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Vilmos Zsigmond

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The native form of thispersonal nameisZsigmond Vilmos.This article usesWestern name orderwhen mentioning individuals.
Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC
Vilmos Zsigmond at the43rd KVIFFin 2008
Born(1930-06-16)June 16, 1930
Szeged,Hungary
DiedJanuary 1, 2016(2016-01-01)(aged 85)
Big Sur,California, U.S.
OccupationCinematographer
Years active1955–2016
Spouse(s)Elizabeth Fuzes (divorced) (2 children)
Susan Roether (his death)[1]

Vilmos ZsigmondASC(Hungarian:[ˈvilmoʃˈʒiɡmond];June 16, 1930 – January 1, 2016) was a Hungarian-Americancinematographer.His work in cinematography helped shape the look of American movies in the 1970s, making him one of the leading figures in theAmerican New Wavemovement.[2][3][4][5][6]

Over his career he became associated with many leading American directors, such asRobert Altman,Steven Spielberg,Brian De Palma,Michael CiminoandWoody Allen.[7][8][9]He is best known for his work on the filmsClose Encounters of the Third KindandThe Deer Hunter.[6][9][10]

He won theAcademy Award for Best Cinematographyfor his work onClose Encounters of the Third Kindas well as theBAFTA Awardfor Best Cinematography forThe Deer Hunter.[7][8]He also won theEmmy Awardfor Outstanding Individual Achievement in Cinematography for a Miniseries or a Special for the HBO miniseriesStalin.[6]

His work on the filmsMcCabe and Mrs. Miller,Close Encounters of the Third KindandThe Deer Huntermade theAmerican Society of Cinematographers(ASC) list of the top 50 best-shot films from 1950–97.[11][12]The ASC also awarded him with their Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998.[12][13]

In 2003, Zsigmond was voted as one of the ten most influential cinematographers in history by the members of theInternational Cinematographers Guild.[8][14]

Life and career[edit]

Zsigmond was born inSzeged,Hungary, the son of Bozena (née Illichman), an administrator, and Vilmos Zsigmond, a soccer player and coach.[7][9][15]He became interested in photography at age 17 after an uncle had given himThe Art of Light,a book of black-and-white photographs taken by Hungarian photographer Eugene Dulovits,[16][17][18]but under theSoviet-imposed government of theHungarian People's Republiche was not allowed to study the subject because his family was consideredbourgeois.[7][16][17]Instead, Zsigmond worked in a factory, bought a camera and taught himself how to take pictures, going on to organize a camera club for the workers.[8][15][16]As a result he won the respect of localcommissarsand was allowed to study cinema at theAcademy of Drama and Film in Budapestand received anMAin cinematography.[8][15][16]He worked for five years in a Budapest feature film studio becoming director of photography.[15]

Zsigmond, along with his friend and fellow studentLászló Kovács,borrowed a 35-millimeter camera from their school and chronicled the events of the1956 Hungarian Revolutionin Budapest by hiding the camera in a shopping bag and shooting footage through a hole they had cut in the bag.[6][7][16]The two men shot thirty thousand feet of film and escaped to Austria shortly afterwards.[7][8][15]In 1958 Zsigmond and Kovács arrived in the United States as political refugees and sold the footage to CBS for a network documentary on the revolution narrated byWalter Cronkite.[6][7][8]

In 1962, Zsigmond became a naturalized citizen of the United States.[19]He settled in Los Angeles and worked in photo labs as a technician and photographer.[8]The first film he worked on in the United States was the 1963 black-and-whiteexploitation filmThe Sadist,starringArch Hall Jr.[8][16]Throughout the 1960s, he worked on many low-budget independent and educational films as he attempted to break into the film industry.[9][15]Some of the films that he worked on during this period credited him as "William Zsigmond", includingThe Sadist,the classic horrorB movieThe Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies,[9][20]and theSecond Citysatirical science fiction movieThe Monitors.[21]

Kovács, who shot the 1969 filmEasy RiderforPeter FondaandDennis Hopper,recommended Zsigmond to Fonda for his 1971 Western filmThe Hired Hand.[7][8]Later that same year Zsigmond was hired byRobert Altmanfor hisrevisionist westernfilmMcCabe & Mrs. Miller,which became Zsigmond's breakthrough film and marked his first time working on a major Hollywood production.[7][22]

