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

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

s, mainly the ones directed by

Tony Scott Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was a British film director and producer. He made his theatrical film debut with ''The Hunger (1983 film), The Hunger'' (1983) and went on to direct highly successful action and t ...

and J. J. Abrams.

Early life

Mindel was born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

and received education in Australia and in Britain.

Career

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 as ...

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 necessarily imply that a male is performing the task. ...

on John Boorman's 1985

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

, '' The Emerald Forest'', under French cinematographer Philippe Rousselot. He soon after moved to the United States and began working on

commercials A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

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 uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

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

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

'' and '' Crimson Tide''. In 1997, Mindel was assigned as

second unit A second unit is a discrete team of filmmakers tasked with filming shots or sequences of a production, separate from the main or "first" unit. The second unit will often shoot simultaneously with the other unit or units, allowing the filming s ...

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

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

- thriller, '' Enemy of the State''. 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 directed by Tom Dey in his feature film debut, written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, and starring Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson and Lucy Liu. It is the first entry in the ...

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

The Skeleton Key ''The Skeleton Key'' is a 2005 American supernatural folk horror film directed by Iain Softley and starring Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, John Hurt, Peter Sarsgaard, and Joy Bryant. The screenplay by Ehren Kruger follows a New Orleans hospice n ...

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

Spy Game ''Spy Game'' is a 2001 action thriller film directed by Tony Scott and written by Michael Frost Beckner and David Arata. The film stars Robert Redford and Brad Pitt as CIA operatives entangled in a covert rescue mission during the final day ...

'' and ''

Domino Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces. 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 called '' pips'' or ''dots'' ...

''. 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 Redfor ...

''. Director J. J. Abrams 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 ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

'' and its follow-up, ''

Star Trek Into Darkness ''Star Trek Into Darkness'' is a 2013 American science fiction film, 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 ...

''. 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 Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...

. Three years after the release of ''The Rise of Skywalker'', Mindel worked on additional photography for the

Marvel Studios Marvel Studios, LLC, formerly known as Marvel Films, is an American film and television production company. Marvel Studios is the creator of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), a media franchise and shared universe of films and television ser ...

films ''

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ''Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'' is a 2022 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the character Doctor Strange. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the sequel ...

'' and '' Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania''.

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 Inc. is an American motion picture equipment company (law), company founded in 1954 specializing in cameras and photographic lens, lenses, based in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk a ...

anamorphic format Anamorphic format is a cinematography technique that captures widescreen images using recording media with narrower native Aspect ratio (image), aspect ratios. Originally developed for 35 mm movie film, 35 mm film to create widescreen pres ...

and

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

Personal life

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

Filmography

Television Short film Feature film

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