Owen Roizman

If you were to take any hardcore film buff’s top 10 list and compare it with cinematographer Owen Roizman’s resumé, chances would be good that you’d find some crossover. Since the earliest days of his career, Roizman has displayed almost as much talent for picking great scripts as he has for shooting them. Though he admits that good taste and established relationships with talented directors have aided him in his journey, it’s hard not to be impressed by Roizman’s run, which includes work on such modern classics as The French Connection, The Exorcist, The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 and Network.

Recently named Kodak’s Cinematographer in Residence at UCLA, Roizman spoke with MM about his legendary career, what he plans to teach his students and how each film is like a child.

Jennifer Wood (MM): You really began your career at a time that has come to define American cinema at its best. At the time you were making films like The French Connection or Network, were you conscious of how groundbreaking this work was, or would someday be considered?

Owen Roizman (OR): I had no idea. I know that I was lucky that I got some really good scripts early in my career. What you don’t see in my filmography is all the work that I turned down. I think one of the reasons I had success was because I had good taste in choosing films. There are two things that determine what you do when you start working—especially early in your career. Earlier in your career, [some people] will do just about anything they’re offered because they don’t know if their next job’s coming along. Then, once you start to get established, you get fussier. As you develop relationships with directors, when they come to you other projects—even though you may not think it’s that good a script—you’re going to do it because of your friendship with that director. So there are a lot of governing factors. I tried to be as choosy as I could be, and sometimes I was right. And sometimes I did things because I wanted to experiment with a new genre, or it was for a director that I had worked with before. I have a lot of repeat films with directors.

MM: When you read a script, what is it that appeals to you most; what’s the criteria you use in determining whether or not it’s a movie you want to make?

OR: Well, if it was something that when I read it I said ‘Boy, I’d love to see this film. This is a film that I would love to go see.’ I used to have a 20-page theory. If it didn’t grab me in the first 20 pages, I didn’t even finish. I’d just close it up and say ‘No, thank you.’

MM: You’re 10 pages more generous than most producers!

OR: Producers like dollar signs! [laughing] I was looking to tell a story I’d like to see myself. That was how I chose my projects.

MM: You took a brief hiatus from feature films in the 1980s to start up your own commercial production company. How did you come to the decision that that was something you wanted to do?

OR: I had started out in commercials, so that was my training ground. I always went back and forth between pictures. I didn’t shoot a lot of films for the reason that I could be fussier, because as soon as I finished a film I’d be doing commercials. Having had a background in commercials, I also had somewhat of a following—I was directing commercials also.

I had just done three films in a row and I was away from home for 22 months out of a 24-month period. I had a son growing up and he was just becoming a teenager and I said ‘I can’t travel like this anymore. I’ve got to find a way to stay home.’ Somebody came to me with a package of commercials for a new product and they said “We’re single bidding you on this job—it’s yours. You can take it to any production company you want, or you can produce it yourself.” So I said ‘Heck, I’m going to produce it myself.’ So I hired a production manager and we did this whole package of commercials and it was fun! We made a lot of money on it and I liked it, so we decided to open our own company.

MM: You were directing commercials. Had you ever considered directing a feature film?

OR: I thought about it and I had been asked to, actually. But it wasn’t something that intrigued me that much because of the time commitment. When you shoot a picture—as far as the cinematographer goes—you’re on it and you’re finished. You don’t get involved with the editing or any of the post-production stuff. You know your time period is about three months—could be longer, could be shorter. I get bored easily. If I was on a project for a year or longer—and I have been on films that lasted that long—I would get bored. I tend to get bored and want to move onto something else. I just didn’t think I could handle that commitment.

MM: What lured you back to feature films?

OR: The commercial business went really south right near the end there; there was a big writer’s strike. Advertisers were finding that when they reran old commercials they weren’t seeing any drop in revenue, so they started to wise up. The said “Well, we don’t have to do that many commercials anymore.” So the business got kind of tight and very competitive; there wasn’t as much work around. I had a five-year lease on my office space and it was just coming due and I said, ‘You know what? I’m out of here. It was a nice run, goodbye and good luck.’ And I closed up.

The next day, I happened to get a phone call from an old friend, Charlie Hogan, who’s a producer, and he told me that Larry Kasdan wanted to meet with me about doing a film. So I said ‘Well, you’re timing’s really good!’ I met Larry and did my first picture with him—and then three more after that.

MM: You were recently named the Kodak Cinematographer in Residence at UCLA. What’s the one message or idea that you hope to bring or pass onto the students there?

OR: Cinematography is about art and craft, and you really have to learn your craft in order to achieve your art. So it’s very important to learn as much as you can about all the basics and develop your own style.

MM: How are you prepared to tackle the “digital” issue, considering that so many of these students have—or are looking to—work in a digital medium as they learn their craft?

OR: There’s nothing to tackle, really, because digital is a tool. I’ve always said that cinematography is about three things: light, composition and motion. And you have to do all those things with digital as well as film. Now, it’s easier to do it in digital these days because you see the results right there on the screen. In film, you really have to learn your craft a bit more. But there’s no doubt in my mind that the future will be digital someday. I don’t foresee it that near, because it’s still not as good. They have some fine equipment now, you can get some great images, but it’s still not as good as film. Film is still king as far as I’m concerned.

So what I’m trying to pass onto the students has nothing to do with whether it’s film or video. I’ll try to teach them about how to see light; how to see composition and how to use it; how to put the camera in motion.

MM: Considering your entire filmography, is there one scene in particular that you’re most proud of—one scene where, for you, everything just came together perfectly and with great results?

OR: Oh, boy! That’s so hard. I’ve read where directors are asked “Of all the pictures you’ve done, which are your favorites? Their standard answer is mine, too: they’re all like your own children and you love all of them. You may be better known for some of them, but you still love them all. There are a lot of scenes that I’ve done where I’ve said ‘Wow, that came out great!’

I can remember several scenes that I’m very proud of that were real challenges. There was a scene in Three Days of the Condor with two guys walking across a bridge—nobody knows it’s a bridge, it looks like they’re walking down the street—and they’re walking across this bridge at night with the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial in the back. And it was a long, long dolly shot with dialogue. It came across like it was going to be a very difficult scene but I took a very simple approach and the results were just fantastic. So that’s one scene I’m really proud of, but there are lots of them.