…from none other than Himself, Our Royal Majestic Highness, the Notorious and Perspicacious Jeff IV…! (his official AKC name)

         Jeff has a holiday message for everyone of every persuasion:          “LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!”

         The following are a selection of ads found in issues of American Cinematographer published during the early-1950’s.  It was common in those days for patrons to embrace the Christmas theme, a charming habit that has sadly fallen into obscurity.  Surely, there were many things about American culture that needed to change during that era, … Continue reading “BETTER TIMES”

          On September 30, a rare treasure was introduced to the world – the ASC Todd-AO Lenses – a newly refurbished set of vintage primes that were recently discovered by member Steve Gainer in deep-storage at the Clubhouse.  Originally created for the revolutionary Todd-AO widescreen format of the 1950’s, they’ve been redesigned to serve today’s … Continue reading “BETTER LATE THAN…”

         Speaking at this year’s San Sebastian Film Festival, Danish-Norwegian director Joachim Trier said some things that should be heartening to us all.  An Academy Award nominee for the romantic dramedy The Worst Person in the World (2021; Kasper Tuxen), he’s also known for three films with cinematographer Jakob Ihre: Reprise (2006), Oslo, August 31st … Continue reading “MAYBE, IN A PERFECT WORLD”

         Unlike so many of his contemporaries, a quick Google search will reveal an enormous amount of information regarding Karl Struss, ASC and his long, fascinating career.  Some might recall him as co-recipient (with Charles Rosher, ASC) of the first Oscar for cinematography for 1929’s Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (F.W. Murnau), but that’s … Continue reading “KARL STRUSS, ASC (1886-1981)”

         With the holidays just over the horizon, I can’t think of a better gift for anyone interested in film technology than Robert Hoffman’s book, Alchemy in Technicolor (2024; Medley Land Scribes).          In addition to being a wonderful writer, Hoffman – who spent eighteen years of his half-century-long career as Technicolor’s VP of Marketing … Continue reading “THE PERFECT PRESENT…!”

         Whenever I start to feel I’ve seen it all, a film comes along to reframe my delusion.  Most recently – and as so often is the case – I discovered this oddball offering while looking for something completely unlike it on Tubi.  I’m glad I did.          The Savage Eye is a groundbreaking independent … Continue reading “THE SAVAGE EYE (1959)”

Lloyd Knechtel, ASC             Over the five-year history of this blog, I’ve gone deep to deliver information you probably wouldn’t have encountered anywhere else.  As the latest in the long line of if-only-they-were-underrecognized-rather-than-completely-forgotten cinematographers, Lloyd Knechtel, ASC deserves all the attention I can give him.  He was one of the great early-Hollywood special effects pioneers, … Continue reading “LLOYD KNECHTEL, ASC (1907-1971)”