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Topic: Conrad Hall, ASC - 1926-2003

Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 01-05-2003 11:21 PM

Acclaimed cinematographer, Conrad L. Hall passed away today after a fight with cancer. Just about anyone participating in the Film-Tech forums has seen his work. He won Best Cinematography Oscars for "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "American Beauty." He was nominated seven other times for various films like the black and white "In Cold Blood" or the great chess film "Searching for Bobby Fisher." I really liked his work on "Tequila Sunrise." Just this past year he was the DP on "The Road to Perdition," a film that may rake in a number of Oscar nominations in February.

Hall's filmography shows some truly great work in a wide variety of films (lots of great suggestions on the "Movie of the Day" topic), just check his listing at IMDB.com.
http://us.imdb.com/Name?Hall,+Conrad+L.

Conrad Hall's passing is really coincidental in that George Roy Hill, the director of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" just passed away a few days ago.

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Aldo Baez
Master Film Handler

Posts: 266
From: USA
Registered: Mar 2001

posted 01-06-2003 01:52 AM

A truly sad day. [Frown]

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 01-06-2003 09:15 AM

Mr. Hall greatly enriched the art of cinematography, and he inspired and helped many young cinematographers:

Road to Perdition

Among those who credit Conrad Hall:

Carpenter

Butler

Anderson

Sande

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Tim Reed
Better Projection Pays

Posts: 5246
From: Northampton, PA
Registered: Sep 1999

posted 01-06-2003 12:28 PM

This is terrible news! Connie Hall was the coolest cinematographer I can think of. His attitude was, "This isn't rocket science, anyone can do it. All you have to do is remember a few simple formulas." He was much too modest. He seemed to have a disdain for elitism in the profession, and had actually formed a rival guild for cinematographers in the late 50s or early 60s. He brought the Arriflex camera to the US, and also had the first distributorship (albeit, a short-lived one).

His work was often characterized by obscuring the lens with foreground objects, subtly revealing the subject. The man created many beautiful images.

Indeed, a tremendous loss, and I'm sorry to hear about this!

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Daniel Boisson
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 157
From: Buffalo, NY, USA
Registered: Oct 2001

posted 01-06-2003 12:55 PM

I was just watching American Beauty last night with the director's commentary......Same Mendes kept noting various shots.....needless to say, he was a great cinematographer [Frown]

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Charles Everett
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1470
From: New Jersey
Registered: May 2001

posted 01-06-2003 03:59 PM

Brad once said on the forums that he appreciated the possibility of black & white over color. I don't know if Brad realizes it, but Conrad L. Hall preferred working in B&W.

Variety has a thorough obituary on Mr. Hall. You might be surprised to know that his career included The Outer Limits in its B&W incarnation.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 01-06-2003 05:29 PM

Variety's obit for Conrad Hall was well done. My memory must be failing me, but I could have sworn Hall was teaching cinematography at School of Visual Arts in NYC. But now I'm not sure if it was him or Gordon Willis --just in the late 1990's a powerhouse cinematographer was teaching his craft at the same college where I earned my BFA in illustration. And I thought that was really cool.

Nevertheless, people talk about Hall as a guy who thought anyone could learn cinematography if they're willing to learn some of the conventions and put in the work. But then that is typical of any TRUE ARTIST. He is comfortable and confident enough in his own creative work that teaching others is not "giving away secrets." With Hall's measure of talent there was little worry of finding work. A lot of filmographies of various cinematographers have a lot of films I've never seen or heard of before. Not so for Hall. Many of us have grown up watching his work. I can even recall camping out in the back seat of my parents' Pontiac LeMans as they watched "ElectraGlide In Blue" at the drive-in theater.

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Tim Reed
Better Projection Pays

Posts: 5246
From: Northampton, PA
Registered: Sep 1999

posted 01-07-2003 10:50 AM

Something else I recall reading about Conrad Hall. He often made tests: trying different filters, exposure settings for particular lighting setups, etc. during slates, before "action" was called. Very resourceful! The industry has lost a true great.

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