American Cinematographer - March 1993 - 54

Right: A camera
crew

and a

massive "cast of

thousands"
invade Jebel

Tubeig,

an

uninhabited
area near the
Saudi Arabian

frontier, during

filming of the
epic master¬
piece Lawrence
of Arabia. The
nearest water

lay 150 miles
away, and the
heat

was

almost

unendurable.

Many other
scenes

representing
Cairo,
Jerusalem and
Damascus had
to be

staged in
Spain because
the actual cities
had modernized

since the days
Lawrence.

of
the advances
made in film
and lens tech¬

Below: After

Lawrence,

Young (left) and
director David
Lean continued

nologies, Young
believes there

their storied

very little to
choose between
the image qual¬

was

collaboration
with Doctor

Zhivago and
Ryan's Daughter.

ity of 70mm
prints made for
Dr. Zhivago and

Young remembers that the
camera was big and cumbersome,
the lenses were slow, and depth of
field was critical. "David wanted
the highest resolution we could

capture on film," he says.
There

were a

lot of obvi¬

challenges, not the least of
which was lighting for those deep
focuses with comparatively slow
lenses. Movement was hindered by
the weight and bulk of the camera.
Young points out that Dr. Zhivago
was
actually shot in the Panavision
ous

35mm

52

format, with 70mm release

colors."
Over the

course

of his

transition from black & white to

color and from silent films to talk¬
with stereo sound.

During most of the 1980s,
Young was one of the most soughtcameramen

says

in

he retired to

prints made for roadshow theaters.

make time in his life for oil

Lean went back to the 65mm for¬

ing. "I've painted

mat for

Ryan's Daughter, but with

paint¬
and off all of
my life, but sometimes I got so busy

American

Cinematographer

March 1993

on

ca¬

Young saw the full arc of the
industry's progress, including the

reer,

ies, including 70mm epic

Tamarind Seed. In 1984, he tried his
hand at directing for producer
David Putnam on a film titled
Arthur Hallowed Ground: First Love.

England. He

brush. Now, I can

ter.

epics Lean and
Young made to¬
gether earned
the latter a place
in film history as one of only a
handful of cinematographers to
earn three Oscars.
Young compiled
many other credits during this
phase of his career, including Lord
Jim, You Only Live Twice, Nicholas
and Alexandra, Deadly Affair and

after commercial

without touching
finally paint
every day. I don't miss shooting
because it's the same as painting.
Both are about light and shade and
a

Ryan's Daugh¬
The three

ows.

I went for years

features
Having started
out exposing black & white film of
indeterminable speed by the fight
of the sun and processing it in a

bucket, he finished his career shoot¬

ing 500-speed color negative film in
any and every type of fight imag¬
inable.
In 1980, Young received
the Guild Award of Excellence
from B.A.F.T.A. (British Academy
of Film and Television Arts). More

recently, the Venice Film Festival
awarded Young its coveted Golden
Lion Award. There have been

other honors, including be¬
ing awarded the Order of the Brit¬
ish Empire in 1970, but, he says, this
special recognition from the ASC
many

has touched his heart because it
comes from his
peers.

Young in particular un¬
significance of the
In 1949, the cinematogra-

derstands the

honor.
American Cinematographer - March 1993

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