Cinematographer Salvatore Totino’s elegant camerawork earned him the Gold Clio Award for cinematography in ’95 on the strength of "Crop Duster," a client-direct black-and-white spot for clothing line Chic by H.I.S., directed by Peter Care of bicoastal/international Satellite. Totino’s images range from the dreamy, aquatic glow of a swimmer in a pool (Buick’s "Portrait of a Woman") to the highly stylized minimalism of the launch campaign for Volkswagen’s redesigned Beetle. That spot package, which included "Flower" and "Dream," was directed by Nick Lewin, then of bicoastal Manifesto, via Arnold Communications, Boston. (Lewin has since shifted representation to bicoastal X-1 Films.)
Totino, who is represented by The Skouras Agency, Santa Monica, recently completed three spots for Hewlett Packarda"Marathon," "Tickets" and "Taxi"adirected by Dante Ariola of bicoastal/international Propaganda Films via Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco. He also lensed Buick’s "Portrait of a Woman," "Portrait of a Couple" and "Portrait of a Family," helmed by Pam Thomas, formerly of Satellite, now at bicoastal Moxie Pictures, for McCann-Erickson Detroit, Troy, Mich.
Totino has also been a DP for music videos, including Radiohead’s "Fake Plastic Trees," directed by Jake Scott, who directs clips out of bicoastal Black Dog, the music video division of RSA USA, also bicoastal, Scott’s commercial roost; and Bruce Springsteen’s "Secret Garden," directed by Care. Totino recently made his feature film debut as the cinematographer on Oliver Stone’s Any Given Sunday.
As director and longtime colleague Jake Scott puts it, "I just always love working with him because he’ll try anything. You’re able to experiment but you know you’re going to get real commitment from Sal. It’s always very beautiful, organic, and cinematic, which is something that I really like.
"Sal’s really easygoing, and creatively we totally gel," he continues. "We try so many different things. If I was going to say anything, I’d say he was very much into mood; but we’ve done some very high-key things too. But I don’t think his style is necessarily cosmetic. I think Sal’s more of a filmmaker."
Totino lensed "Piercing Parlor" for the Lorrillard Youth Smoking Prevention Program via Bozell, New York, for Scott, and he will pair up with the director again for several upcoming Agilent Technologies spots, including "Bubbleheads," "Downtime," "Genetic Gibberish" and "Rocketman," through McCann-Erickson, New York.
