American Cinematographer - November 2013 - 111

Bennett photo by Gerardo Sanchez Alvarado. USC, Jannard photos by Alex Lopez.

Above: Bill Bennett, ASC leads a lighting workshop in Mexico City.
Below: Associate Jim Jannard speaks at the Clubhouse.

of Southern Nevada enjoyed a dialogue
with ASC members Bill Bennett, James
Carter, Isidore Mankofsky, Charles
Minsky and Dave Perkal that was moderated by Committee Chair George Spiro
Dibie, ASC. Dibie also handled moderating
duties when a group of international
students from USC's Summer Program in
Film and Digital Cinematography visited the
Clubhouse. For that event, Dibie was joined
by fellow members Bennett, Carter,
Mankofsky, Perkal, Anna J. Foerster,
Victor J. Kemper, M. David Mullen and
Haskell Wexler.
Bennett Leads Lighting
Workshop
Bill Bennett, ASC recently traveled
to Mexico City to lead a master class hosted
by CTT Exp & Rentals. The workshop began
with a lecture, during which Bennett illustrated key lighting concepts with a number

of clips from his extensive list of commercial
credits. After the lecture, attendees put the
concepts into practice as Bennett led a
hands-on workshop that took the group
step-by-step through his process for lighting
the "hero shot" in a car commercial.
The master class was presented by
Umpeq, CTT Exp & Rentals, Canon, Centro
de Capacitación Cinematográfica, the Mexican Society of Cinematographers and AC.
Red Comes to Dinner
ASC associates Jim Jannard and
Jarred Land of Red Digital Cinema
attended a recent Society dinner meeting to
present the company's new Dragon sensor,
which marks a significant evolution from
Red's MX sensor. Peter L. Collister, ASC
screened and discussed test footage he'd
shot with a Red Epic Dragon camera, and
attendees then had hands-on time with two
cameras Red provided for the event.
●
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In Memoriam: Gilbert Taylor, BSC
ASC International Award honoree
Gilbert Taylor, BSC died Aug. 23 at his home
on the Isle of Wight. He was 99.
Taylor was born on April 12, 1914, in
Bushey Heath, England. The son of a successful
builder, he was expected to become an architect
and take over the family business. But when he
was 15, a job offer from a neighbor to be a
camera assistant allowed Taylor to build a different future for himself.
Taylor worked for 10 years as an assistant, a loader and an operator under Bill Shenton and Freddie Young, BSC, before he joined
the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in 1939.
He was trained to fly as a mid-upper gunner in
Lancaster bombers, but he spent his six years of
service photographing the targets of night raids
over Germany after the bombs were dropped.
He also led a small group of cameramen to cover
the liberation of the concentration camps and
the signing of the armistice. In his last interview
with AC (Feb. '06), Taylor said, "You may ask
how these experiences helped to prepare me for
my film career. Well, they certainly made me
tougher."
After the war, Taylor returned to the
studio and began his career as a director of
photography. His feature credits included A Hard
Day's Night (1964), Dr. Strangelove or: How I
Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
(1964), Repulsion (1965), The Omen (1976) and
Flash Gordon (1980). Gilbert told AC he was
most happy to be remembered as the cinematographer who set the look for Star Wars
(1977).
Taylor won a BSC Award for his work on
The Omen, and the BSC honored him again in
2001 with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The
ASC honored Taylor with its International Award
in 2006. He is survived by his wife, Diane.

November 2013

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American Cinematographer - November 2013

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