Carrying
Cinema's Flag," page 38) and Haskell ("Rebel With a Camera," page 54) true luminaries.
Also in this issue, two comic-book heroes go toe to toe in Batman v Superman: Dawn
of Justice, shot by ASC member Larry Fong. This super-powered smackdown presented Fong
and his crew with a variety of epic setups envisioned by director Zack Snyder, who relished
the collaboration. "Larry is an amazingly receptive person," Snyder tells Iain Marcks ("A Clash
of Titans," page 72). "He understands my point of view, even as I'm formulating it."
The magazine's senior European correspondent, Benjamin B, still has a student's hunger
for study, and his piece "Practical Optics: Testing Different Sensor Sizes" (page 90) marks the
first in a series of introductory articles on optics. In summarizing the purpose of this primer,
he notes, "There is a current trend toward shooting with sensors larger than the Super 35mm
standard, with cameras such as the Red Dragon and the Arri Alexa 65. The goal of the tests
presented here is to explore how a different sensor size might change the look of a given
composition, and in particular its perspective and depth of field."
We hope that this practical lesson, juxtaposed with the wisdom bequeathed to us by
Vilmos and Haskell, will enrich your own visual ambitions.

Stephen Pizzello
Editor-in-Chief and Publisher

Photo by Owen Roizman, ASC.

Editor's Note

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