Photo by Douglas Kirkland

DARIUSZ WOLSKI ASC

Born: 1956, Warsaw, Poland, as Dariusz [Darek] Adam Wolski.

Education: PWSFTviT, Lódz, Poland.

Career: 'I was born and raised in Warsaw and went to the national film school in Lódz. My sister is a painter, and I suppose that got me interested in visual arts. Becoming a filmmaker seemed almost unachievable, so I found that to be a challenge. We were taught a lot of theory at school, but I was lucky, because Witold Sobocinski, a great Polish cinematographer, taught a couple of classes. One of his classes was a workshop, where he had us set up for a complicated shot that he lit and we filmed. In his next class, we watched a couple of his movies with no sound. He commented on every shot. 20 years later, I was invited to do a very similar workshop at AFI, and realized that I was trying to imitate what he had done, because it made a deep impression. After about 3 years at school in Lódz, I felt that I needed to be someplace more cosmopolitan and international. I kind of had this fantasy that the film industry in the United States was like Paris for painters at the beginning of the 20th century. I went to New York City in 1979. I knew somebody who was studying at Columbia University, so I hung out there, shot some student films, and found work as a production assistant and assistant cameraman. I was fortunate that somebody introduced me to people at the BBC. I worked on a lot of documentaries for them as an assistant. I got to work on documentaries featuring politicians, scientists, writers and actors. Professionally, it was pretty basic and straightforward work. It wasn't creative cinematography. Anytime there was a chance to shoot anything , I grabbed that opportunity. Once I was an operator on a low budget movie and took over shooting the second half. I remember thinking, now I'm a director of photography, but no one saw that film. Then, I went back to being an assistant. Everyone has the same story to tell. If you want to be a cameraman, you shoot anything you can when you are starting out. I got fortunate. My friend Martin Schaer, who is still my operator, and I worked on a very low budget movie in Death Valley, California. I was a camera assistant. He convinced me to move to Los Angeles in 1986 just when MTV was catching on. I shot two music videos with a band that wasn't very well known, but they were for Virgin Records and the images looked great. Someone at Virgin liked my work, and showed the videos to other people, and all of a sudden I was shooting a lot of music videos. I shot some videos that led to opportunities to shoot commercials. There were some very good directors working on videos and commercials. My first movie was made for cable television in 1991 ['Chains of Gold']. it based on my music videos. It was a horrible low budget movie with John Travolta. I was fired with two weeks to go. I've learned about Hollywood the hard way.' [From interview with Bob Fisher on the KODAK OnFilm website.]

Ph 100+ music videos [see below for selection] with David Bowie, Sting, Elton John, a.o. Ph numerous commercials dir by Marco Brambilla, Marek Kanievska, Jake Scott [for Blaupunkt], Alex Proyas, Russell Mulcahy [for Canon], Julien Temple, Jeremiah Chechik [for Levi's], Michael Hausmann, Mike Rowles [for Honda], Lyndall Hobbs, Bob Giraldi, David Fincher [for Levi's], a.o. Directed commercials [for Nike].

Member of the ASC since 1996.

Awards: MTV Video Music Award 'Best Cinematography' nom [1990] for 'Janie's Got a Gun'; ASC Award nom [1996] for 'Crimson Tide'; MTV Video Music Award 'Best Cinematography' nom [2001] for 'Stan'.

FILMS AT THE ACADEMY

1978	Calineczka [Andrzej Mellin; short] co-c.asst (+ small part); ph: Wlodzimierz Glodek
1979	Droga z pierwszenstwem przejazdu [Krzysztof Tchórzewski] b&w; short/21m; cph: Krzysztof Pakulski
1979	Kregoslup [Jacques Louis Sennyey] b&w; doc/4m
1979	W starym piecu [Pawel Nowicki] 16mm/c; doc/17m

