Gilbert Taylor,

B.S.C. The British Society of Cinematographers (abbreviated B.S.C. or BSC) was formed in 1949 by Bert Easey (23 August 1901 – 28 February 1973), the then head of the Denham and Pinewood studio camera departments, to represent British cinematographers ...

(12 April 1914 – 23 August 2013) was a British

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the c ...

, best known for his work on films such as ''

Dr. Strangelove ''Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'', known simply and more commonly as ''Dr. Strangelove'', is a 1964 black comedy film that satirizes the Cold War fears of a nuclear conflict between the Soviet Union and t ...

'', '' A Hard Day's Night'' (both 1964), ''Repulsion'' (1965), ''

The Omen ''The Omen'' is a 1976 supernatural horror film directed by Richard Donner and written by David Seltzer. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, it stars Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Spencer ...

'' (1976), and ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

'' (1977). In the course of his career, he collaborated with directors like

Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a ( né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, tw ...

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

, and

Mike Hodges Michael Tommy Hodges (29 July 1932 – 17 December 2022) was a British screenwriter, film and television director, playwright and novelist. His films as writer/director include ''Get Carter'' (1971), '' Pulp'' (1972), ''The Terminal Man'' (197 ...

. He was nominated for two

BAFTA Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...

, and received a

Lifetime Achievement Award Lifetime achievement awards are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the whole of a career, rather than or in addition to single contributions. Such awards, and organizations presenting them, include: A * A.C. ...

from the

British Society of Cinematographers The British Society of Cinematographers (abbreviated B.S.C. or BSC) was formed in 1949 by Bert Easey (23 August 1901 – 28 February 1973), the then head of the Denham and Pinewood studio camera departments, to represent British cinematographers ...

Early life

The son of a Hertfordshire builder, Taylor grew up in Bushey Heath. A paternal uncle was a newsreel cameraman and contact with him from the age of ten gave Taylor early experience of working with cameras and developing film stock. As a teenager, he studied architecture before deciding to pursue a career in film. While his father disapproved of the film industry, populated he thought by "harridans, whores and gypsies", it was his mother who consented to their son's altered career plans. A neighbour offered Taylor, aged 15, a job as a camera assistant to William Shenton, a cinematographer working for

Gainsborough Studios Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, north London. Gainsborough Studios was active between 1924 and 1951. The com ...

at their Islington base. In 1929, Taylor worked on the studio's final two silent films. Shenton took Taylor to Paris where he worked on two more silent films, before returning to Gainsborough.Ellis, p. 74 He then worked at

Elstree Elstree is a large village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England. It is about northwest of central London on the former A5 road, that follows the course of Watling Street. In 2011, its population was 5,110. It forms part of the ...

for

British International Pictures Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), originally British International Pictures (BIP), was a British film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970 when it was absorbed into EMI. ABPC also owned appr ...

, where he was clapper loader on the

film ''

Number Seventeen ''Number Seventeen'' is a 1932 comedy thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring John Stuart, Anne Grey and Leon M. Lion. The film, which is based on the 1925 burlesque stage play ''Number Seventeen'' written by Joseph Jefferson ...

'' (1932). Despite his junior status, formally a second camera assistant, Taylor was entrusted with some of the special effects work, including the use of mattes, to disguise the roofs of poorly-maintained buildings. During six years service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

as an officer in the

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF) ...

, he became an operational cameraman flying in

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British World War II, Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the S ...

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

s, documenting the damage after British bombing raids. Taylor recalled: "This was requested by Winston Churchill, and my material was delivered to 10 Downing Street for him to view. He was keen for the public to see what our lads were doing. I did 10 of those operations, including raids on Cologne and Dresden".

Career

After demobilisation, he worked for Two Cities Films. In '' Fame Is the Spur'' (1947), he worked on a dream sequence using

deep focus Deep focus is a photographic and cinematographic technique using a large depth of field. Depth of field is the front-to-back range of focus in an image, or how much of it appears sharp and clear. In deep focus, the foreground, middle ground, and ...

