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"Jonah Hex" [2009] - photo by Frank Masi |
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MITCHELL AMUNDSEN |
Born: 31 May 1958, San Francisco, Calif., USA, as Charles Mitchell Amundsen. Also cred as C. Mitchell Amundsen.
Education: Montana State University [Film School], Bozeman, Montana [left in 1980].
Career: 'I was born in San Francisco and raised in Marin County in a town called Larkspur. My dad sold insurance and real estate. People from the 1960s music scene lived in that neighborhood. When I was around 10 years old, my dad bought a boat in Sausalito that we also called home. There was no film in my upbringing. It was all about music. My grandmother lived in San Francisco on the corner of Haight and Ashbury Streets, a district at the heart of the 1960s hippie music scene. My mother wouldn't let me hang out with the people on the street. I remember looking out the window and watching the street scene. I had a guitar that I tried to play, but it didn't come naturally; I'm tone deaf. On the other hand, when I picked up a camera, I had a natural inclination for still photography. I was always interested in imagery. I drew a lot, and was fascinated by the crazy, psychedelic posters that were on the streets in the Haight-Ashbury district. Photography came easy to me from the time I picked up my first 35mm camera in a high school photography class. […] I went to college in Bozeman, Montana, because they had a great still photography school. I also took motion picture classes, which sparked my interest in cinematography. When I returned home to Marin County, a friend who was selling computer chips for motion control shots to ILM got me a tour through their facility. That was around 1980 and I'd been in film school for about two years. While I was on that tour, a guy told me that Coppola's people were looking for a PA [production assistant] to run cable for a movie that he was going to make. He asked if I would be willing to leave school and work on that movie. A week later, I was being paid $100 a week to run coaxial cable during the production of 'One from the Heart'. It was an amazing experience. They were shooting at a studio on stages that Coppola owned. Vittorio Storaro was the cinematographer. I was next to him all the time, pulling cable that hooked up the camera to the video monitor. I became an AC [assistant cameraman] around 1984. Although it was a great experience, I jumped at the first opportunity to become a camera operator when the chance presented itself.' [From interview with Bob Fisher on the KODAK OnFilm website.]
Worked on music videos. Ph commercials, e.g. 'Army of One' [2003, John Schwartzman; for US Army].
Directed commercials.
His brother Eric [1960-] is a c.asst and digital imaging tech [dit].
Website: Mitchell Amundsen
FILMS |
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1998 |
Armageddon [Michael Bay] p (35mm & 70bu)/c; uncred cph (finished film after J. Schwartzman left prod about 2 weeks before shooting was finished to prep 'EDtv'; + c.op 'a' cam); ph: John Schwartzman; filmed 1997-98 |
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2001 |
The Country Bears [Peter Hastings] c; 2uc: Michael Stone; aph: Kurt E. Soderling |
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2001 |
[ESPN's] Ultimate X: The Movie [Bruce Hendricks] IMAX-70/c; doc/47m; cph: Reed Smoot & Rodney Taylor; aph: Timothy Housel |
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2003 |
National Treasure [Jon Turteltaub] s35/c; ph New York; ph: Caleb Deschanel |
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2004 |
Transporter 2/Le transporteur II [Louis Leterrier] s35/c; ph France: Pierre Morel; addph: Michael Stone; aph: Phil Pastuhov; uwph: Patrick Longman |
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2006 |
Transformers [Michael Bay] p+s35-to-35mm scope & IMAX-70bu/c; 2uc: Lukas Ettlin; uncred addph: David DuBois; aph: David B. Nowell; vfx ph: Pat Sweeney |
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2007 |
Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert [Bruce Hendricks] HD (Sony F23 & Sony F950 [3-D])-to-D-Cinema/c; concert film/74m & 90m; cph: Reed Smoot & Rodney Taylor |
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2007 |
Wanted [Timur Bekmambetov] s35/c; ph New York: John Toll; 2uc: Josh Bleibtreu & Tim Wooster; aph: Jeremy Braben & (2u) Dylan Goss |
