Camera

Vilmos Zsigmond

Born June 16, 1930 · Szeged, Hungary

Died January 1, 2016 · aged 85

Vilmos Zsigmond (June 16, 1930 - January 1, 2016) was a Hungarian-American cinematographer. His work in cinematography helped shape the look of American movies in the 1970s, making him one of the leading figures in the American New Wave movement. Zsigmond worked frequently with many leading American directors, such as Robert Altman, Steven Spielberg, Brian De Palma, Michael Cimino and Woody Allen.

Known For

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Close Encounters of the Third Kind · 1977

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

MovieScience FictionDrama

After an encounter with UFOs, an electricity linesman feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is about to happen.

The Black Dahlia

The Black Dahlia · 2006

The Black Dahlia

MovieCrimeThriller

In 1940s Los Angeles, two former boxers-turned-cops must grapple with corruption, narcissism, stag films and family madness as they pursue the killer of an aspiring young actress.

The Deer Hunter

The Deer Hunter · 1978

The Deer Hunter

Three steelworkers enlist in the army and are sent to Vietnam, one leaving behind a rushed marriage, the others a shared love. What they encounter during the war changes their lives forever.

Deliverance

Deliverance · 1972

MovieDramaAdventure

Intent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's turned into one huge lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a river-rafting trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.

Timeline

Timeline · 2003

MovieActionAdventure

A group of archaeological students become trapped in the past when they go there to retrieve their professor. The group must survive in 14th century France long enough to be rescued.

The Witches of Eastwick

The Witches of Eastwick · 1987

The Witches of Eastwick

MovieComedyFantasy

Three single women in a picturesque village have their wishes granted, at a cost, when a mysterious and flamboyant man arrives in their lives.

Sliver

MovieDramaThriller

A woman moves into a Manhattan apartment, where she learns that the previous tenant's life ended under mysterious circumstances.

Assassins

Assassins · 1995

MovieActionAdventure

Assassin Robert Rath arrives at a funeral to kill a prominent mobster, only to witness a rival hired gun complete the job for him -- with grisly results. Horrified by the murder of innocent bystanders, Rath decides to take one last job and then return to civilian life. But finding his way out of the world of contract killing grows ever more dangerous as Rath falls for his female target and becomes a marked man himself.

Filmography

Sort

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Close Encounters of the Third Kind · 1977

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

MovieScience FictionDrama

After an encounter with UFOs, an electricity linesman feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is about to happen.

Director of Photography

The Black Dahlia

The Black Dahlia · 2006

The Black Dahlia

MovieCrimeThriller

In 1940s Los Angeles, two former boxers-turned-cops must grapple with corruption, narcissism, stag films and family madness as they pursue the killer of an aspiring young actress.

Director of Photography

The Deer Hunter

The Deer Hunter · 1978

The Deer Hunter

Three steelworkers enlist in the army and are sent to Vietnam, one leaving behind a rushed marriage, the others a shared love. What they encounter during the war changes their lives forever.

Director of Photography

Deliverance

Deliverance · 1972

MovieDramaAdventure

Intent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's turned into one huge lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a river-rafting trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.

Director of Photography

Timeline

Timeline · 2003

MovieActionAdventure

A group of archaeological students become trapped in the past when they go there to retrieve their professor. The group must survive in 14th century France long enough to be rescued.

Second Unit Director of Photography

The Witches of Eastwick

The Witches of Eastwick · 1987

The Witches of Eastwick

MovieComedyFantasy

Three single women in a picturesque village have their wishes granted, at a cost, when a mysterious and flamboyant man arrives in their lives.

Director of Photography

Sliver

MovieDramaThriller

A woman moves into a Manhattan apartment, where she learns that the previous tenant's life ended under mysterious circumstances.

Director of Photography

Assassins

Assassins · 1995

MovieActionAdventure

Assassin Robert Rath arrives at a funeral to kill a prominent mobster, only to witness a rival hired gun complete the job for him -- with grisly results. Horrified by the murder of innocent bystanders, Rath decides to take one last job and then return to civilian life. But finding his way out of the world of contract killing grows ever more dangerous as Rath falls for his female target and becomes a marked man himself.

Director of Photography

The Bonfire of the Vanities

The Bonfire of the Vanities · 1990

The Bonfire of the Vanities

MovieComedyDrama

After his mistress runs over a black teen, a Wall Street hotshot sees his life unravel in the spotlight; A down-and-out reporter breaks the story and opportunists clamber to use it to their advantage.

Director of Photography

The Sugarland Express

The Sugarland Express · 1974

The Sugarland Express

MovieCrimeDrama

Married small-time crooks Lou-Jean and Clovis Poplin lose their baby to the state of Texas and resolve to do whatever it takes to get him back. Lou-Jean gets Clovis out of jail, and the two steal their son from his foster home, in addition to taking a highway patrolman hostage. As a massive dragnet starts to pursue them across Texas, the couple become unlikely folk heroes and even start to bond with the captive policeman.

Director of Photography

Blow Out

Blow Out · 1981

MovieCrimeMystery

While recording sound effects for a slasher flick, Jack Terry stumbles upon a real-life horror: a car careening off a bridge and into a river. Jack jumps into the water and fishes out Sally from the car, but the other passenger is already dead — a governor intending to run for president. As Jack does some investigating of his tapes, and starts a perilous romance with Sally, he enters a tangled web of conspiracy that might leave him dead.