. The

Boulting brothers John Edward Boulting (21 December 1913 – 17 June 1985) and Roy Alfred Clarence Boulting (21 December 1913 – 5 November 2001), known collectively as the Boulting brothers, were English filmmakers and identical twins who became known for thei ...

were the co-producers of the film and they placed Taylor under contract. For the Boultings, Taylor, now promoted to full cinematographer, or director of photography, shot '' The Guinea Pig'' (US, ''The Outsider'', 1948), '' Seven Days to Noon'' (1950) and ''

High Treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

'' (1951). The text is reprinted from From this point, Taylor began to use bounced and reflected light gaining a more naturalistic look, whereas the use of direct light was still the common practice by his contemporaries. Because it was necessary for London to look unpopulated in ''Seven Days to Noon'', the first of three "end of the world films" Taylor worked on, it was necessary for him to arise at five-o-clock in the morning during a seven-week shoot.

Kubrick, Lester and Polanski

Taylor worked on a number of films commended for their black and white photography, such as

's ''

'' and

Richard Lester Richard Lester Liebman (born January 19, 1932) is an American retired film director based in the United Kingdom. He is best known for directing the Beatles' films '' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964) and '' Help!'' (1965), and the superhero films ' ...

's '' A Hard Day's Night'' (both 1964). Taylor, without Kubrick who was unwilling to fly in an aircraft, filmed material in the Arctic to be used as background plates in the flying sequences. He commented later: "''Strangelove'' was at the time a unique experience because the lighting was to be incorporated in the sets, with little or no other light used". Concerning the war room set designed by Ken Adam: "Lighting that set was sheer magic, and I don’t quite know how I got away with it all". He continued: "Much of it was the same formula based on the overheads as fill and blasting in the key on faces from the side". Although Kubrick and Taylor had a rapport, he found the director to be autocratic. An easier project to work on was the Richard Lester film with

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

which was heavily improvised. With Lester, Chris Pizzello wrote in 2003, Taylor "adopted a roving, multiple-camera technique (aided by new, versatile 10:1 zoom lenses) so that the Beatles could move about freely and not worry about technicalities like hitting marks. This fast, fresh brand of filmmaking was a perfect fit for the film’s tiny budget, tight schedule and simple black-and-white aesthetic". Taylor and five other operators on the film used hand-held

Arri The Arri Group () is a German manufacturer of motion picture film equipment. Based in Munich, the company was founded in 1917. It produces professional motion picture cameras, lenses, lighting and post-production equipment. Hermann Simon menti ...

flex cameras. "The key is not to hold the camera completely still", he once commented "but to let it 'breathe' with you, to move with it". His work on ''Dr Strangelove'' led

to seek Taylor for '' Repulsion'' (1965). In committing to the Polish director's first English-language film, Taylor rejected the opportunity to work on a Bond film ('' Thunderball'') because he thought Polanski "was a very interesting guy". According to Polanski in his 1984 autobiography, ''Repulsion''s executive producer

Michael Klinger Michael Klinger (born 4 July 1980) is an Australian former first-class cricketer, who held the record for the most runs scored in the Big Bash League when he retired in 2019. Until the 2008–09 season, Klinger played for Victoria and for ...

"protested that Gil Taylor was one of the most expensive cameramen in the business, but I held out for Taylor and I got him". Taylor said his "aim was to get a stronger negative and good shadows in the final print. The shadows are what make good movies". Their collaboration continued with ''

Cul-de-sac A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac (, from French for 'bag-bottom'), no through road or no exit road, is a street with only one inlet or outlet. The term "dead end" is understood in all varieties of English, but the official terminology ...

'' (1966) and ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'' (1971), the third and last film he shot with Polanski. According to Ronald Bergan, "although shot in colour", ''Macbeth'', "is as near to black and white as possible, with its grey, misty landscape". Taylor received BAFTA nominations over two consecutive years for the first two collaborations.

