Michael Chapman (cinematographer)
| Michael Chapman | |
|---|---|
| Born |
November 21, 1935 New York City, U.S. |
| Other names | Mike Chapman |
| Occupation |
Cinematographer Actor & Director |
Michael Chapman, A.S.C. (born November 21, 1935) is an American cinematographer who is well known for his work on many films of the American New Wave of the 1970s and in the 1980s with prominent directors like Martin Scorsese and Ivan Reitman. To date, he has shot more than forty feature films. On over half of them, he has worked with only three different directors.
Chapman was born in New York City but raised in Wellesley, Massachusetts, without much of an interest in film. As a youth, he was more interested in sports than photography or painting. After high school, he attended Columbia University, where he majored in English. Upon his graduation, he worked temporarily as a brakeman for the Erie Lackawanna Railroad in the Midwest and then served a brief stint in the United States Army.
It was actually Chapman’s father-in-law, Joe Brun, who got him his first job in the industry: working as an assistant camera and focus puller on commercials, as there weren’t enough feature films being shot in New York at the time.
Chapman began his film career as a camera operator before making the leap to cinematographer, distinguishing himself on Steven Spielberg's Jaws. He fondly remembers his time as an operator, and calls it one of the best jobs in the movie business because "you get to see the film before anyone else does!"
As a cinematographer, he became famous for his two collaborations with Martin Scorsese, Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. Chapman was also cinematographer for the 1978 hit remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. He and Scorsese were huge fans of The Band, and even with nine cameras shooting at once, Chapman served as the principal cinematographer for their documentary on The Band, called The Last Waltz. Chapman has noted that “the strategy for filming all of their songs was planned out in enormous detail.”
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