Brian Burgoyne, Rodrigo Rocha-Campos and Joseph White.
While they are hardly industry household names, these three artisans represent a mainstay staple vital to the health of the filmmaking community: up-and-coming talent.
Burgoyne of the American Film Institute (AFI), Rocha-Campos of Florida State University (FSU) and White from the University of Southern California (USC) will each receive the 2006 American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Jordan Cronenweth Heritage Award. The presentation is slated to take place during the 20th annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards on Feb. 26 in Los Angeles.
The ASC Heritage Award is given annually to a graduating or recently graduated film school student or students from a U.S. university. “Our purpose is to reach out to film students and encourage talented young people to pursue their dreams,” said Laszlo Kovacs, ASC, who chairs the organization’s education committee. “Our jury consisted of some of the world’s most gifted cinematographers who thought these young filmmakers deserve to be recognized for their artful visual storytelling.”
Each year the Heritage Award is dedicated to the memory of a different cinematographer who has made enduring contributions to advancing the art of filmmaking. Cronenweth’s cinematography credits include Blade Runner, Altered States, Gardens of Stone, State Of Grace and Peggy Sue Got Married. For the latter feature, he won the first ASC Outstanding Achievement Award in 1987. Cronenweth died in ’96 at the age of 61.
Rocha-Campos taught basic and intermediate cinematography for two semesters after graduating with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Florida. He went on to earn a master’s in film production from FSU in August ’05. “I screened Blade Runner for one of my classes to show the students examples of modern film noir and a high contrast look,” recalled Rocha-Campos. “After the lecture, the students and I went to the soundstage to emulate Jordan Cronenweth’s remarkable cinematography in that classic film. What an honor it is to receive an ASC Award named after him.”
Rocha-Campos earned the Heritage Award based on his short thesis film The Resurrectionist. It was produced in the Super 16mm format on Kodak Vision2 7218 film with a DI process done at Cineworks, Miami, and finished in HD and DigiBeta.
Burgoyne submitted The Red Veil, directed by Tarik Karam and shot in spherical 35mm on Kodak Vision2 5218 film with camera equipment from Clairmont Camera in Studio City, Calif. The film was processed with an answer print made at FotoKem, Burbank.
Burgoyne related that the work of ASC members “inspires me every day. I am incredibly grateful for this recognition.”
White lensed Rogue 379 for fellow USC student writer/director Douglas Choi. The film was shot in the anamorphic format on 35mm Kodak Vision 500T 5279 and Kodak Ektachrome 100D Color Reversal 5285 stocks. White deployed a Moviecam Compact with anamorphic Clairmont primes and a Cooke zoom lens. Fotokem processed the film and color timing was done at Deluxe, Hollywood, with a 35mm print made on Kodak Vision Premier film.
“It is almost impossible for me to describe my feelings of being recognized by cinematographers who have inspired me,” said White. “My dream is to join their ranks someday.”