Director of Photography

McCabe & Mrs. Miller

McCabe & Mrs. Miller · 1971

McCabe & Mrs. Miller

MovieDramaWestern

A gambler and a prostitute become thriving business partners in a remote Old West mining town until a large corporation arrives on the scene.

Director of Photography

Melinda and Melinda

Melinda and Melinda · 2004

Melinda and Melinda

MovieComedyDrama

While dining out with friends, Sy suggests the difficulty of separating comedy from tragedy. To illustrate his point, he tells his guests two parallel stories about Melinda ; both versions have the same basic elements, but one take on her state of affairs leans toward levity, while the other is full of anguish. Each story involves Melinda coping with a recent divorce through substance abuse while beginning a romantic relationship with a close friend's husband.

Director of Photography

Heaven's Gate

Heaven's Gate · 1980

MovieDramaWestern

Harvard graduate James Averill serves as the sheriff of prosperous Jackson County, Wyoming, standing at the center of a conflict between impoverished immigrants and affluent cattle farmers. Politically connected ranchers enlist mercenary Nathan Champion—who is also vying for the affections of local madam Ella Watson—to combat the immigrant uprising. As tensions escalate, both Averill and Champion start to question their decisions.

Director of Photography

The Ghost and the Darkness

The Ghost and the Darkness · 1996

The Ghost and the Darkness

MovieAdventureThriller

Sir Robert Beaumont is behind schedule on a railroad in Africa. Enlisting noted engineer John Henry Patterson to right the ship, Beaumont expects results. Everything seems great until the crew discovers the mutilated corpse of the project's foreman, seemingly killed by a lion. After several more attacks, Patterson calls in famed hunter Charles Remington, who has finally met his match in the bloodthirsty lions.

Director of Photography

Cassandra's Dream

Cassandra's Dream · 2007

Cassandra's Dream

MovieCrimeDrama

The tale of two brothers with serious financial woes. When a third party proposes they turn to crime, things go bad and the two become enemies.

Director of Photography

Playing by Heart

Playing by Heart · 1998

Playing by Heart

MovieComedyDrama

In a vibrant tapestry of love and longing, nine interconnected souls navigate romance and heartbreak in L.A., where passions collide and truths unfold, revealing that the heart's desires often lead us where we least expect.

Director of Photography

Fat Man and Little Boy

Fat Man and Little Boy · 1989

Fat Man and Little Boy

MovieDramaHistory

Assigned to oversee the development of the atomic bomb, Gen. Leslie Groves is a stern military man determined to have the project go according to plan. He selects J. Robert Oppenheimer as the key scientist on the top-secret operation, but the two men clash fiercely on a number of issues. Despite their frequent conflicts, Groves and Oppenheimer ultimately push ahead with two bomb designs — the bigger "Fat Man" and the more streamlined "Little Boy."

Director of Photography

Maverick

Maverick · 1994

MovieActionAdventure

Bret Maverick is a gambler who would rather con someone than fight them, and needs an additional $3k in order to enter a winner-takes-all poker game beginning in a few days. He joins forces with a woman with a marvelous Southern accent, and the two try and enter the game.

Director of Photography

The Long Goodbye

The Long Goodbye · 1973

The Long Goodbye

MovieMysteryCrime

In 1970s Hollywood, Detective Philip Marlowe tries to help a friend who is accused of murdering his wife.

Director of Photography

Life as a House

Life as a House · 2001

Life as a House

When a man is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he takes custody of his misanthropic teenage son, for whom quality time means getting high, engaging in small-time prostitution, and avoiding his father.

Director of Photography

The River

The River · 1984

Tom and Mae Garvey are a Tennessee farming couple battling violent floods to save their land. In addition to natural disasters, the Garveys fight to stop a selfish land developer and a local corporation from foreclosing on their farm. While Mae stays at home to care for their children and tend to the crops, Tom finds work as a scab at a steel mill to preserve his family's property.

Director of Photography

Jersey Girl

Jersey Girl · 2004

MovieComedyRomance

Ollie Trinke is a young, suave music publicist who seems to have it all, with a new wife and a baby on the way. But life deals him a bum hand when he's suddenly faced with single fatherhood, a defunct career and having to move in with his father. To bounce back, it takes a new love and the courage instilled in him by his daughter.

Director of Photography

Real Genius

Real Genius · 1985

MovieComedyRomance

When teenage geniuses Mitch Taylor and Chris Knight, working on an advanced laser project, learn that the military wants to use it as a weapon, they decide to thwart the plan.

Director of Photography

The Mists of Avalon

The Mists of Avalon · 2001

The Mists of Avalon

SeriesSci-Fi & FantasyDrama

The Mists of Avalon is a 2001 miniseries based on the novel of the same name by Marion Zimmer Bradley. It was produced by American cable channel TNT and directed by Uli Edel.

Director of Photography

Flesh & Blood

Flesh & Blood · 1979

A young street-tough-turned-boxer struggles to reach the top while finding his romance with an attractive TV reporter is complicated by an incestuous relationship with his mother.

Director of Photography