American Cinematographer - August 2011 - 88

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Tom Houghton, ASC
What has been your most satisfying moment on a project? The Rescue Me Season 5 premiere at Radio City Music Hall. You don’t often get to see TV in a room like that. Have you made any memorable blunders? We make mistakes all the time, but the important thing is to try to keep them small and take corrective action the next time around. What is the best professional advice you’ve ever received? I received early encouragement from Woody Omens, ASC; and Walter Lassally, BSC taught me many crucial concepts over the course of several projects. I also appreciated the opportunity to be on the set of Fat City, where Conrad Hall was executing innovative ideas like using 8K (4x2K) umbrella lights for the fight scenes. In dailies, John Huston would just put his head down and listen, trusting Conrad to deliver their visual plan.

When you were a child, what film made the strongest impression on you? The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962), epic stories unspooled on the large canvas of an exotic location enhanced by spectacular photography. Which cinematographers, past or present, do you most admire? One of the first I noticed was Conrad Hall, ASC, for his ability to do stunning black-and-white work with an emotional impact within the constraints of a TV schedule. More recently I’ve admired the work of ASC members Roger Deakins, Rodrigo Prieto, Caleb Deschanel, Vittorio Storaro and John Bailey, and Christopher Doyle, HKSC. What sparked your interest in photography? My uncle, an economist for the Federal Trade Commission, was a serious amateur photographer who took his 16mm Bolex all over the world. I was captivated by the way he was able to entertain people by setting up a projector in his basement theater.

What recent books, films or artworks have inspired you? I admire The King’s Speech, Black Swan, Biutiful, True Grit and 127 Hours Where did you train and/or study? for their innovative approach to drama. I’m also deeply affected by the At age 12, I began helping out on weekends at the radio station KVIP blend of modern and historic architecture my distant relations have in Redding, Calif., and later at their TV station. When I was in high created at our Lancashire family seat, Hoghton Tower. Running a 16thschool, they hired me to shoot, develop and edit news film. In Septem- century estate in today’s economy takes monumental effort, but the de ber 1963, I had the privilege of filming President Kennedy dedicating the Hoghtons have managed to preserve the Banqueting Hall, which is lined Whiskeytown Dam and Reservoir. I spent a college semester at the Slade with 2,000 panes of Flemish glass, and drawing rooms where William School of Fine Arts, University College, London, and received my MFA Shakespeare worked as a tutor’s assistant. from New York University’s graduate film program. Do you have any favorite genres, or genres you would like to try? Who were your early teachers or mentors? I’ve always been a fan of film noir, and after getting to know one of its I learned an enormous amount from George Abbott, my journalism masters, John Alton, ASC, I studied his films even more intensely. I also teacher at Shasta High School; Doug Watson, a cameraman at KVIP-TV; enjoy filming music, and it was great fun to shoot the musical segments and Jim Vestal, an award-winning local newspaper photographer. As an for Rescue Me in Busby Berkeley style. undergraduate at Mackinac College, I was greatly influenced by my professor Jack McCabe, a Shakespearean scholar and film buff. If you weren’t a cinematographer, what might you be doing instead? What are some of your key artistic influences? I’ve never really thought about it, because being a photographer and I look at the Dutch masters for their shadow and luminosity, and I’m cinematographer has been my quest since childhood. always influenced by foreign travel for the distinctive types of available light everywhere on the earth: on the Alps, on the plains of Central Which ASC cinematographers recommended you for memberAfrica, on the sands of Egypt, against the ochre walls of Tuscan villas, on ship? fishing boats in Vietnam, gleaming up from rivers in Laos, and illumiSteven Poster, Ron Fortunato and Dean Semler. nating jewel-toned saris in India. How has ASC membership impacted your life and career? How did you get your first break in the business? It’s a great experience to be able to commune and compare notes with I was called in to take over Fire Down Below , which became my first my friends and heroes and attend events where I can pass on what I’ve credit on a major studio feature. learned to others. ●
88 August 2011 American Cinematographer

Photo by Ken Ortiz.

American Cinematographer - August 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - August 2011