João Fernandes is a Brazilian-born cinematographer best known for his work in the adult film industry during the

Golden Age of Porn The term "Golden Age of Porn", or "porno chic", refers to a 15-year period (1969–1984) in commercial American pornography, in which sexually explicit films experienced positive attention from mainstream cinemas, movie critics, and the genera ...

, before his shift toward more mainstream genre cinema.

Life and career

Born in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, Fernandes studied at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

under Haig P. Manoogian and began work as a crewman on low-budget

pornographic film Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, adult films, blue films, sexually explicit films, or 18+ films, are films that represent Human sexual activity, sexually WIKT:explicit, explicit subject matter in order to sexual arousal, arouse, fasci ...

s. Throughout the 1970s, Fernandes shot many entries in the emerging "

porno chic The term "Golden Age of Porn", or "porno chic", refers to a 15-year period (1969–1984) in commercial American pornography, in which sexually explicit films experienced positive attention from mainstream cinemas, movie critics, and the genera ...

" subgenre, including the seminal ''Deep Throat'' and director Gerard Damiano's follow-up feature, ''

The Devil in Miss Jones ''The Devil in Miss Jones'' is a 1973 pornographic film, written, directed and produced by Gerard Damiano, inspired by the 1944 play ''No Exit'' by French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. Starring Georgina Spelvin and Harry Reems, it is widely ...

'', a film which

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

described as being the "best entry" in the entire genre. In 1978, Fernandes made his first foray into mainstream filmmaking with '' Land of No Return'', a wilderness adventure film directed by Kent Bateman and starring

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...

. Fernandes subsequently shot '' Bloodrage'', a low-budget

exploitation film An exploitation film is a film that seeks commercial success by capitalizing on current trends, niche genres, or sensational content. Exploitation films often feature themes such as suggestive or explicit sex, sensational violence, drug use, nudi ...

which reused numerous locations, cast, and crew from an earlier independent film never released. Fernandes subsequently became the go-to director of photographer for the film's director, Joseph Zito, shooting his follow-up picture ''The Prowler''. The

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

slasher film A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer or a group of killers stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic ...

caught the attention of Frank Mancuso Jr., the producer of the ''Friday the 13th'' film franchise. Mancuso hired Zito direct the series' fourth entry, and Fernandes re-teamed with the director to shoot the film. Fernandes then shot numerous

Chuck Norris Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born March 10, 1940) is an American martial artist and actor. Born in Oklahoma, Norris first gained fame when he won the amateur Middleweight Karate champion title in 1968, which he held for six consecutive years. H ...

action films produced by

Cannon Films The Cannon Group, Inc. was an American group of companies, including Cannon Films, which produced films from 1967 to 1994. The extensive group also owned, amongst others, a large international cinema chain and a video film company that investe ...

, including ''Missing in Action'' and ''Invasion U.S.A.'', also directed by Joseph Zito.

Directorial Work

Since working with Chuck Norris in ''Missing in Action'' and ''Invasion U.S.A.'', Fernandes had continued to work with Norris over the years, having not only been a cinematographer for several episodes of ''

Walker, Texas Ranger ''Walker, Texas Ranger'' is an American action fiction, action Crime drama, crime television series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It was inspired by the film ''Lone Wolf McQuade'', with both the film and the series starring Chuck Norr ...

'', but also having directed three episodes of the show (those episodes were "A Father's Image", "Warriors" and "The Children of Halloween").

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandes, Joao Living people Brazilian cinematographers 1939 births Brazilian television directors