Ivor Daniel Mindel, , (born 27 May 1958) is a South African-American cinematographer best known for his work on

blockbuster Blockbuster or Block Buster may refer to: *Blockbuster (entertainment) a term coined for an extremely successful movie, from which most other uses are derived. Corporations * Blockbuster (retailer), a defunct video and game rental chain ** Bl ...

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...

s like ''

Enemy of the State An enemy of the state is a person accused of certain crimes against the state such as treason, among other things. Describing individuals in this way is sometimes a manifestation of political repression. For example, a government may purport to m ...

'', '' Mission: Impossible III'', '' Star Trek'', ''

Star Trek Into Darkness ''Star Trek Into Darkness'' is a 2013 American science fiction action film directed by J. J. Abrams and written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof. It is the 12th installment in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and the sequel to t ...

'', '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'', and '' Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker'', working with directors like

Tony Scott Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was an English film director and producer. He was known for directing highly successful action and thriller films such as '' Top Gun'' (1986), '' Beverly Hills Cop II'' (1987), ''D ...

and

J. J. Abrams Jeffrey Jacob Abrams (born June 27, 1966) is an American filmmaker and composer. He is best known for his works in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. Abrams wrote and produced such films as '' Regarding Henry'' (1991), '' F ...

Life and career

Mindel was born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

and received education in Australia and in Britain. He began his career as a camera loader before becoming a

clapper loader A clapper loader or second assistant camera (2nd AC) is part of a film crew whose main functions are that of loading the raw film stock into camera magazines, operating the clapperboard (slate) at the beginning of each take, marking the actors a ...

and assistant

cameraman A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not imply that a male is performing the task. In filmmakin ...

on John Boorman's 1985 film, ''

The Emerald Forest ''The Emerald Forest'' is a 1985 British adventure drama film set in the Brazilian rainforest, directed by John Boorman, written by Rospo Pallenberg, and starring Powers Boothe, Meg Foster, and Charley Boorman with supporting roles by Rui Po ...

'', under French cinematographer

Philippe Rousselot Philippe Rousselot, (born 4 September 1945) is a French cinematographer and film director best known for his wide range of work in both European and mainstream American cinema, ranging in genres from drama, to fantasy, to blockbusters. He ha ...

. He soon after moved to the United States and began working on commercials for Ridley and Tony Scott, among several other directors. Throughout the 1990s, Mindel worked as a camera operator or

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

on feature films directed by either Tony Scott or Ridley Scott, including ''

Thelma & Louise ''Thelma & Louise'' is a 1991 American road crime comedy-drama film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khouri. It stars Susan Sarandon as Louise and Geena Davis as Thelma, two friends who embark on a road trip that ends up in unfores ...

'' and '' Crimson Tide''. In 1997, Mindel was assigned as second unit director of photography on Ridley Scott's ''

G.I. Jane ''G.I. Jane'' is a 1997 American war drama film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Demi Moore, Viggo Mortensen, and Anne Bancroft. The film tells the fictional story of the first woman to undergo special operations training similar to the ...

''. This opened the door for Mindel to become director of photography on Tony Scott's 1998

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

- thriller, ''

''. Mindel went on to serve as director of photography for films such as ''

Shanghai Noon ''Shanghai Noon'' is a 2000 martial arts western action comedy film starring Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson and Lucy Liu. The first in the ''Shanghai'' film series and marking the directorial debut of Tom Dey, ''Shanghai Noon'' was written by Alfred ...

'', '' Stuck on You'', ''

The Skeleton Key ''The Skeleton Key'' is a 2005 American Southern Gothic supernatural horror film directed by Iain Softley, written by Ehren Kruger, and starring Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, John Hurt, Peter Sarsgaard, and Joy Bryant. The narrative follows a New ...

'', '' John Carter'', and Tony Scott's ''

Spy Game ''Spy Game'' is a 2001 American action thriller film directed by Tony Scott and starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. The film grossed $62 million in the United States and $143 million worldwide on a $115 million budget, and received mostly ...

'' and ''

Domino Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also c ...

''. He has also done additional photography for the films '' The Bourne Identity'' and ''

Lions for Lambs ''Lions for Lambs'' is a 2007 American war drama film directed by Robert Redford about the connection between a platoon of United States soldiers in Afghanistan, a U.S. senator, a reporter, and a Californian college professor. It stars Redford, ...

''. Director

selected Mindel to be director of photography on 2006's '' Mission: Impossible III''. Mindel worked with Abrams again as the cinematographer of 2009's '' Star Trek'' and its follow-up, ''

''. Mindel was the director of photography on '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'', which was released on December 18, 2015. He was later announced to return to the franchise with '' Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,'' also directed by Abrams, which commenced filming on August 1, 2018 at Pinewood Studios.

Style

His work tends to feature very stylized camera movements with the use of a roll-axis camera, as well as shooting in the

Panavision Panavision is an American motion picture equipment company founded in 1953 specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses dur ...

anamorphic format Anamorphic format is the cinematography technique of shooting a widescreen picture on standard 35 mm film or other visual recording media with a non-widescreen native aspect ratio. It also refers to the projection format in which a distorted ...

and

virtual cinematography Virtual cinematography is the set of cinematographic techniques performed in a computer graphics environment. It includes a wide variety of subjects like photographing real objects, often with stereo or multi-camera setup, for the purpose of rec ...

Personal life

Mindel is married to Lisa Fallon Mindel and has four children, Samuel, Eden, Molly and Lily.

Filmography

As director of photography

Other roles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mindel, Dan 1958 births South African emigrants to the United States Living people American cinematographers South African cinematographers People from Johannesburg