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Born: 12 June 1934, Dallas, Texas, USA, as John A. Alonzo, son of migrant workers from Mexico. Spent his early childhood in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Died: 13 March 2001, Beverly Hills, Calif., USA.
Career: In the early 1950s worked as camera pusher, c.op and dir at WFAA-TV, a NBC affiliate in Dallas. Moved to Los Angeles in 1956 and hosted a children's show on local tv which featured Señor Turtle, a character he had created for a show in Dallas. When the show was cancelled after a short run, he turned to acting. Became a doc cameraman for Wolper Productions. Went into feature films as c.asst with doph Winton Hoch and Gene Polito, but got his big break from James Wong Howe, who made him his co-c.op on 'Seconds'. Producer-director Roger Corman gave him his first feature credit as doph: 'Bloody Mama'.
Ph commercials. Debut as director in October 1977 with 'FM/Citizens' Band'. Was member of the ASC since November 1972.
Appeared in the doc's 'Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography' [1991] & 'The Man Who Shot Chinatown: The Life and Work of John A. Alonzo' [2006, Axel Schill; ph: Volker Gläser; 78m].
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Awards: 'Oscar' AA nom [1975] & BAFTA Film Award nom [1975] for 'Chinatown'; 'Emmy' Award nom [1994] for 'World War II: When Lions Roared' [Part II]; 'Emmy' Award nom [1999] for 'Lansky'; 'Emmy' Award [2000; shared] for 'Fail Safe'.
JOHN GALT: John, your credits include over 50 feature films. Today I would like to talk to you about your first digital high definition drama shoot ['World War II: When Lions Roared'].
JOHN ALONZO: Forget about the credits, what's important is this 'new toy', as I call it. The HDC-500 High Definition Camera is possibly the most exciting camera I've ever used. I know it sounds cliché, but to me it really is exciting.
I love the format. It's not much different from shooting 2.35 or 1.85. I had fun applying motion picture style lighting to this system. It was like going back to school again. It certainly provides a broader canvas for the artist, and, of course, the instant gratification wherein you can see the crystal clear picture on a monitor as you line up the shot. It's like having a light meter and laboratory right there on screen. I found I had several new colleagues that I normally wouldn't have on film - namely, a systems engineer, a video technician and a tape operator.
I first worked with this camera over a year and a half ago in Orlando, Florida. Sony was kind enough to invite me to play with it. Not knowing anything about it and not knowing any better for that matter, I pushed the camera to its limits. I used it very much like a movie camera. I exposed it, underexposed it and discovered that it could do some wonderful things that film can't do. […] I think among a lot of my colleagues, there has always been some apprehension with video systems. Electronic engineering is so foreign to us and complex that we're intimidated. Here is a system that has the equivalent exposure index of 500 to 2000 - a tremendous speed. So I said to myself "with this new tool, how or what should I prepare for?" You would expect me to say that I prepared by looking at a lot of photographs and research on World War II - that I tested lenses, but I didn't do that. Instead, I picked everyone's brain in Sony's world of engineering. Not just to find out why certain thinks work in this camera, but why the electronics do what they do - mostly to find out where your men and their minds were in respect to the aesthetics and the kind of lighting that should be done.
Now to make me feel a little more comfortable, I did ask Sony to give us a follow focus at the lens which is more traditional with a movie camera - although I do like the idea that the assistant can also go back to the truck and follow focus from the truck. […]
Sometimes in confined areas, it was awkward for our assistant to follow focus. So following focus from the truck camera was terrific. We gave the finder a position on the side as well as on top, which made a big difference to the camera operator. Another advantage over an optical viewfinder is that you don't have your head attached to an eyepiece. It gives you a lot more freedom to see beyond and around as you're operating the camera. We also have a finder to which you may attach yourself if you needed to. Another modification was the use of matte boxes for filtration - although I soon discovered I didn't need much filtration. I tested ultra-cons. We had some pro-mists, I think we used a warm pro-mist once or twice. A lot of thought went into this, and I kept saying to myself, "Wait a minute. If this is the sharpest most resolved image today, then why am I degrading it? Does the story call for it?" If the story called for us to diffuse it and muddy it up and make it sort of documentary or romantic, whatever the word is, then we probably shouldn't be using this system. [...] I have a theory. I don't really think that the world of film and high definition are going to conflict for a long time, if ever. I don't think one replaces the other. They each have their purpose for specific kind of stories.
