James Hawkinson is an American

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 c ...

known for his work in television, music videos, and film. He is best known for his critically acclaimed work on the ''Hannibal'' and ''The Man in the High Castle'' television series', for which he has received numerous accolades including a

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

and a nomination for an

ASC Award ASC may refer to: Educational institutions * Anglican Schools Commission, Australia * Andres Soriano Colleges of Bislig, located in Surigao del Sur, Philippines * Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Georgia Organizations Australia * Australian Singing ...

Life and career

Hawkinson began his career as an

electrician An electrician is a tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenanc ...

lighting technician Electrical lighting technicians (ELT), or simply lighting tech, are involved with rigging stage and location sets and controlling artificial, electric lights for art and entertainment venues (theatre or live music venues) or in video, television, ...

, and gaffer at

Boss Film Studios Boss Film Studios was a prominent American visual effects company, founded by visual effects veteran Richard Edlund after his departure from Industrial Light and Magic, producing visual effects for over thirty films from 1983 to 1997. Before tha ...

, a prominent

visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...

company. He worked on numerous big-budget, effects-heavy films like ''

Alien 3 ''Alien 3'' (stylized as ''A''LIEN³) is a 1992 American science fiction horror film directed by David Fincher and written by David Giler, Walter Hill, and Larry Ferguson, from a story by Vincent Ward. It stars Sigourney Weaver, reprising h ...

Species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

,'' and ''Air Force One'', and lower-budget

genre film Genre film may refer to: * A film conforming to a well-defined film genre * Genre Films, aka Kinberg Genre, a television and film production company * ''Genre'' (1996 film), a live-action/animated short by Don Hertzfeldt See also * Genre, the ge ...

s like ''Intruder'' and ''Fist of the North Star''. Starting in 1997, he became a highly prolific DP for music videos, with over 200 credits to his name. Hawkinson served as director of photography on the sitcom ''Arrested Development'' for which he experimented with different 16 mm film cameras and HD camcorders in order to achieve the look and visual styles desired by the series' creators Joe and Anthony Russo. He worked on several subsequent television projects with the Russos, including ''

Carpoolers ''Carpoolers'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from October 2, 2007, to March 4, 2008. The show was created by Bruce McCulloch, who also executive produced alongside Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, David Miner, Marsh McCall, Jo ...

The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret ''The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret'' is a black comedy television series starring David Cross, Sharon Horgan, Blake Harrison, Will Arnett, Spike Jonze, Sara Pascoe and Amber Tamblyn. The series is produced by IFC and RDF ...

,'' and ''Community''. He shot the

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apo ...

''The Unborn'' and the 2007 remake of ''The Hitcher'', both of which were produced by

Platinum Dunes Platinum Dunes is an American production company founded in November 2001 by filmmakers Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, and Andrew Form. The company produces horror films, such as ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'', ''The Purge'', ''Friday the 13th'', ...

. Starting in 2013, Hawkinson served as the series DP on ''Hannibal'', a

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and co ...

-drama series based on the novels by

Thomas Harris William Thomas Harris III (born 1940/1941) is an American writer, best known for a series of suspense novels about his most famous character, Hannibal Lecter. The majority of his works have been adapted into films and television, the most nota ...

. His photography heavily utilizing angular lighting and

shallow focus Shallow focus is a photographic and cinematographic technique incorporating a small depth of field. In shallow focus, one plane of the scene is in focus while the rest is out of focus. Shallow focus is typically used to emphasize one part of the ...

to create a distinct, unnerving atmosphere. His work was a point of near-universal acclaim, many praising its dark, brooding,

art-house An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...

style and disturbing atmosphere, with many calling it the best-looking show on television. His work on the first season of the

dystopian A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

science fiction series ''The Man in the High Castle'' earned him a

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (One Hour) is an annual award presented as part of the Primetime Emmy Awards. From 1971 until 2008, all single-camera series competed together in a combined catego ...

and a nomination for an

Filmography

Television

Film

Music videos

Video album

Awards and nominations

* Nominated: ** 2001 MTV Video Music Award for Best Cinematography –

Get Ur Freak On "Get Ur Freak On" is a song by American rapper Missy Elliott. It was written and produced by Elliott and Timbaland for her third studio album '' Miss E... So Addictive'' (2001). Based on heavy bhangra elements, a popular music and dance form f ...

** 2016 ASC Award Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Television Movie/Mini-Series/Pilot – ''The Man in the High Castle'' ** 2017

– ''The Man in the High Castle'' * Won: ** 2016

– ''The Man in the High Castle''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkimson, James American cinematographers Living people Year of birth missing (living people)