Over the following decade, Zsigmond became one of the most in-demand cinematographers in Hollywood.[8][10]Some of the major films he shot in the 1970s includeJohn Boorman'sDeliverance,Altman'sThe Long GoodbyeandBrian De Palma'sObsession,as well asSteven Spielberg'sThe Sugarland ExpressandClose Encounters of the Third Kind,the latter of which won him theAcademy Award for Best Cinematographyat the50th Academy Awards.[9][16]

In 1978, Zsigmond worked onMichael Cimino's dramaThe Deer Hunter,starringRobert De Niro,Meryl StreepandChristopher Walken.[7][9][10]Zsigmond's visual work on the film earned him the 1980BAFTA Awardfor Best Cinematography and another Academy Award nomination.[7][8][9]Zsigmond again worked with Cimino on his 1980 epic WesternHeaven's Gate.[7][8]

Zsigmond continued to be in demand in the years that followed, working multiple times with several directors. He again worked with De Palma on his filmsBlow Out,The Bonfire of the Vanities,andThe Black Dahlia.[23]He worked withMark RydellonCinderella Liberty,The Rose,The River,andIntersection.[9][16]He worked withGeorge MilleronThe Witches of Eastwick[8]and withKevin SmithonJersey Girl.[24]He also worked withWoody AllenonMelinda and Melinda,Cassandra's Dream,andYou Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger.[8]

Zsigmond's television work includes the HBO miniseriesStalin,for which he won the 1993Emmy Awardfor Outstanding Individual Achievement in Cinematography for a Miniseries or a Special.[6][12]He was nominated for an Emmy for his work on 2001 miniseriesThe Mists of Avalon.[6]Zsigmond also shot 24 episodes ofThe Mindy Projectbetween 2012 and 2014.[12][20][25]

Vilmos' life and career was featured inNo Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos,a bio-documentary that aired on PBS'sIndependent Lensin 2009.[9][26]

In 2011 Zsigmond co-founded theGlobal Cinematography Institutein Los Angeles, along with fellow cinematographerYuri Neyman.[6][9][27]The Institute provides an advanced cinematography educational program for postgraduate students and veteran filmmakers.[27]

He was a longtime user and endorser ofTiffenfilters, and is associated with the technique known asflashingorpre-fogging,which involves carefully exposing the film negative to a small, controlled amount of light in order to create a muted color palette.[9][20]

Death[edit]

On January 1, 2016, Zsigmond died at his home in Big Sur, California, at the age of 85.[6][9]

Awards and honors[edit]

Academy Awards

Year Title Category Result
1977 Close Encounters of the Third Kind Best Cinematography Won
1978 The Deer Hunter Nominated
1984 The River Nominated
2006 The Black Dahlia Nominated

BAFTA Awards

Year Title Category Result
1971 McCabe & Mrs. Miller Best Cinematography Nominated
1972 Images Nominated
Deliverance Nominated
1977 Close Encounters of the Third Kind Nominated
1978 The Deer Hunter Won

American Society of Cinematographers

Year Title Category Result
1996 The Ghost and the Darkness Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography Nominated
2006 The Black Dahlia Nominated

Satellite Awards

Year Title Category Result
2006 The Black Dahlia Best Cinematography Nominated

National Society of Film Critics

Year Title Category Result
1973 The Long Goodbye Best Cinematography Won

Primetime Emmy Awards

Year Title Category Result
1992 Stalin Outstanding Cinematography Won
2001 The Mists of Avalon Nominated

Lifetime Achievement Awards

Filmography[edit]

