American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 68

◗

Enduring Luminary

Top: Director Jonathan Frakes (middle) walks through a scene with Leonetti and crew on the set
of Star Trek: Insurrection. Bottom: Leonetti lines up a shot for Dawn of the Dead (2004).

says. "We just let the actor drive. Is that
innovation? It's thinking on your feet
and making it work - and it worked
well. To go up there and [place]
Condors would have taken two nights
of rigging. [The solution] was very
effective."
His longstanding reputation for
rising to the challenge is one of the
reasons Leonetti was chosen for this
year's honor. As ASC President Richard
Crudo remarks, "For all his achieve68

February 2015

ments, Matt Leonetti is one of the most
under-sung cinematographers I know
of. He has worked at such a high level
for so long and across such a wide array
of genres that he's pretty much in a class
by himself. If being considered a great
cinematographer means not having a
rigid style but adapting oneself to the
material at hand, then he has to be the
all-time champ. And that he has done
so with such exquisite taste and artistry
is all the more testimony. Times have
American Cinematographer

changed in such a way that he may well
be the last of the breed, and that's a
shame - but his work will stand for as
long as there is cinema, and for that we
should be thankful."
Leonetti makes it clear that his
success has always depended on the
people around him. "I have never been
king of the mountain," he says. "I've
always tapped into people's knowledge,
because it's crazy not to. You can't do it
by yourself." He counsels that paying
attention is of paramount importance,
especially at the start of a career. "I
picked up from different people as I
went along," he remarks. "I used to sit by
the camera all the time, and I encourage
[aspiring filmmakers] to do the same."
The cinematographer singles out
the work of the late Pat Blymyer as
instrumental in many of his achievements. As close collaborators, Leonetti
and the battle-tested gaffer worked on
more than 35 projects together. "I
always hired gaffers who were very
experienced," Leonetti explains. "In a
way, they were my mentors, because
those guys could light better than I
could at the beginning of my career. My
dad was a gaffer; he worked with me on
six or seven projects."
He also points to the late William
A. Fraker, ASC as a mentor. Leonetti
worked as an assistant to the revered
cinematographer, who - along with
the late Gayne Rescher, ASC - sponsored his entry into the Society in 1981.
"Bill and I never did a movie, but we did
some commercials together, and I paid
attention to what he did and said,"
Leonetti remembers. "He got me into
the ASC and the Academy. For some
reason, he really liked me and took me
under his wing.
"I also worked with Gordon
Willis [ASC] a couple of times," he
adds. "He came from New York to do a
commercial; he loved toplight!"
Asked about the neo-noir thriller
Dead Again (AC Sept. '91), Leonetti
cites the film's director as one of his
favorite collaborators. "[Kenneth]
Branagh was very communicative," he
relates. "He and I got along really well;

American Cinematographer - February 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - February 2015