GALT: One of the reasons I believe that they decided to use this technology was that there would be some fairly elaborate blue screen and motion control photography. Normally, that kind of process is handled by a specialist. The first unit sort of steps back; but in this case, you did all of the blue screen lighting and you - with the exception of the motion control specialist - and your normal crew did everything.
ALONZO: That's something that my colleagues should be aware of. That is the total control that the director of photography has over that aspect of a project when using high def. When we had the plate to play back to, we were able to balance the picture so perfectly that the producer had no questions about it. It was exactly what it was going to look like. On film, when you do blue screen, it's more complicated. Usually, you have a visual effects supervisor there whose total concentration is strictly on the blue screen, and the cameraman loses a bit of control. [From interview with John Galt, Director of Creative Services Sony High Definition Center, in the Summer 1994 issue of 'Operating Cameraman'.]
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FILMS |
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1964 |
The Legend of Jimmy Blue Eyes [Robert Clouse] c; short/22m |
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1967 |
San Sebastian 1746 in 1968 [Floyd L. Peterson] c; doc/10m |
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1968 |
The Moviemakers [Jay Anson] c; doc/7m |
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1969 |
Bloody Mama [Roger Corman] c |
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1970 |
[Joe Cocker:] Mad Dogs and Englishmen [Robert Abel, Pierre Adidge & Sid Levin] MegaScope/c; concert film/117m; co-addph; ph: David Myers |
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1970 |
Vanishing Point [Richard Sarafian] c |
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1970 |
Get to Know Your Rabbit [Brian De Palma] c |
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1971 |
Harold and Maude [Hal Ashby] c; 'Haskell Wexler got me the job. All Hal told me was that all the sequences with Harold in his home should have a certain sort of sterility; sort of clear, clean, pure, no diffusion. The angles were to be more symmetrical; sort of meat and potatoes. And every time we ended up with Maud, it would have a slight craziness to it, just a little kookiness, a little tip [of the camera] up, a little tip down, a little diffusion.'* |
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1971 |
Sounder [Martin Ritt] p/c; 'The only difficult thing about 'Sounder' was the beginning; the coon chase. And I called Jimmy Wong Howe on that [he was very sick at the time]. And I said, 'My idea is that we shouldn't shoot it day-for-night just in order to see. Why not shoot it at night and light it, but instead of lighting it from a high angle, light it from very low angles; just straight shots, light through the trees. Make it graphic because it is the beginning of the picture and you want to set up a certain pace to it. He agreed with me: 'Tell Marty I said so and if he gives you any trouble, you tell him that's the way it should be done.'* |
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1972 |
Lady Sings the Blues [Sidney J. Furie] p/c |
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1972 |
Wattstax [Mel Stuart] 16mm-35bu/c; mus doc/98m; cph: Roderick Young, José Mignone, Larry Clark, David Myers & Robert Marks; also restored version (2003) |
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1972 |
Pete 'n' Tillie [Martin Ritt] p/c |
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1972 |
Hit! [Sidney J. Furie] p/c |
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1973 |
The Naked Ape [Donald Driver] c |
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1973 |
Conrack [Martin Ritt] p/c |
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1973 |
Chinatown [Roman Polanski] p/c; took over from doph Stanley Cortez after 1 week; 'The first cameraman hired was Stanley Cortez. And Roman hired Stanley because he had shot 'The Magnificent Ambersons'. They had a big artistic difference, the two of them. Cortez did not want to photograph Faye Dunaway without diffusion and without the proper lighting, and Roman didn't want that. He wanted to put on film a sort of natural but somber kind of look. And Dick Sylbert had his act together; those sets were brilliant. And he had indulged the cameraman, given him places to put giant lights and all of that. It was just a big difference of opinion and so they fired Cortez. And I was called in immediately, like overnight. [...] I said [to Roman Polanski], 'In the anamorphic aspect ratio, there's a workhorse lens called the 40mm lens. To me the 40mm lens is the best reproduction of what the human being perceives as correct perspective. If we shoot the picture, as much as possible, with a 40mm lens, we'll have really a reproduction of the sets the way they are.'* |