Main article:Vilmos Zsigmond filmography

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Vilmos Zsigmond the lighting wizard behind close encounters died at 85The Washington Post(subscription required)
  2. ^Bergan, Ronald (January 4, 2016)."Vilmos Zsigmond obituary".The Guardian.London.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.Zsigmond, who won an Oscar for his work on Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), was responsible for the distinctive look of many of the best Hollywood movies of the 1970s, starting with Altman's McCabe & Mrs Miller (1971).
  3. ^"Vilmos Zsigmond, cinematographer – obituary".The Daily Telegraph.London. May 30, 2016.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.Vilmos Zsigmond, who has died aged 85, was a Hungarian cinematographer celebrated for his work during the 1970s and 1980s with directors such as Steven Spielberg, Robert Altman and Woody Allen...His camera skills were used to great effect in seminal 1970s works such as Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter (1978) and John Boorman's Deliverance (1972).
  4. ^"Vilmos Zsigmond, Close Encounters cinematographer, dies at 85".BBC News.London. January 4, 2016.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.[Zsigmond] was also revered as an architect of the American New Wave in the 1970s.
  5. ^Patterson, John (January 6, 2016)."Vilmos Zsigmond: the cinematographer who transformed how films look".The Guardian.London.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.We think of Zsigmond, who died on New Year's Day aged 85, as one of the leading photographic lights of the Hollywood New Wave.
  6. ^abcdefghiAnderson, Tre'vell (January 3, 2016)."Vilmos Zsigmond, Oscar-winning cinematographer, dead at 85".Los Angeles Times.Los Angeles.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.Oscar-winning cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, revered as one of the most influential cinematographers in film history for his work on several classic films, including "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "The Deer Hunter," died Friday.
  7. ^abcdefghijklBergan, Ronald (January 4, 2016)."Vilmos Zsigmond obituary".The Guardian.London.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.
  8. ^abcdefghijklmno"Vilmos Zsigmond, cinematographer – obituary".The Daily Telegraph.London. May 30, 2016.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.
  9. ^abcdefghijklmWeber, Bruce (January 4, 2016)."Vilmos Zsigmond, Cinematographer, Dies at 85; Gave Hollywood Films a New Look".New York Times.New York City.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.
  10. ^abc"Vilmos Zsigmond, Close Encounters cinematographer, dies at 85".BBC News.London. January 4, 2016.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.
  11. ^"American Cinematographer's list of the top 50 best-shot films from 1950–97".theasc.American Society of Cinematographers. 1999.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.
  12. ^abcdLeopold, Todd (January 4, 2016)."'Close Encounters' cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond dies at 85 ".CNN.Atlanta, GA.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.
  13. ^"ASC Awards: Past Nominees and Winners".theasc.American Society of Cinematographers.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.
  14. ^Anderson, Tre'vell (October 17, 2003)."Cinematographers pick their Top 11".Los Angeles Times.Los Angeles.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.
  15. ^abcdefSchaefer, Dennis; Larry Salvato (1985). "Vilmos Zsigmond".Masters of Light: Conversations with Contemporary Cinematographers.University of California Press.p.311.ISBN978-0-520-05336-6.
  16. ^abcdefgh"Vilmos Zsigmond, the lighting wizard behind 'Close Encounters,' dies at 85".The Washington Post.Washington, District of Columbia, United States. January 4, 2016.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.
  17. ^abSragow, Michael (August 26, 2010)."Vilmos Zsigmond, the image-master".The Baltimore Sun.Baltimore, Maryland, United States.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.
  18. ^Lacher, Irene (June 16, 2013)."The Sunday Conversation: Vilmos Zsigmond's technique comes into focus".Los Angeles Times.Los Angeles.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.
  19. ^"Vilmos Zsigmond, Oscar-winning cinematographer, dies aged 85".The Guardian.London. January 3, 2016.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.
  20. ^abcPatterson, John (January 6, 2016)."Vilmos Zsigmond: the cinematographer who transformed how films look".The Guardian.London.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.
  21. ^"The Monitors(1969): Full Credits ".TCM Database.Turner Classic Movies.RetrievedMay 2,2020.
  22. ^Gleiberman, Owen (May 18, 2016)."Cannes Film Review: 'Close Encounters with Vilmos Zsigmond'".Variety.Los Angeles: Michelle Sobrino-Stearns.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.
  23. ^Zacharek, Stephanie (January 4, 2016)."Cinematographer Extraordinaire Vilmos Zsigmond Could Light Up the Night, and the Daytime Too".Time.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.
  24. ^Kermode, Mark (June 20, 2004)."Oh, do grow up, Kevin..."The Observer.London.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.
  25. ^Dagan, Carmel (January 3, 2016)."Vilmos Zsigmond, Oscar-Winning Cinematographer, Dies at 85".Variety.Los Angeles: Michelle Sobrino-Stearns.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.
  26. ^"No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos".PBS.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.
  27. ^abCaranicas, Peter (November 29, 2011)."D.p.'s launch cinematography school".Variety.Los Angeles: Michelle Sobrino-Stearns.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.
  28. ^"Camerimage 1997" Retrieved November 2, 2016.ArchivedNovember 3, 2016, at theWayback Machine

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