Dante Spinotti,

A.S.C. The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), founded in Hollywood in 1919, is a cultural, educational, and professional organization that is neither a labor union nor a guild. The society was organized to advance the science and art of ci ...

, A.I.C. (born 22 August 1943) is an Italian

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

and a member of the

board of governors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organi ...

of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

. He is known for his collaborations with directors

Michael Mann Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943) is an American director, screenwriter, and producer of film and television who is best known for his distinctive style of crime drama. His most acclaimed works include the films '' Thief'' (1981) ...

Michael Apted Michael David Apted, (10 February 1941 – 7 January 2021) was a British television and film director and producer. Apted began working in television and directed the '' Up'' documentary series (1964–2019). He later directed '' Coal Miner's ...

, Deon Taylor, and

Brett Ratner Brett Ratner (born March 28, 1969) is an American film director and producer. He directed the ''Rush Hour'' film series, '' The Family Man'', '' Red Dragon'', '' X-Men: The Last Stand'', and ''Tower Heist''. He is also a producer of several film ...

, and is frequently credited with helping to pioneer the use of high-definition

digital video Digital video is an electronic representation of moving visual images (video) in the form of encoded digital data Digital data, in information theory and information systems, is information represented as a string of discrete symbols eac ...

cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...

. He is a

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...

recipient and two-time

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nominee (for ''L.A. Confidential'' and ''The Insider'').

Biography

Spinotti was born in Tolmezzo, near the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n border. He began experimenting with still photography at the age of 11 with a camera given to him by his uncle, a

and director specializing in documentaries and newsreels. He worked as a

camera operator 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 filmmak ...

on documentaries for much of his early career. Among the more notable films he has worked on are ''

The Last of the Mohicans ''The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757'' is a historical romance written by James Fenimore Cooper in 1826. It is the second book of the '' Leatherstocking Tales'' pentalogy and the best known to contemporary audiences. '' The Pathfinde ...

'', ''

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is ...

'', and ''

L.A. Confidential ''L.A. Confidential'' (1990) is a neo-noir novel by James Ellroy and the third of his L.A. Quartet series. It is dedicated to Mary Doherty Ellroy. The epigraph is "A glory that costs everything and means nothing"—Steve Erickson. Plot The s ...

''. Spinotti also was the cinematographer for

's films, such as '' Red Dragon'' (2002), '' After the Sunset'' (2004), and '' X-Men: The Last Stand'' (2006). Spinotti was the cinematographer on both adaptations of the novel '' Red Dragon'' by Thomas Harris:

's 1986 adaptation (titled ''Manhunter''), and

's 2002 adaptation. He won the Golden Camera 300 award at the Manaki Brothers Film Festival in

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

for lifetime achievement.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Quality screengrabs of Dante Spinotti's fine cinematography on ''Manhunter'' (1986)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spinotti, Dante 1943 births Living people Best Cinematography BAFTA Award winners David di Donatello winners Ciak d'oro winners Italian cinematographers Italian expatriates in the United States People from Tolmezzo