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2008 |
Love Happens/Traveling [Brandon Camp] c; concert unit ph; ph: Eric Edwards |
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2008 |
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra [Stephen Sommers] p+RED-to-p (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Jonathan Taylor; aph: David B. Nowell & (Europe) Adam Dale |
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2008 |
Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience [Bruce Hendricks] HD (Sony F23 [3-D])-to-D-Cinema/c; concert film/76m; cph: Reed Smoot |
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2008 |
High School [John Stalberg] s35/c |
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2009 |
Jonah Hex [Jimmy Hayward] p/c; 2uc (+ c.op 'a' cam): Jerry M. Jacob & Brooks Guyer; Los Angeles ph: Jeff Cutter; addph Los Angeles: Tim Roarke; 2uc Los Angeles: Eric Leach; aph: John Trapman; uwph Los Angeles: Pete Romano; + small part |
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2009 |
Red Dawn [Dan Bradley] p/c; remake of film (1983-84) |
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2010 |
Premium Rush [David Koepp] s35/c; 2uc: Lukasz Jogalla; aph: Steve Koster |
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2011 |
Odd Thomas [Stephen Sommers] RED Epic+p-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema)/c |
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FILMS AS 2ND UNIT CINEMATOGRAPHER |
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1992 |
The Ballad of Little Jo/Little Man Jo [Maggie Greenwald] c; co-2uc; ph: Declan Quinn |
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1998 |
EDtv/Ed TV [Ron Howard] c; co-2uc (+ c.op); ph: John Schwartzman |
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2000 |
Pearl Harbor [Michael Bay] p/c; + addph; ph: John Schwartzman |
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2002 |
Bad Boys II [Michael Bay] s35/c; ph: Amir Mokri |
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2002 |
Seabiscuit [Gary Ross] s35/b&w-c; co-2uc; ph: John Schwartzman |
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2002 |
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl [Gore Verbinski] s35/c; co-2uc; ph: Dariusz Wolski |
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2003 |
The Bourne Supremacy [Paul Greengrass] s35/c; ph: Oliver Wood |
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2004 |
The Dukes of Hazzard [Jay Chandrasekhar] s35/c; ph: Lawrence Sher |
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2004 |
The Island [Michael Bay] p/c; ph: Mauro Fiore |
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2005 |
Eight Below [Frank Marshall] s35/c; + 2ud; ph: Don Burgess |
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2005 |
Mission: Impossible III [J.J. Abrams] HD+s35+p-to-p/c; co-2uc; ph: Dan Mindel |
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2010 |
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol [Brad Bird] p+IMAX65mm-to-35mm scope, IMAX70 & D-Cinema/c; ph: Robert Elswit |
FILMS & TELEVISION AS CAMERA OPERATOR |
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1986 |
Raising Arizona [Joel & Ethan Coen] c.op Alaska/Colorado (+ co-c.asst); ph: Barry Sonnenfeld |
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1989 |
The Handmaid's Tale/Die Geschichte der Dienerin [Volker Schlöndorff] ph: Igor Luther |
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1990 |
CrissCross [Chris Menges] co-c.op; ph: Ivan Strasburg |
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1990 |
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare [Rachel Talalay] ph: Declan Quinn |
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1991 |
Lies of the Twins [Tim Hunter; tvm] ph: Declan Quinn |
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1991 |
To Save a Child/The Craft/A Child for Satan [Robert Lieberman; tvm] ph: John Schwartzman |
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1991 |
Arizona Dream/The Arrowtooth Waltz [Emir Kusturica] c.op Alaska/Colorado; ph: Vilko Filac |
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1991 |
The Heart of Justice [Bruno Barreto; tvm] ph: Declan Quinn |
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1992 |
Benny & Joon [Jeremiah S. Chechik] ph: John Schwartzman |
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1992 |
In the Line of Fire [Wolfgang Petersen] c.op 'b' cam; ph: John Bailey |
