American Cinematographer - May 2017 - 85

Opposite: Gerald Hirschfeld, ASC operates a camera during his Army days.
Above: The cinematographer at work on the television series Johnny Jupiter (left) and the feature Fail-Safe (right).

tough, that's true," he acknowledged. "But
it was only because I was always trying to
push myself, to learn and be a better cinematographer, and I expected the same
work ethic from everyone around me."
One of Hirschfeld's first Hollywood
features was Mel Brooks' comedy Young
Frankenstein (AC July '74), which stars
Gene Wilder as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein,
who attempts to re-create his grandfather's
experiments. In a wide-ranging conversation with students at the American Film
Institute that was moderated by Howard
Schwartz, ASC and transcribed for the June
and July 1978 issues of AC, Hirschfeld said
of the production, "In order to capture the
feeling that Mel Brooks wanted - of recreating a bit of the old-time texture of films
- he wanted it very contrasty. He wanted
the backlights to really punch through and
he wanted the shadows dark."
Hirschfeld and Brooks remained
friends, and they later reteamed on the
period comedy To Be or Not to Be (1983),
which Brooks produced. The cinematographer would also join Wilder for The World's
Greatest Lover (1977), which the actor
wrote, directed and produced.
For director Frank Perry, Hirschfeld
photographed the features Last Summer
(1969), Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970)
and "Doc" (1971); for Gilbert Cates, he shot
the features Summer Wishes, Winter
Dreams (1973) and Dragonfly (1976), and
the telefilms The Affair (1973) and Country
Gold (1982); and for John G. Avildsen, he

was behind the camera for the feature
Neighbors (1981). Other feature credits
included The Gravy Train (1974), The Ultimate Warrior (AC Aug. '75) and My
Favorite Year (1982).
Hirschfeld was invited into membership in the ASC on Feb. 1, 1951. Fifty-six
years later, in 2007, the Society presented
the cinematographer with its Presidents
Award, recognizing his exceptional contributions to the art and craft of making
motion pictures. Speaking with AC about
the award, Hirschfeld said, "I deeply appreciate the honor, and I also appreciate everything the ASC has done for me through the
years." Hirschfeld was also honored, in
2004, with the Ashland Independent Film
Festival's Lifetime Achievement Award.
In addition to his work behind the
camera, Hirschfeld was a devoted educator.
"I started teaching cinematography pretty
early on at the Brooklyn Institute of Photography," he told AC. He later spent time as a
filmmaker in residence at the International
Film & Television Workshops in Maine. He
also penned numerous articles for AC, and
authored the book Image Control: Motion
Picture and Video Camera Filters and Lab
Techniques.
"When I was just starting out, in the
1940s, many cinematographers were very
protective of their techniques," Hirschfeld
offered. "They would never tell you exactly
how something was done. But the ASC and
American Cinematographer helped change
that, and that example has been copied
www.theasc.com

throughout the industry."
Speaking with the students at AFI,
the cinematographer emphasized, "You've
got to know your business." He added that
as a director of photography, "Your eyes are
not only on the scene that is in front of you,
but also on what's coming up on the schedule. You have to do a little bit of your own
thinking. ... And you've got to watch the
sky.
"My feeling is that as long as nothing is a distraction, you can get away with
it," he continued. "What you have to do is
take an adverse light condition and make it
match as best you can. The better you do
that, the more jobs you're going to have."
In the weeks leading up to his Presidents Award presentation from the ASC,
Hirschfeld reflected on his many and varied
feature collaborations, telling AC, "I
enjoyed working on a picture when I wasn't
given too much information. That put the
ball in my court and made me feel even
more responsible to do the very best I
could."
Hirschfeld is survived by his wife,
Julia Tucker; sons Alec, Marc, Eric and Burt;
and six grandchildren.
- David E. Williams and Jon D. Witmer
●

May 2017

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