FILMS

1986	Heart [James Lemmo] c; addph; ph: Jacek Laskus
1989	Chains of Gold [Rod Holcomb] c; cph: Bruce Surtees (replaced D. Wolski); premiered on cable-tv in 1991
1992	Romeo Is Bleeding [Peter Medak] c; aph: Don Sweeney
1993	The Crow [Alex Proyas] c; miniature ph: Michael Talarico
1994	Crimson Tide [Tony Scott] p/c; addph: Daniel Mindel; uwph: Jim Dickson; vfx ph: Scott Beattie, Scott Campbell, Craig Moore, a.o.
1995	The Fan [Tony Scott] p/c; uncred addph: Daniel Mindel
1996	Dark City [Alex Proyas] s35/c; 2uc: Richard Michalak, Michael Wood & Gary Philips; addph: Ross Emery & Andrew Lesnie
1997	A Perfect Murder [Andrew Davis] c
1997	Enemy of the State [Tony Scott] announced as doph, but replaced by Daniel Mindel
1999	Rules of Engagement [William Friedkin] p+tvi/c; started prod; cph: William Fraker & Nicola Pecorini
1999	Coyote Ugly [David McNally] s35/c; 2uc (+ 2ud); ph: Amir Mokri; addph: David Golia
2000	The Mexican [Gore Verbinski] s35/c
2001	Bad Company/Black Sheep [Joel Schumacher] s35/c; 2uc: Josh Bleibtreu
2002	Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl [Gore Verbinski] s35/c; 2uc: Alexander Witt; uwph: Peter Zuccarini; vfx ph: Carl Miller & Pat Sweeney
2004	Hide and Seek [John Polson] s35/c; aph: Phil Pastuhov
2005	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest [Gore Verbinski] s35/c; 2uc: Patrick Loungway; 2uc Dominica: Josh Bleibtreu; aph: David B. Nowell; uwph: Peter Zuccarini
2005	Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End [Gore Verbinski] s35/c; 2uc: Patrick Loungway; uwph: Peter Zuccarini; vfx ph: Carl Miller
2006	Namaste, London [Vipul Amrutlal Shah] announced for August start, but ph by Jonathan Bloom
2007	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street [Tim Burton] 35mm (+ D-Cinema)/c; vfx ph: John Conroy
2007	Come Wander with Me/And She Stares Longingly at What She Has Lost [Phillip Van] c; short/3m; prod NYU; prod as part of the series 'Little Minx - Exquisite Corpse' (5 shorts)
2007	Eagle Eye [D.J. Caruso] s35 (+ IMAX-70bu)/c; add unit ph: Josh Bleibtreu; uncred addph: Alex Nepomniaschy; 2uc: Larry Blanford; aph: David B. Nowell; filmed 2007-08

With dir Tim Burton [left] - "Alice in Wonderland"

2008

Alice in Wonderland [Tim Burton] HD+35mm-to-35mm (+ IMAX-70bu [3-D] & D-Cinema)/c

2009

The Rum Diary [Bruce Robinson] s16-35bu/c; addph: John Seale; aph: David B. Nowell

With actor Johnny Depp [right] - "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides"

2010

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides [Rob Marshall] RED (3-D)-to-35mm scope (+ IMAX-70bu)/c; 2uc: Patrick Loungway; addph 2u: Robert S. Gainer; aph: Michael Kelem & (Los Angeles) David B. Nowell; uwph: Peter Zuccarini & (Hawaii) Don R. King

2011

Prometheus [Ridley Scott] RED Epic (3-D)/c

2011

The Cold [Daniel Calparsoro] pre-production

TELEVISION

1987	Land of Little Rain [Evelyn Purcell] tvm; ep PBS-tv series 'American Playhouse'
1987	Nightfall [Paul Mayersberg] tvm
1990	Fifteenth Phase of the Moon [Mark Amos Nealey] tvm/30m; ep 'Showtime 30-Minute Movie'-series

MISCELLANEOUS

1981	Death of a Prophet [Woodie King Jr.] gaffer; ph: Robert Achs
1983	The Brass Ring [Bob Balaban; tvm] c.asst; ph: Steven Fierberg
1983	Almonds and Raisins [: A History of the Yiddish Cinema] [Russ Karel] c.asst; ph: Jacek Laskus
1984	Almost You [Adam Brooks] c.op; ph: Alexander Gruszynski
1985	Parting Glances [Bill Sherwood] co-c.asst; ph: Jacek Laskus
1986	Cherry 2000 [Steve DeJarnatt] 3u c.asst; 3uc: Christopher Tufty

MUSIC VIDEOS [Selection]

1987	This Lonely Heart [a: Loudness; d: Nigel Dick]
1988	This Note's For You [a: Neil Young; d: Julien Temple]
1988	When It's Love [a: Van Halen; d: Jeremiah Chechik]
1988	If It Isn't Love [a: New Edition; d: Geoffrey Edwards]
1988	Indestructible [a: Four Tops; d: Maurice Phillips]
1988	Hey Hey [a: Neil Young; d: Julien Temple]
1988	Holdin' On [a: Steve Winwood; d: David Fincher]
1988	Eternal Flame [a: The Bangles; d: Tim Pope]
1989	American Dream [a: Crosby, Stills & Nash; d: Julien Temple]
1989	Forever Your Girl [a: Paula Abdul; d: David Fincher]
1989	Janie's Got a Gun [a: Aerosmith; d: David Fincher]
1989	Darlin', I... [a: Vanessa Williams; d: Alek Keshishian]
1989	I'll Be Good To You [a: Quincy Jones, Ray Charles & Chaka Khan; d: David Kellogg]
1989	License to Kill [a: Gladys Knight; d: Daniel Kleinman]
1990	Sweet & Low [a: Debbie Harry; d: Steven Meisel]
1990	Yer So Bad [a: Tom Petty; d: Julien Temple]
1991	Unforgettable [a: Natalie Cole; d: Steve Barron]
1997	Not If You Were the Last Junkie On Earth [a: The Dandy Warhols; d: David LaChapelle]
2000	Stan [a: Eminem & Dido; d: Dr. Dre & Philip Atwell]