Robert Richardson
Birthday:
27 August 1955, Hyannis, Massachusetts, USA
Birth Name:
Robert Bridge Richardson
Robert Richardson was born on August 27, 1955 in Hyannis, Massachusetts, USA as Robert Bridge Richardson. He is known for his work on Inglourious Basterds (2009), Django Unchained (2012) and Shutter Island (2010).
It's important not to confuse visual clichés with artistic photography. If a choice had to be made, I would much rather shoot a good pictur...Show more »
It's important not to confuse visual clichés with artistic photography. If a choice had to be made, I would much rather shoot a good picture than a good-looking picture. Show less «
[on photographing many of Quentin Tarantino's films] Most have a pop approach to the use of vibrant color, which is quite in opposition to t...Show more »
[on photographing many of Quentin Tarantino's films] Most have a pop approach to the use of vibrant color, which is quite in opposition to the majority of work being done in cinema. That was a tremendous shift for me because I had to move from what I'm normally prone to use, which is a muted palette, to one that's fuller. Show less «
[on photographing Samuel L. Jackson's scenes in Django Unchained (2012)] Skin naturally reflects in a way that makeup doesn't. So we had to ...Show more »
[on photographing Samuel L. Jackson's scenes in Django Unchained (2012)] Skin naturally reflects in a way that makeup doesn't. So we had to figure out a way to light him. Because the primary story circles slavery, of course every shot will, in one way or the other, deal with the contrast of black and white. I hope we succeeded. Show less «
My career is based primarily upon finding a balance with a director and their vision, and that means sublimating my own personal ego toward ...Show more »
My career is based primarily upon finding a balance with a director and their vision, and that means sublimating my own personal ego toward their material. It's far better to shoot a good picture than a good-looking picture. Show less «
[from his Oscar acceptance speech for Hugo (2011)] To all the past, future and present filmmakers, this is for you.
[from his Oscar acceptance speech for Hugo (2011)] To all the past, future and present filmmakers, this is for you.
I don't watch my movies after I've shot them. I can't go back. I went back to see Snow Falling on Cedars (1999) with the AFI and I just can'...Show more »
I don't watch my movies after I've shot them. I can't go back. I went back to see Snow Falling on Cedars (1999) with the AFI and I just can't watch it - I remember sitting there going, "I can't look at this", and I get out of the room, because all I can see are my faults - I'm just looking at how poor my work is, and that is an extraordinarily uncomfortable thing for me, so I walk out. I don't watch my films; I haven't seen any of them for years. I mean, I know they exist there. Show less «
[how he accidentally came up with the idea to shoot The Hateful Eight (2015) in anamorphic Ultra Panavision 70] We went in thinking we were ...Show more »
[how he accidentally came up with the idea to shoot The Hateful Eight (2015) in anamorphic Ultra Panavision 70] We went in thinking we were going to shoot standard format for 65mm and one day I was with Gregor Tavenner, my first camera assistant, and Dan Sasaki [Panavision VP of optical engineering] was showing us standard Panavision lenses for 65mm and while looking at them, I slipped behind the curtain and saw this shelf filled with odd-shaped lenses [triangular with prisms]. They were Ultra Panavision lenses...[2015] Show less «
[framing The Hateful Eight (2015) in the ultra-wide 1:2.76 aspect ratio of anamorphic Ultra Panavision 70] The most complex thing for me was...Show more »
[framing The Hateful Eight (2015) in the ultra-wide 1:2.76 aspect ratio of anamorphic Ultra Panavision 70] The most complex thing for me was that the set was primarily this one building where they arrive in this stagecoach. But if you shoot a medium shot with the lenses, anywhere you're seeing two-thirds or more of the room, depending on where the character is, because it's such a wide frame. You're lighting the entire set and other characters are constantly in your frame. Quentin first looked at It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) [shot in Ultra Panavision 70, too]. Part of what happened in that film is that you had a medium shot with all the characters in the frame. It was an adjustment for all of us.[2015] Show less «
[on Kodak's new Super 8 camera] I am a strong believer that a filmmaker should have as many tools at his or her command. The news that Kodak...Show more »
[on Kodak's new Super 8 camera] I am a strong believer that a filmmaker should have as many tools at his or her command. The news that Kodak is bringing back Super 8 came as a great delight for it fortifies the future of film being made available to all. My career began with Super 8 and that transferred into working with the stock on a number of projects from JFK (1991) to Natural Born Killers (1994). I could not be pleased more to hear that what I felt was slipping away into darkness is returning to the light. [2016] Show less «
I took my name off World War Z (2013). It was a digital show. We worked very hard coming up with lookup tables [a digital roadmap]. They wer...Show more »
I took my name off World War Z (2013). It was a digital show. We worked very hard coming up with lookup tables [a digital roadmap]. They were pretty radical, but they were a look the studio had agreed upon. There was no disagreement with the studio, nor the director. Then they dropped it all. They chose their own lookup tables. And a little later, they decided they were going to release it in 3D. I felt I was at a point in my life where: 'OK, you have to take some strength for all of us that can't. So Paramount's going to be angry with me. It's going to result in conflict.' And I said I was willing to take that conflict on, because no one's protecting us. If the studio has a right to change your things, you hope to have some artistic position to battle them. (...) I haven't seen Paramount send me one script for a few years. [2016] Show less «
Robert Richardson's Photos
