John Niel Green, (born August 10, 1939),Kay Weniger: Das große Personenlexikon des Films. Band 3, Berlin 2001, , p. 375. is an American cinematographer and film director best known for his

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

-nominated collaborations with actor/director Clint Eastwood, taking over from Eastwood's previous collaborator Bruce Surtees.

Biography

Early life

Green was born in 1939, in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, to Trudy and John Green, Sr.Udel, James C.
"Cinematographer Jack N. Green’s Aerial Work Led to Gigs on Clint Eastwood Movies,"
August 2, 2019, ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

,'' retrieved October 2, 2021 His parents were photography enthusiasts. Their home-made darkroom had a strong artistic impact on Green. At age 17, Green graduated from both high school and barber college, expecting to become a career barber.

Early career

A regular barbershop customer, cameraman John Dieves—who had been a combat cameraman in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

—excited Green with tales of the trade. Green eventually joined Dieves, to work on small television productions, for various production companies, including San Francisco’s W.A. Palmer. In 1965 Dieves sponsored Green's union membership. In the summer of 1966, Green was assistant cameraman for a documentary, in

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

, about the movie ''

The Way West ''The Way West'' is a 1949 western novel by A. B. Guthrie, Jr. The book won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1950 and became the basis for a film starring Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum, and Richard Widmark. The novel is one in the sequence o ...

.'' His work was chiefly on aerial shots. In 1968, Green moved to Hollywood where he began his career as an assistant to Emmy-winning cinematographer Donald M. Morgan. He worked primarily on aerial unit photography, shooting helicopter exteriors for the film ''

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice ''Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' is a 1969 American comedy-drama film directed by Paul Mazursky, written by Mazursky and Larry Tucker, who also produced the film, and starring Natalie Wood, Robert Culp, Elliott Gould, and Dyan Cannon. The origi ...

''. After being laid off, he fell in with Michael W. Watkins, who got him a job as a camera operator on the Jonathan Demme film '' Fighting Mad''. He spent much of the 1970s and early 1980s freelancing as an operator under DPs like William A. Fraker,

Ric Waite Ric Waite (July 10, 1933 – February 18, 2012) was an American cinematographer whose numerous film and television credits included ''Red Dawn'', '' Footloose'', ''48 Hrs.'', and ''The Long Riders''. Waite received four Emmy nominations during hi ...

Harry Stradling Jr. Harry Stradling Jr. (January 7, 1925 – October 17, 2017) was a two-time Oscar-nominated American cinematographer and the son of cinematographer Harry Stradling. Early years Stradling was born in Yonkers, New York. Career He worked on four Bl ...

, and Bruce Surtees, shooting films like ''

Bronco Billy ''Bronco Billy'' is a 1980 American Western comedy-drama film starring Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke. It was directed by Eastwood and written by Dennis Hackin. Plot Bronco Billy McCoy (Clint Eastwood) is a stuntman performing in front of a me ...

, 48 Hrs.,

Pale Rider ''Pale Rider'' is a 1985 American Western film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood, who also stars in the lead role. The title is a reference to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, as the pale horse's ghost rider (Eastwood) represents Deat ...

,'' and ''

Beverly Hills Cop ''Beverly Hills Cop'' is a 1984 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Martin Brest, screenplay by Daniel Petrie Jr., story by Danilo Bach and Daniel Petrie Jr., and starring Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley, a street-smart Detroit cop ...

.''

Clint Eastwood films

He first met Clint Eastwood on the set of the film ''The Gauntlet'', and proceeded to operate on every single Eastwood film until being promoted to DP on ''

Heartbreak Ridge ''Heartbreak Ridge'' is a 1986 American war film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood, who also starred in the film. The film also co-stars Marsha Mason, Everett McGill, and Mario Van Peebles, and was released in the United States on Decembe ...

