American Cinematographer - January 2021 - 73

Dawn, Chapman began a fruitful
collaboration with director Philip
Kaufman, for whom he went on
to shoot Invasion of the Body
Snatchers, The Wanderers and
Rising Sun.
Chapman's feature-cinematography credits in the 1970s
included Martin Ritt's The Front
and James Toback's Fingers, and
whenever East Coast cinematography jobs slowed to a trickle, he
returned to operating. One of his
best-known credits in that arena
was Jaws, shot by Bill Butler,
ASC.
" Bill and I figured out early on
that I could handhold the camera
on those small boats and roll with
the waves as I climbed all over
the place, " Chapman told AC.
" I think it was very effective in
terms of creating suspense, but
there was really no other way to
do it. "
Shortly after completing Jaws,
Chapman met with up-and-coming director Martin Scorsese to
discuss shooting Taxi Driver.
" Paul Schrader's script was as

good a script as I have ever read,
and it was ... laden with visual
information and suggestions, "
Chapman said. " [Marty and I]
felt it would be correct to do odd
things with the camerawork and
lighting. We went for it. "
Scorsese and Chapman went
on to collaborate on the concert
film The Last Waltz and the
black-and-white drama Raging
Bull. Of the latter film, Chapman
noted, " Boxing was black-andwhite to us, whether it was the
Friday night fights on TV or the
graphics in Life magazine. " Chapman had never shot black-andwhite before. " I found that it was
actually liberating ... because it's
inherently more abstract than
color; it's one step removed from
the reality of the red tie and the
blue shirt, " he said. " You start
one step from reality, and from
there you can do pretty much
whatever you want. "
In 1999, Raging Bull was
selected by AC readers as one of
the best-shot feature films of all
time, and in 2019, the picture was

recognized by ASC members as
one of the most influential films
of the 20th century.
After shooting the film-noir
send-up Dead Men Don't Wear
Plaid for director Carl Reiner,
Chapman went on to photograph
several other comedies, among
them Reiner's The Man With
Two Brains, Richard Donner's
Scrooged, Ivan Reitman's Ghostbusters II and Kindergarten Cop,
and Joe Pytka's Space Jam.
His credits also included Joel
Schumacher's The Lost Boys,
Gregory Hoblit's Primal Fear,
Scorsese's Michael Jackson:
Bad, Andrew Davis' The Fugitive
and Gábor Csupó's Bridge to
Terabithia.
In his 2003 interview with
AC, Chapman noted, " I'm glad I
got into the business when I did,
because ... I think the job I did
and still do is disappearing somewhat. Fifty years from now, it will
be a very different world. "
Chapman also dismissed the
notion that he had helped shape
the American New Wave. " I was

involved in a ridiculous number
of those movies, and I must say
that it was much more about
accidents or happening to be at
the right place at the right time
than any overarching genius on
my part. Had I known at the time
that it was going to be thought
of as a great renaissance, I would
have taken a lot more notes and
paid more attention. We thought
we were just making movies. "
In 2016, Chapman was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Camerimage
International Film Festival of the
Art of Cinematography.
He is survived by his wife of
40 years, screenwriter Amy Holden Jones; four children; and four
grandchildren.
Donations may be made in
Chapman's memory to the Sheriff's Meadow Foundation, which
is dedicated to conserving the
natural landscape and character
of Martha's Vineyard, Mass.

JANUARY 2021 / 73

American Cinematographer - January 2021

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