Awards: Oscar, Chicago Film Critics, Las Vegas
Film Critics awards for "The Aviator"; Oscars for "JFK" and
"The Aviator"; Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Florida, Las Vegas Film
Critics kudos for "Snow Falling on Cedars"; Florida Film Critics
Award for "Bringing Out the Dead"; Independent Spirit Awards laurel
for "Platoon."
Tools: Richardson worked with Kodak stocks
ranging from 100 to 500 ASA, using Panavision 3 perf. cameras and Primo lenses.
Visual references: "I found the film to be one man's
dedication to country beyond the self. What was at risk was the loss of his
soul," explains Richardson.
While lensing "The Good
Shepherd" Richardson employed the unusual technique of cutting as little
as possible, which gave director Robert De Niro the opportunity to pass along
written cues to the actors while the camera was shooting. "There were a number
of sequences where Bob would walk in and out of the frame, giving the actors
notes on how the performance should shift on a particular line, or it might be
a paragraph. The delivery was shaped continually. At some points we ran entire
magazines simply on one line or as small as altering the gesture and position
of an eye at a particular point."
Aesthetic/challenges: "The balance of light and dark and
maintaining within that shadow vivid luminance. That was my largest challenge
by far."
What's next: The veteran cinematographer is close to
finishing a Rolling Stones documentary with Martin Scorsese and next will be
working on Errol Morris' documentary on Abu Ghraib.