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1974 |
[Jacqueline Susann's] Once Is Not Enough [Guy Green] p/c |
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1974 |
The Fortune/Spite and Malice [Mike Nichols] p/c |
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1975 |
Farewell, My Lovely [Dick Richards] c |
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1975 |
Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York [Sidney J. Furie] scheduled as doph, but film was ph by Donald M. Morgan |
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1975 |
I Will, I Will… for Now [Norman Panama] p/c |
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1975 |
The Bad News Bears [Michael Ritchie] c |
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1976 |
Black Sunday [John Frankenheimer] p/c |
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1976 |
Close Encounters of the Third Kind [Steven Spielberg] p/c; co-addph; ph: Vilmos Zsigmond |
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1976 |
Casey's Shadow [Martin Ritt] p/c |
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1977 |
Which Way Is Up? [Michael Schultz] c |
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1977 |
Beyond Reason/Mati [Telly Savalas] c; addph: Howard Anderson III |
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1977 |
[Neil Simon's] The Cheap Detective [Robert Moore] p/c |
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1978 |
Norma Rae [Martin Ritt] p/c |
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1979 |
Tom Horn [William Wiard] p/c |
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1980 |
Back Roads [Martin Ritt] p/c |
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1980 |
Zorro, the Gay Blade [Peter Medak] c |
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1982 |
Blue Thunder [John Badham] p/c; addph: Thomas Del Ruth; aph: Frank Holgate |
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1982 |
Cross Creek [Martin Ritt] c |
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With dir Brian De Palma [right] - "Scarface" |
| 1982 | Scarface [Brian De Palma] p/c | |
| 1983 | The Cotton Club [Francis Coppola] scheduled as doph, but replaced by Stephen Goldblatt when dir Francis Coppola came onboard | |
| 1984 | Terror in the Aisles/Time for Terror [Andrew Kuehn] b&w-c; comp film/85m; ph host/hostess seq | |
| 1984 | Runaway [Michael Crichton] p/c; 2uc: Peter Donen | |
| 1984 | Out of Control [Allan Holzman] c; addph: Michael Michaud | |
| 1985 | Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling [Richard Pryor] s35/c; Peoria ph: William Birch | |
| 1985 | 50 Years of Action! [Douglass M. Stewart Jr.] 16mm/c; doc/60m; cph: Caleb Deschanel & Charles Clifton; addph: James Mathers | |
| 1985 | Nothing in Common [Garry Marshall] s35/c; 2uc Chicago: William Birch | |
| 1987 | Overboard [Garry Marshall] c | |
| 1987 | Real Men [Dennis Feldman] c | |
| 1987 | Physical Evidence [Michael Crichton] c | |
| 1988 | Steel Magnolias [Herbert Ross] c | |
| 1989 | Internal Affairs [Mike Figgis] c; addph: Curtis Clark; 2uc: Michael Ferris | |
| 1989 | The Guardian [William Friedkin (tv-version dir by 'Alan Smithee')] c | |
| 1990 | Navy SEALS [Lewis Teague] c; 2uc: Bob Carmichael & Michael Ferris; aph: Frank Holgate; uwph: Peter Romano | |
| 1991 | Clifford [Paul Flaherty] c; 2uc: Michael Ferris; spph: David M. Walsh; vfx ph: Dennis Skotak; released in 1994 | |
| 1991 | HouseSitter [Frank Oz] c | |
| 1992 | Cool World [Ralph Bakshi] c; live action & anim | |
| 1992 | The Meteor Man [: An Urban Fairy Tale] [Robert Townsend] c; vfx ph: Peter Daulton; key efx ph: Martin Rosenberg | |
| 1994 | Anne of the Spanish Main [?] scheduled to start shooting in March; status unknown | |
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| 1994 | Star Trek: Generations [David Carson] p/c; miniature crash seq ph: Kim Marks | |
| 1995 | Invisible Kids [Iren Koster] scheduled to start shooting in February; filmed in 2003 by ph Adolfo Bartoli | |
| 1995 | The Grass Harp [Charles Matthau] c | |
| 1996 | Sandblast [David Carson] in development for April start; project shelved | |
| 1997 | Letters from a Killer [David Carson] c; aph: Stan McClain | |
| 1999 | The Dancing Cow [Taz Goldstein] c; short/21m | |
| 1999 | The Prime Gig [Gregory Mosher] p/c | |
| 2000 | Deuces Wild [Scott Kalvert] p/c; in memory of John Alonzo | |
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*From interview in 'Masters of Light' by Dennis Schaefer & Larry Salvato, 1984. |
