Gordon Willis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gordon Willis (born May 28, 1931 in Queens, New York, United States) is a highly respected Hollywood cinematographer best known for his work on the The Godfather series, and on Woody Allen's Annie Hall and Manhattan.

A typically dark Willis shot from The Godfather Part II
A typically dark Willis shot from The Godfather Part II

Willis is famed for his penchant at photographing in extremely dark conditions, an approach which earned him the nickname "The Prince of Darkness", a moniker attributed to him by his friend Conrad Hall. Another trademark is his preference for filming at the magic hour before twilight, when the sun is low and creates a golden glow. Willis created the trope of warm ambers to denote nostalgic glow for the past, for the young Vito sequences of The Godfather Part II—many films since then have copied this cinematic technique when depicting pre-World War II America.

Willis was shunned by the Academy for many years, failing to gain even a nomination for movies that were otherwise showered with Oscars. He eventually received two nominations, one for his inventive recreation of 1920s photography in Woody Allen's Zelig (1983), and one for The Godfather Part III (1990).

As part of the legends surrounding The Godfather, Willis is said to have thrown an entire 35mm movie camera body and film magazine off a bridge after a quarrel with director Francis Ford Coppola.



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