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| ASC (American Society of Cinematographers) | |
|---|---|
| Name | American Society of Cinematographers |
| Founded | 1919 |
| Founder | Unknown |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California |
| Membership | Cinematographers, directors of photography |
ASC (American Society of Cinematographers) The American Society of Cinematographers is a professional organization of cinematographers and directors of photography that promotes the art and science of cinematography, preserves archival materials, and fosters education and technical advancement in the field. Established in the early 20th century, the Society has been associated with major figures, studios, and productions across Hollywood and international cinema, often collaborating with filmmakers, studios, festivals, and academic institutions.
The Society traces roots to early Hollywood gatherings involving figures such as D. W. Griffith, Thomas H. Ince, Mack Sennett, William S. Hart, and later practitioners including Cecil B. DeMille, George Stevens, John Ford, and Howard Hawks, reflecting ties to studios like Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Bros., RKO Radio Pictures, and Universal Pictures. During the silent era and the transition to sound, collaborations connected the Society with cinematographers associated with films by Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, F.W. Murnau, Ernst Lubitsch, King Vidor, and Victor Fleming. The ASC’s evolution paralleled technological shifts driven by innovators at companies such as Eastman Kodak Company, Panavision, ARRI, Technicolor, and RCA Photophone, and drew on techniques refined on productions by directors like Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Billy Wilder, and Billy Wilder contemporaries. Postwar expansion saw engagement with filmmakers including Billy Wilder, Elia Kazan, John Huston, Stanley Kubrick, Sergio Leone, Federico Fellini, Akira Kurosawa, and Ingmar Bergman, and entry into television alongside networks like NBC, CBS, and ABC.
Membership historically comprised leading practitioners such as Greig Fraser, Roger Deakins, Emmanuel Lubezki, Janusz Kamiński, Vittorio Storaro, Conrad L. Hall, Gordon Willis, Haskell Wexler, and Robert Richardson, while maintaining honorary ties with institutions like Royal Photographic Society, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, British Society of Cinematographers, and festivals such as Cannes Film Festival and Venice Film Festival. The ASC organizes chapters in regions including Los Angeles, New York City, London, and has liaison relationships with studios including Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Studios, 20th Century Studios, and with equipment manufacturers like ARRI, Panavision, Canon, and Zeiss. Governance is overseen by an elected Board including presidents drawn from luminaries such as John A. Alonzo, Vilmos Zsigmond, Michael Chapman, and Claudio Miranda, with committee structures that coordinate events with organizations like Sundance Institute, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, American Film Institute, and academic partners such as UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, USC School of Cinematic Arts, and NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
The Society provides forums where members discuss techniques used in productions by filmmakers like David Fincher, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, Paul Thomas Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Denis Villeneuve, and Guillermo del Toro, and where collaborations address workflows originating from projects at Netflix, HBO, Amazon Studios, Apple TV+, and independent houses such as A24 and Miramax. Activities include technical panels with representatives from Dolby Laboratories, Sony Picture Entertainment, Netflix Post Technology, and Industrial Light & Magic, training initiatives aligned with cinematography programs at Columbia University School of the Arts and Royal Holloway, University of London, and archival preservation efforts working with Library of Congress, Academy Film Archive, and British Film Institute. The ASC hosts screenings, masterclasses, and behind-the-scenes presentations covering films by Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Ridley Scott, Peter Jackson, Tim Burton, and Clint Eastwood, and engages in standards discussions with bodies like SMPTE and ISO.
The Society publishes the monthly journal ASC Magazine, featuring in-depth articles on productions by cinematographers of films such as The Revenant, 1917, Blade Runner 2049, Skyfall, and Gravity, and interviews with practitioners including Robert Elswit, Lee Daniel, Roger Pratt, Greig Fraser, and Bruno Delbonnel. The ASC presents awards recognizing excellence that often overlap with accolades from Academy Awards, BAFTA Awards, César Awards, Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or, and Golden Globe Awards, and bestows honors such as the ASC Lifetime Achievement Award and the ASC Career Achievement Award to figures like Freddie Young, Charles Lang, Joseph Walker, Karl Struss, and James Wong Howe. The Society’s publications and curated exhibition catalogs have documented landmark productions by Sergio Leone, François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Pedro Almodóvar, Wong Kar-wai, Hou Hsiao-hsien, and Yasujiro Ozu.
The ASC has influenced cinematographic practice through dissemination of techniques pioneered on projects by Orson Welles, Stanley Kubrick, Alfonso Cuarón, Emir Kusturica, Wim Wenders, Lars von Trier, and Andrei Tarkovsky, and by fostering cross-pollination between practitioners working on films for Columbia Pictures, Paramount Classics, MGM, and TriStar Pictures. Educational outreach includes scholarships and mentorships linked with AFI Conservatory, Beijing Film Academy, La Fémis, National Film and Television School (UK), and residency programs associated with Cinefondation. The Society’s technical archives and symposia contribute to curricula at USC School of Cinematic Arts, New York Film Academy, and conservatories that examine case studies such as Lawrence of Arabia, Apocalypse Now, The Godfather Part II, and Chinatown.
Members and honorary fellows have included cinematographers and filmmakers associated with Orson Welles, Frank Capra, Howard Hawks, Billy Wilder, John Ford, Akira Kurosawa, Federico Fellini, Carl Theodor Dreyer, Max Ophüls, Milos Forman, Istvan Szabo, Roman Polanski, Pedro Almodóvar, Ang Lee, Wong Kar-wai, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Emmanuel Lubezki, Roger Deakins, Vittorio Storaro, Conrad L. Hall, Gordon Willis, Haskell Wexler, Vilmos Zsigmond, Freddie Francis, John Alcott, Christopher Doyle, Darius Khondji, Bruno Delbonnel, Janusz Kamiński, Robert Richardson, Barry Ackroyd, Ellen Kuras, Rachel Morrison, Claudio Miranda, Greig Fraser, Peter Deming, Wally Pfister, Linus Sandgren, Sven Nykvist, Jack Cardiff, Gilles Villeneuve, Tony Richardson, Sidney Lumet, Zbigniew Rybczyński, László Kovács, Néstor Almendros, Frederick Elmes, Alfred Gilks, Joseph LaShelle, Gordon Hugh, James Wong Howe, and Karl Freund.
Category:Cinematography organizations