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TELEVISION |
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1965 |
Pro Football: Mayhem on a Sunday Afternoon [William Friedkin] doc/b&w/52m/16mm; 2uc; ph: Vilis Lapenieks, James Crabe, David Blewitt, a.o. |
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1965 |
The Big Land [David Vowell] doc/60m; co-addph; ph: Stanley Lazan |
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1965 |
Revolution in Our Time [David Vowell] doc; cph: Ted Jones, Anthony Jacalone & David Blewitt |
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1966 |
The World of Animals [ep 'It's a Dog's World' dir by Joseph L. Scanlan & Alan Landsburg] 3-part doc series, 1966-68; cph: Vilis Lapenieks & David Blewitt |
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1967 |
Do Blondes Have More Fun? [Mel Ferber] doc/60m; cph: Vilis Lapenieks, Stanley Lazan & Kenneth Van Sickle |
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1967 |
A Nation of Immigrants [Robert Abel, Mel Stuart & Aram Boyajian] doc/b&w; co-addph; ph: Adam Giffard & Vilis Lapenieks |
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1967 |
Grizzly! [Irwin Rosten] doc/51m; addph: Mindaugis Bagdon, Stanley Lazan, Gene Peterson, a.o.; a 'National Geographic Special' |
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1967 |
Winged World [prod: Walon Green & Jeff Myrow] doc; co-addph; ph: Heinz Sielmann; a 'National Geographic Special' |
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1967 |
The World of Animals [ep 'The World of Horses' dir by Joseph L. Scanlan] doc/60m; co-addph; ph: Dieter Perschke; see 1966 |
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1967 |
The World of Animals [ep 'Big Cats, Little Cats' dir by Bud Wiser] doc/60m; cph: J. Barry Herron, William (Vilmos) Zsigmond, David Blewitt, Robert Grant & Fred Kaplan; see 1966 |
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1968 |
Sophia: A Self-Portrait [Robert Abel & Mel Stuart] doc/52m; cph: Roberto Gerardi |
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1968 |
The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau [ep 'Search in the Deep' dir by Patrick Watson & 'Whales' dir by ?] doc series, 1966-73; co-c.op; ph: Michel Deloire (uwph) & Jeri Sopanen |
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1968 |
Reptiles and Amphibians [Walon Green & Heinz Sielmann (HS)] doc/52m; co-addph; ph: HS; a 'National Geographic Special' |
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1968 |
On Location with David L. Wolper's 'The Devil's Brigade' [William Kronick] promotional doc/30m for ABC-tv |
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1968 |
The Racers: Craig and Lee Breedlove [Andy Sidaris] doc/60m for ABC-tv |
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1968 |
Australia: The Timeless Land [John Alonzo] doc/52m; a 'National Geographic Special' |
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1969 |
Miss Peggy Lee [Nick Cominos] special/60m |
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1970 |
Cannon [pilot dir by George McCowan] 125-part series, 1971-76 |
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1971 |
Revenge/There Once Was a Woman [Jud Taylor] tvm |
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1972 |
Visions…/Visions of Death [Lee H. Katzin] tvm |
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1972 |
The Voyage of the Yes [Lee H. Katzin] tvm |
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1973 |
Guess Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? [Theodore Flicker] tvm |
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1976 |
Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby/Rosemary's Baby II [Sam O'Steen] tvm |
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1978 |
Champions: A Love Story [John Alonzo] tvm |
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1979 |
Portrait of a Stripper/The Secret Life of Susie Hanson [John Alonzo] tvm |
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1979 |
Belle Starr [John Alonzo] tvm |
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1980 |
Blinded by the Light [John Alonzo] tvm |
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1981 |
The Kid from Nowhere [Beau Bridges] tvm; Special Olympics ph: Haskell Wexler |
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1988 |
Roots: The Gift [Kevin Hooks] tvm |
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1988 |
Knightwatch/On the Streets [pilot dir by Farhad Mann] 9-part series, 1988-89; other ph: Francis Kenny |
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1994 |
World War II: When Lions Roared/Then There Were Giants [Joseph Sargent] 2-part tvm/HD |
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1998 |