'' after being recommended by Surtees. Because of Eastwood's tendency to reuse the same crew from film-to-film, Green shot every Eastwood-directed film between 1986 and 2000, their final collaboration being ''

Space Cowboys ''Space Cowboys'' is a 2000 American adventure drama film directed and produced by Clint Eastwood. It stars Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner as four older "ex-test pilots" who are sent into space to repair an old ...

''. Green's work on the 1992

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

, ''

Unforgiven ''Unforgiven'' is a 1992 American Revisionist Western film starring, directed, and produced by Clint Eastwood, and written by David Webb Peoples. The film tells the story of William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job, ...

'' earned him nominations for an

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 ...

and 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 ...

for best cinematography. He was also a nominee for the ASC Award for the 1995 film, '' The Bridges of Madison County''.

Recent career

Since 2000, Green has worked on over fifteen films in genres ranging from

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

( ''Serenity'') to

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 ...

(''

A Man Apart ''A Man Apart'' is a 2003 American vigilante action film directed by F. Gary Gray and released by New Line Cinema. The film stars Vin Diesel and Larenz Tate. The story follows undercover DEA agent Sean Vetter who is on a vendetta to take down a ...

'') to

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

(''

50 First Dates ''50 First Dates'' is a 2004 American romantic comedy drama film directed by Peter Segal and starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore with Rob Schneider, Sean Astin and Dan Aykroyd in supporting roles. It follows the story of Henry, a womanizing ...

The 40-Year-Old Virgin ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'' is a 2005 American romantic comedy film directed by Judd Apatow, who produced the film with Clayton Townsend and Shauna Robertson. It features Steve Carell as the titular 40-year-old virgin Andy, an employee at an e ...

Hot Tub Time Machine ''Hot Tub Time Machine'' is a 2010 American science-fiction comedy film directed by Steve Pink and starring John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, Crispin Glover, Lizzy Caplan, and Chevy Chase. The film was released on March 26, ...

''). He made his directorial debut with ''Traveller'', a 1997 crime drama starring

Bill Paxton William Paxton (May 17, 1955 – February 25, 2017) was an American actor and filmmaker. He appeared in films such as '' Weird Science'' (1985), ''Aliens'' (1986), '' Near Dark'' (1987), '' Tombstone'' (1993), ''True Lies'' (1994), '' Apollo 1 ...

and

Mark Wahlberg Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg (born June 5, 1971), former stage name Marky Mark, is an American actor, businessman, and former rapper. He has received multiple accolades, including a BAFTA Award, and nominations for two Academy Awards, three ...

. Green has been a member of the

American Society of Cinematographers 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 cinem ...

(ASC) since 1992.

Filmography

Assistant Camera Camera Operator 2nd Unit Director of Photography Additional Photography

Awards and nominations

* 1988 Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix Award for Technical Excellence: ''Bird'' (won) * 1992

Academy Award for Best Cinematography The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work on one particular motion picture. History In its first film season, 1927–28, this award (like others such as the acting awards) w ...

: ''

'' (nominated) * 1992

BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography This is a list of winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography, which is presented to cinematographers, given out by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts since 1963. Winners and nominees 1960s ; Best Cinematography ...

: ''

'' (nominated) * 1992

Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography Winners 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s References External links {{BSFC Awards Chron Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Awards for best cinematography ...

: ''

'' (won) * 1992

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography The Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography is one of the annual film awards given by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Winners 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s See also *Academy Award for Best Cin ...

: ''

'' (won) * 1992 Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography: ''

'' (won) * 1992

National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography The National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography is an annual award given by National Society of Film Critics to honor the best cinematographer of the year. English cinematographer Roger Deakins won this award a record four times. ...

: ''

'' (won) * 1995 ASC Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases: ''The Bridges of Madison County'' (nomination) * 1998 Society of Camera Operators President's Award (won) * 2003 Big Bear Lake International Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award (won) * 2009 ASC Lifetime Achievement Award (won)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Jack N. 1946 births American cinematographers Living people People from San Francisco