Later work in colour

Hitchcock requested Taylor work on his penultimate film ''

Frenzy ''Frenzy'' is a 1972 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is the penultimate feature film of his extensive career. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer was based on the 1966 novel '' Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Squa ...

'' (1972). Despite a claim in Bergan's obituary of the cinematographer that Hitchcock was unaware the two men had worked together forty years earlier, according to Taylor they had stayed in touch. Hitchcock never looked through the camera, because of his use of storyboards, leaving decisions to Taylor. The tracking shot, up and down a flight of stairs and then into the street, which invisibly merged shots from a studio set and street location took a day to achieve with the switch disguised by the movement of an extra in front of the camera. Taylor's later films include ''

'' (1976), and ''

'' (1977). On ''Star Wars'', he established principles about visual aesthetics which have been maintained in the later films in the series. He told Mark Newbold in 2005:

"I wanted to give ''Star Wars'' a unique visual style that would distinguish it from other films in the science fiction genre. I wanted ''Star Wars'' to have clarity because I think space isn’t out of focus, also I was mindful that there was an enormous amount of process work to be done in America with Dykstra after we had finished shooting in England, and a crisp result would help this process".

Taylor found

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and '' Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chai ...

an elusive person to consult, leading Taylor to make his own decisions as how to shoot the picture after multiple readings of the script. Differences of opinion between the director and cinematographer led to

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

, for whom Taylor had shot ''The Omen'', intervening to retain him on the picture. After the experience of working on ''Star Wars'', Taylor decided he would never work again with Lucas. His last film credit was ''

Don't Get Me Started "Don't Get Me Started" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Rhett Akins. It was released in March 1996 as the lead single from Akins' '' Somebody New'' album, it is also Akins' only number one hit on the ''Billboard ...

'' released in 1994, but he continued to work on commercials for some time afterwards. Taylor was a founder member of the

, receiving their lifetime achievement award in 2001. He received an international award from the

American Society of Cinematographers The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), founded in Hollywood in 1919, is a cultural, educational, and professional organization that is neither a labor union nor a guild. The society was organized to advance the science and art of cine ...

(ASC) in 2006.

Personal life

Taylor met his wife, former script supervisor Dee Vaughan, while both were working on comedian Tony Hancock's film, '' The Punch and Judy Man'' (1963), and married in 1967. The couple had a son and daughter. Taylor also had a son and daughter from an earlier marriage. He died on 23 August 2013, aged 99, at his home on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

Filmography

As director of photography

* '' The Guinea Pig'' (1948) * '' Seven Days to Noon'' (1950) * '' Circle of Danger'' (1951) * ''

'' (1951) * '' The Yellow Balloon'' (1952) * '' Single-Handed'' (1952) * '' The Weak and the Wicked'' (1953) * '' Trouble in the Glen'' (1953) * '' Front Page Story'' (1954) * '' The Dam Busters'' (1955) * '' The Silken Affair'' (1957) * '' Woman in a Dressing Gown'' (1957) * ''

The Good Companions ''The Good Companions'' is a novel by the English author J. B. Priestley. Written in 1929, it follows the fortunes of a concert party on a tour of England. It is Priestley's most famous novel and established him as a national figure. It wo ...

'' (1957) * ''

Ice Cold in Alex ''Ice Cold in Alex'' is a 1958 British war film set during the Western Desert campaign of World War II based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Landon. Directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring John Mills, the film was a prizewinner a ...

'' (1958) * '' She Didn't Say No!'' (1958) * ''

No Trees in the Street ''No Trees in the Street'' is a 1959 British crime thriller directed by J. Lee Thompson and written by Ted Willis, from his 1948 stage play of the same name. The film is set in the slums of London. It depicts the life of impoverished teenage ...

'' (1958) * '' Alive and Kicking'' (1959) * '' Operation Bullshine'' (1959) * '' Tommy the Toreador'' (1959) * '' Bottoms Up'' (1960) * ''

Sands of the Desert ''Sands of the Desert'' is a 1960 British adventure comedy film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Charlie Drake in his first lead role in a feature film, Peter Arne, Sarah Branch and Raymond Huntley. Premise Charlie Sands, a British ...

