American Cinematographer - February 2020 - 72

Second to None

pp McCuaig shares a moment with "The Queen" (actor Elizabeth Richard), while shooting second
unit on the 2009 global-disaster epic 2012. p On far left is McCuaig, in Jerusalem with his production
team to shoot Perry Como's Christmas in the Holy Land (1980).
72

February 2020

American Cinematographer - 100 Years

we'd put our leads in a tow car and
just get through all their lines."
McCuaig gained entry into
feature-film production by shooting
additional photography on the indie
thriller Stepfather II (1989), principally
photographed by Jacek Laskus, ASC,
PSC. "I learned a lot on that, especially how the cinematographer's
choices in terms of color, angles, lighting and composition serve the story
and set a mood; that's something we
often didn't have time for in television at that time. Today it's different.
And initially, I didn't understand why
Jacek was using multiple film stocks
- Fuji for a cold and gritty look on
one location, and Agfa for a soft
warmth on another. It was a big eyeopener. I never worked directly with
Jacek, but I learned a lot from him."
McCuaig's working relationship with 2nd-unit director and stunt
coordinator Mickey Gilbert, whom
he'd met on The Fall Guy, would open
up the next phase of his career: shooting 2nd unit on Hollywood features.
These projects included Ghost in the
Machine, City Slickers II: The Legend of
Curly's Gold, Forget Paris, Metro, Liar
Liar, Simon Birch, Nutty Professor II:
The Klumps, Rat Race, Dragonfly,
National Security, Bruce Almighty, Elf
and Evan Almighty. "Mickey was a
guardian angel,"  McCuaig attests,
"and so many of those shows were so
much fun to work on."
But for McCuaig, the grueling
production schedule became a 24/7
marathon. "It's an issue every cinematographer faces," he says. "You
don't say no to work because you
don't know when - or if - you'll be
working again. And that phone will
stop ringing one day."
Of the many cinematographers
he has worked with, McCuaig notes
that Dean Semler, ASC, ACS was one
of the most exceptional. "Working on
big, complex shows with Dean, like
Get Smart and 2012, gave me the
opportunity to participate in a lot of
the early testing, especially with
cameras and film stocks," he says,



American Cinematographer - February 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - February 2020

Contents
American Cinematographer - February 2020 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - February 2020 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - February 2020 - 1
American Cinematographer - February 2020 - Contents
American Cinematographer - February 2020 - 3
American Cinematographer - February 2020 - 4
American Cinematographer - February 2020 - 5
American Cinematographer - February 2020 - 6
American Cinematographer - February 2020 - 7
American Cinematographer - February 2020 - 8
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