John Niel Green (born August 10, 1946),Kay Weniger: Das große Personenlexikon des Films. Band 3, Berlin 2001, , p. 375. is an American cinematographer and film director, best known for his collaborations with director Clint Eastwood from 1986 to 2000.
Biography Early life Green was born in 1946, in San Francisco, California, to Trudy and John Green, Sr.Udel, James C.: "Cinematographer Jack N. Green’s Aerial Work Led to Gigs on Clint Eastwood Movies," August 2, 2019, Variety, retrieved October 2, 2021
His parents were photography enthusiasts. Their home-made darkroom had a strong artistic impact on Green. At age 17, Green graduated from both high school and barber college, expecting to become a career barber.
Early career A regular barbershop customer, cameraman Joseph Dieves—who had been a combat cameraman in World War II—excited Green with tales of the trade. Green eventually joined Dieves to work on small television productions for various production companies, including San Francisco’s W.A. Palmer. In 1965 Dieves sponsored Green's union membership.
In the summer of 1966, Green was assistant cameraman for a documentary, in Oregon, about the movie The Way West. His work was chiefly on aerial shots.
In 1968, Green moved to Hollywood where he began his career as an assistant to Emmy-winning cinematographer Donald M. Morgan. He worked primarily on aerial unit photography, shooting helicopter exteriors for the film Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. After being laid off, he fell in with Michael W. Watkins, who got him a job as a camera operator on the Jonathan Demme film Fighting Mad.
He spent much of the 1970s and early 1980s freelancing as an operator under DPs like William A. Fraker, Ric Waite, Harry Stradling Jr., and Bruce Surtees, shooting films like Bronco Billy, 48 Hrs., Pale Rider, and Beverly Hills Cop.
Clint Eastwood films He first met Clint Eastwood on the set of the film The Gauntlet, and proceeded to operate on every single Eastwood film until being promoted to DP on Heartbreak Ridge after being recommended by Surtees.
Because of Eastwood's tendency to reuse the same crew from film-to-film, Green shot every Eastwood-directed film between 1986 and 2000, with Space Cowboys being their final collaboration.
Green's work on the 1992 western, Unforgiven earned him nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for best cinematography. He was also a nominee for the ASC Award for the 1995 film, The Bridges of Madison County.
Recent career Since 2000, Green has worked on over fifteen films in genres ranging from science fiction (Serenity) to action (A Man Apart) and comedy (50 First Dates, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Hot Tub Time Machine).
He made his directorial debut with Traveller, a 1997 crime drama starring Bill Paxton and Mark Wahlberg.
Green has been a member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) since 1992.
Filmography Film Year Title Director 1986 Heartbreak Ridge Clint Eastwood 1987 Like Father Like Son Rod Daniel1988 Bird Clint Eastwood The Dead PoolBuddy Van Horn1989 Pink Cadillac Race for Glory Rocky Lang1990 White Hunter Black HeartClint Eastwood The Rookie 1991 Deceived Damian Harris1992 Love Crimes Lizzie Borden Unforgiven Clint Eastwood1993 Rookie of the Year Daniel Stern A Perfect World Clint Eastwood 1994 Trapped in Paradise George Gallo1995 Bad Company Damian Harris The Bridges of Madison County Clint Eastwood The Net Irwin Winkler The Amazing Panda Adventure Christopher Cain 1996 Twister Jan de Bont1997 Absolute Power Clint Eastwood Speed 2: Cruise Control Jan de Bont Traveller Himself Midnight in the Garden of Good and EvilClint Eastwood1999 True Crime Girl, Interrupted James Mangold 2000 Space Cowboys Clint Eastwood 2001 Pretty When You Cry Himself2003 A Man Apart F. Gary Gray Secondhand Lions Tim McCanlies2004 50 First Dates Peter Segal Against the Ropes Charles S. Dutton2005 The 40-Year-Old Virgin Judd Apatow Serenity Joss Whedon 2007 Are We Done Yet? Steve Carr 2008 My Best Friend's Girl Howard Deutch2010 Hot Tub Time Machine Steve Pink Diary of a Wimpy Kid Thor Freudenthal 2011 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules David Bowers2014 The Letters William Riead Left Behind Vic Armstrong 2020 The Pendant Jeffrey N. Albert
Television Year Title Director Notes 1993 The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. Bryan Spicer Episode "Pilot" 1997 Eastwood on Eastwood Richard Schickel Documentary film
Short film Year Title Director 2001 Golden Dreams Agnieszka Holland 2012 Reign Kimberly Jentzen
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Title Result 1992 Academy Awards Best Cinematography Unforgiven BAFTA Awards Best Cinematography Boston Society of Film Critics Best Cinematography Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Cinematography Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Best Cinematography National Society of Film Critics Best Cinematography 1995 American Society of Cinematographers Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography The Bridges of Madison County 1998 Society of Camera Operators President's Award 2003 Big Bear Lake International Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award 2009 American Society of Cinematographers
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