'' (1960) * ''

Petticoat Pirates ''Petticoat Pirates'' is a 1961 British comedy film directed by David MacDonald and starring Charlie Drake, Anne Heywood, Cecil Parker, John Turner and Thorley Walters Thorley Swinstead Walters (12 May 1913 – 6 July 1991) was an English c ...

'' (1961) * '' The Rebel/Call Me Genius'' (1961) * ''

The Full Treatment ''The Full Treatment'' (also known as ''The Treatment'' and ''Stop Me Before I Kill!'') is a 1960 black-and-white, British thriller film directed by Val Guest and starring Claude Dauphin, Diane Cilento and Ronald Lewis. It was based on the 1 ...

'' / ''The Treatment'' (1961) * '' A Prize of Arms'' (1962) * '' It's Trad, Dad!'' / ''Ring-a-Ding Rhythm'' (1962) * '' Hide and Seek'' (1963) * '' The Punch and Judy Man'' (1963) * ''

'' (1964) * '' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964) * '' Ferry Cross the Mersey'' (1965) * ''

The Bedford Incident ''The Bedford Incident'' is a 1965 British-American Cold War film starring Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier and co-produced by Widmark. The cast also features Eric Portman, James MacArthur, Martin Balsam and Wally Cox, as well as early a ...

'' (1965) * '' Repulsion'' (1965) * ''

'' (1966) * '' Theatre of Death'' / ''The Female Fiend'' (1966) * '' Work Is a Four-Letter Word'' (1967) * '' The Man Outside'' (1967) * '' A Nice Girl Like Me'' (1969) * '' Before Winter Comes'' (1969) * '' A Day at the Beach'' (1970) * ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'' / ''

'' (1971) * ''

'' (1972) * '' Soft Beds, Hard Battles'' / ''Undercovers Hero'' (1974) * ''

'' (1976) * ''

'' (1977) * '' Damien: Omen II'' (1978) * ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taki ...

'' (1979) * ''

Meetings with Remarkable Men ''Meetings with Remarkable Men, autobiographical in nature, is the second volume of the '' All and Everything'' trilogy written by the Greek-Armenian spiritual teacher G. I. Gurdjieff. Gurdjieff started working on the Russian manuscript in 1927, ...

'' (1979) * ''

Escape to Athena ''Escape to Athena'' is a 1979 British adventure comedy war film directed by George P. Cosmatos. It stars Roger Moore, Telly Savalas, David Niven, Stefanie Powers, Claudia Cardinale, Richard Roundtree, Sonny Bono and Elliott Gould. The film is se ...

'' (1979) * ''

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established '' Buck Rogers'' ad ...

'' (1980) * '' Green Ice'' (1981) * ''

Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a ...

'' (1981) * ''

Losin' It ''Losin' It'' is a 1983 comedy film directed by Curtis Hanson and starring Tom Cruise, Shelley Long, Jackie Earle Haley, and John Stockwell. The plot concerns four teenagers trying to lose their virginity. ''Losin' It'' was filmed largely in C ...

'' (1983) * '' Lassiter'' (1984) * '' Voyage of the Rock Aliens'' (1984) * '' The Bedroom Window'' (1987) * ''

'' (1994)

Television

* ''

The Avengers Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to: Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes ** Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes o ...

'' **episode "A Sense of History" (photography) (1966) **episode "The Forget-Me-Knot" (1968) **episode "The Curious Case of the Countless Clues" (1968) **episode "Invasion of the Earthmen" (1968) **episode "Split!" (1968) **episode "Get-A-Way!" (1968) **episode "Look - (Stop Me If You've Heard This One) But There Were These Two Fellers..." (1968) **episode "Homicide and Old Lace" (1969) * ''Breaking Up'' (1978)

As television director

* '' Department S'' ("The Man from X", 1969)

References

External links

*
Profile and interview
by the

, on the occasion of his International Achievement Award {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Gilbert 1914 births 2013 deaths British cinematographers People from Bushey Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II