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1993 |
Gypsy [Emile Ardolino; tvm] ph: Ralf D. Bode |
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1993 |
Bad Girls [Jonathan Kaplan] ph: Ralf D. Bode |
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1993 |
Higher Learning [John Singleton] ph: Peter Lyons Collister |
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1994 |
Major Payne [Nick Castle] ph: Richard Bowen |
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1994 |
Empire Records/Empire/Rock & Fun [Allan Moyle] ph: Walt Lloyd |
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1994 |
Fair Game [Andrew Sipes] c.op 'a' cam; ph: Richard Bowen |
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1995 |
Mr. Wrong [Nick Castle] ph: John Schwartzman |
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1995 |
Flipper [Alan Shapiro] co-c.op; ph: Bill Butler |
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1996 |
[Howard Stern's] Private Parts [Betty Thomas] ph: Walt Lloyd |
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1996 |
Conspiracy Theory [Richard Donner] co-c.op; ph: John Schwartzman |
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1997 |
The Man in the Iron Mask [Randall Wallace] ph: Peter Suschitzky |
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1997 |
Armageddon [Michael Bay] c.op 'a' cam (+ finished film); ph: John Schwartzman |
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1998 |
Wild Wild West [Barry Sonnenfeld] c.op 'a' cam 2u; 2uc: Bill Pope, a.o.; ph: Michael Ballhaus & Stefan Czapsky |
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1999 |
All the Pretty Horses [Billy Bob Thornton] ph: Barry Markowitz |
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1999 |
Red Planet [Antony Hoffman] c.op 'a' cam; ph: Peter Suschitzky |
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2004 |
The Dream Studio [prod: Kim Aubrey; 'making of'-doc] co-add c.op (+ co-sound); ph: ? |
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2006 |
Shine a Light [Martin Scorsese; mus doc] c.op crane shots; ph: Robert Richardson |
MISCELLANEOUS |
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1981 |
One from the Heart [Francis Ford Coppola] co-prod asst; ph: Vittorio Storaro & Ron García |
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1982 |
The Outsiders [Francis Ford Coppola] co-tech electronic cinema; ph: Stephen Burum |
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1982 |
Rumble Fish [Francis Ford Coppola] tech electronic cinema; ph: Stephen Burum |
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1983 |
The Cotton Club [Francis Coppola] prod asst (cable puller); ph: Stephen Goldblatt |
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1984 |
The Last Right [Robert Fortier; short] focus puller; ph: Barry Perles |
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1984 |
Firstborn/First Born/Moving In [Michael Apted] co-prod asst; ph: Ralf D. Bode |
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1985 |
Doubletake [Jud Taylor ; tvm] 2nd c.asst; ph: Barry Sonnenfeld |
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1985 |
Violets Are Blue... [Jack Fisk] focus puller; ph: Ralf D. Bode |
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1986 |
Raising Arizona [Joel & Ethan Coen] co-c.asst (+ c.op Alaska/Colorado); ph: Barry Sonnenfeld |
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1986 |
Critical Condition [Michael Apted] 2nd c.asst; ph: Ralf D. Bode |
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1986 |
The House on Carroll Street [Peter Yates] clapper loader; ph: Michael Ballhaus |
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1987 |
The Glass Menagerie [Paul Newman] focus puller; ph: Michael Ballhaus |
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1987 |
Sweet Hearts Dance [Robert Greenwald] co-1st c.asst; ph: Tak Fujimoto |
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1988 |
Heathers [Michael Lehmann] focus puller; ph: Francis Kenny |
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1988 |
Meet the Applegates [Michael Lehmann] focus puller; ph: Mitchell Dubin |
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1989 |
Bad Influence [Curtis Hanson] focus puller; ph: Robert Elswit |
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1990 |
Wheels of Terror/Terror in Copper Valley [Christopher Cain; tvm] focus puller; ph: Richard Bowen |