Lansky [John McNaughton] tvm |
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1999 |
Fail Safe [Stephen Frears] tvm/b&w/HD |
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FILMS & TELEVISION AS DIRECTOR |
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1968 |
Australia: The Timeless Land [+ ph] see Television |
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1977 |
FM/Citizens' Band [feature] ph: David Myers |
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1978 |
Champions: A Love Story [+ ph] see Television |
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1979 |
Portrait of a Stripper/The Secret Life of Susie Hanson [+ ph] see Television |
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1979 |
Belle Starr [+ ph] see Television |
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1980 |
Blinded by the Light [+ ph] see Television |
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FILMS & TELEVISION AS ACTOR |
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1958 |
Ballad for a Bad Man [Jerry Hopper] ph: Floyd Crosby; ep tv-series 'Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse', 1958-60 |
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1958 |
Dragnet/Badge 714 [ep #246 'The Big Border' dir by Jack Webb] 276-part tv-series, 1951-59; 8th season, 1958-59 |
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1959 |
Border Patrol [ep #5 'A Bundle of Dope' dir by D. Ross Lederman] tv-series |
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1959 |
Terror at Black Falls/Ordeal at Dry Red [Richard Sarafian] ph: Floyd Crosby |
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1959 |
Perry Mason [ep #83 'The Case of the Prudent Prosecutor' dir by Robert Ellis Miller] 271-part tv-series, 1957-66; 3rd season, 1959-60 |
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As Miguel in "The Magnificent Seven" - thanks to Volker Gläser |
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1960 |
The Magnificent Seven [John Sturges] as John Alonso; ph: Charles Lang Jr. |
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1960 |
The Twilight Zone [ep #48 'Dust' dir by Douglas Heyes] 156-part tv-series, 1959-64; 2nd season, 1960-61; ph: George T. Clemens |
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1961 |
Cheyenne [ep #80 'Massacre at Gunsight Pass' dir by Robert T. Sparr] 108-part tv-series, 1955-62; 5th season, 1960-61 |
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1961 |
Cheyenne [ep #82 'Winchester Quarantine' dir by Paul Landres] 6th season, 1961-62; see above |
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1961 |
The Long Rope [William Witney] ph: Kay Norton |
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1961 |
Susan Slade [Delmer Daves] ph: Lucien Ballard |
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1961 |
Hand of Death/Five Fingers of Death [Gene Nelson] ph: Floyd Crosby |
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1962 |
The Gallant Men [ep #3 'And Cain Cried Out' dir by Charles Rondeau (CR) & #24 'The Crucible' dir by CR] 26-part tv-series, 1962-63 |
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1962 |
Combat! [ep #9 'Cat and Mouse' dir by Robert Altman (RA) & #12 'The Prisoner' dir by RA] 152-part tv-series; 1st season, 1962-63; ph: Robert B. Hauser |
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1963 |
Ripcord [ep #28 'Top Secret' dir by Leon Benson] 76-part tv-series, 1961-63 |
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1963 |
Temple Houston [ep #22 'Last Full Moon' dir by Leslie H. Martinson] 26-part tv-series, 1963-64 |
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1963 |
Kraft Suspense Theatre [ep #21 'Once Upon a Savage Night/Nightmare in Chicago' dir by Robert Altman] 60-part tv-series, 1963-65; 1st season, 1963-64; ph: Bud Thackery |
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1964 |
Destry [ep #9 'Ride to Rio Verde' dir by ?] 13-part tv-series, 1964 |
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1964 |
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour [ep #56 'The Gentleman Caller' dir by Joseph M. Newman] 93-part tv-series, 1962-65; 2nd season, 1963-64; ph: Richard L. Rawlings |
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1964 |
Invitation to a Gunfighter [Richard Wilson] ph: Joe MacDonald |
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1966 |
The Wild Wild West [ep #30 'The Night of the Golden Cobra' dir by ? & #51 'The Night of the Surreal McCoy' dir by ?] 104-part tv-series, 1965-69; 2nd season, 1966-67; ph: Ted Voightlander |
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1966 |
Bewitched [ep #96 'Art for Sam's Sake' dir by William Asher] 252-part tv-series, 1964-72; 3rd season, 1966-67 |
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