Dean William Semler is an Australian cinematographer and film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography for Dances with Wolves, and Australian Film Institute Awards for Best Cinematography for Razorback (1984) and Dead Calm (1989).

Early life and education Dean William Semler was born in Renmark, and grew up in South Australia.

He later said that the film which made the most impression on him as a child was David Leans 1946 film of the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations. He was given small Coronet still camera when he was 14, and took photographs of the landscape.

At the time, there were no film schools in southern Australia, so he had no formal training in photography.

Career

1970s Semler's first work in the production industry was as a camera operator at a local television station. Later, he began making documentary and educational films for Film Australia. He was the cinematographer for A Steam Train Passes (1974), Moving On (1974), Let the Balloon Go (1976), and A Good Thing Going (1978).

In 1971, he worked with ethnographic filmmaker Ian Dunlop at Film Australia to film a special Yolngu ceremony organised by Wandjuk Marika to honour his father, Mawalan Marika, who had been a co-creator and signatory of the Yirrkala bark petitions in 1963, and died in 1967. The ceremony took place after the disappointing result of the Gove Land Rights Case. The resulting film, called In Memory of Mawalan, was released in 1983.

In 1976, he again worked with Dunlop to film the Yolngu Djungguwan ceremony in Arnhem Land. This is an initiation ceremony of the Rirratjingu and Marrakula clans taking several weeks, designed to teach young boys about discipline as well as respect for Yolngu law and traditions. The resulting film, entitled Djungguwan at Gurka’wuy, has been preserved at the National Film and Sound Archive.

1980s Semler was cinematographer on Stepping Out, in 1980. The film was a documentary feature directed and produced by Chris Noonan, about a group of intellectually disabled people who give a performance at the Sydney Opera House.

Semler was the cinematographer on the film Hoodwink (1981) with a screenplay by Ken Quinnell, and in the same year, for Mad Max 2 (1981), which led to international attention for his work. He followed up on Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985). Semler was also a cinematographer for the acclaimed Australian miniseries Bodyline (1984).The Australian Film and Television Companion, compiled by Tony Harrison, Simon & Schuster, Australia (1994) In the late 1980s, Semler was the cinematographer for several popular films, such as Cocktail (1988), and Young Guns (1988).

1990s In 1989, Semler was hired as cinematographer for Kevin Costner's Dances with Wolves (1990), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography.

Semler lensed the comedy City Slickers (1991) and the action film Last Action Hero (1993) in the early 1990s. In 1995, Semler again worked with Costner on his film Waterworld. In 1992 Semler was the cinematographer for The Power of One.

2000s In the 2000s, Semler was the cinematographer for a range of movies that included comedies (Nutty Professor II: The Klumps from 2000, and Bruce Almighty from 2003) and action films (XXX from 2002 and The Alamo from 2004). In the mid-2000s, Semler was the cinematographer for the football comedy The Longest Yard (2005) and Just My Luck (2006). In 2006, Semler worked with Mel Gibson again for the film Apocalypto.

Recognition and honours In 2002 Semler was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).

He is an accredited member of both the Australian Cinematographers Society and the American Society of Cinematographers.

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Title Result1990 Academy Awards Best CinematographyDances with Wolves BAFTA Awards Best Cinematography American Society of CinematographersBest Cinematography 2006 Apocalypto 2013Lifetime Achievement Award 1980Australian Film InstituteBest Cinematography Mad Max 2 1983 Undercover 1984 Razorback 1985 The Coca-Cola Kid 1988 The Lighthorsemen 1989 Dead Calm 1990Chicago Film Critics AssociationBest Cinematography Dances with Wolves 2006 Apocalypto 1990Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics AssociationBest Cinematography Dances with Wolves 2006 Apocalypto 2010 Satellite Awards Best Cinematography Secretariat

Filmography

Feature filmsDirector Firestorm (1998) The Patriot (1998)Cinematographer Year Title Director Notes 1974 Moving On Richard Mason 1976 Let the Balloon Go Oliver Howes1981 Hoodwink Claude Whatham Mad Max 2 George Miller1983 Kitty and the Bagman Donald Crombie Undercover David Stevens 1984 Razorback Russell Mulcahy1985 The Coca-Cola Kid Dusan Makavejev Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome George MillerGeorge Ogilvie1987 Bullseye Carl Schultz Going Sane Michael Robertson The Lighthorsemen Simon Wincer Also camera operator1988 Cocktail Roger Donaldson Young Guns Christopher Cain1989 Farewell to the King John Milius Also camera "A" operator Dead Calm Phillip Noyce K-9 Rod Daniel1990 Impulse Sondra Locke Young Guns II Geoff Murphy Dances with Wolves Kevin Costner 1991 City Slickers Ron Underwood 1992 The Power of One John G. Avildsen1993 Super Mario Bros. Rocky MortonAnnabel Jankel Also 2nd unit director Last Action Hero John McTiernan The Three Musketeers Stephen Herek 1994 The Cowboy Way Gregg Champion 1995 Waterworld Kevin Reynolds1997 Gone Fishin' Christopher Cain Trojan War George Huang 1999 The Bone Collector Phillip Noyce 2000 Nutty Professor II: The Klumps Peter Segal 2001 Heartbreakers David Mirkin2002 D-Tox Jim Gillespie Dragonfly Tom Shadyac We Were Soldiers Randall Wallace XXX Rob Cohen 2003 Bruce Almighty Tom Shadyac 2004 The Alamo John Lee Hancock2005 The Longest Yard Peter Segal Stealth Rob Cohen2006 Just My Luck Donald Petrie Click Frank Coraci Apocalypto Mel Gibson 2007 I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry Dennis Dugan2008 Get Smart Peter Segal Appaloosa Ed Harris 2009 2012 Roland Emmerich2010 Date Night Shawn Levy Secretariat Randall Wallace 2011 In the Land of Blood and Honey Angelina Jolie 2012 Parental Guidance Andy Fickman 2013 Grudge Match Peter Segal2014 Heaven Is for Real Randall Wallace Maleficent Robert Stromberg2015 Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 Andy Fickman The Last Witch Hunter Breck Eisner The Ridiculous 6 Frank Coraci 2016 The Do-OverSteven Brill 2017 Sandy Wexler 2019 Playing with Fire Andy Fickman 2026 Summer Gold Caroline ZelderDocumentary film Year Title DirectorNotes 1980 Stepping Out Chris Noonan 1983 In Memory of Mawalan Ian Dunlop About Mawalan Marika

TelevisionTV movies Year Title Director 1976 Do I Have to Kill My Child? Donald Crombie 1978 A Good Thing Going Arch Nicholson 1986 Passion Flower Joseph Sargent 1998 The Clean Machine Ken CameronTV series' Year Title Director Notes 1968–1970 This Day Tonight 10 episodes 1980 The Russians Arch Nicholson Documentary series 1988 Great Performances Rodney Fisher Episode "Melba"

References

External links