American Cinematographer - May 2023 - 59

B
efore any cinematographer is invited into the ASC, they
must sit for an interview with the Society's Membership
Committee, which is open to all active members
for participation. Many of the Committee's questions
explore the candidate's technical acumen, inspirations
and creative process, but others are designed to assess
character, as well as how the candidate's membership
might benefit the Society.
When the Membership Committee asked ASC candidate Charlie Lieberman
how he could help the organization, he was stumped. " What
on Earth could I do to help them? " he recalls thinking at the time. " Me? I
was possibly joining an organization of all my heroes - artists who had
inspired me since I was just a kid at the movies, long before I really knew
what a cinematographer was or did. I felt I was going to be lucky to just
be in the room. "
But Lieberman vowed to volunteer when needed, and he has done so
ever since. Indeed, for his ongoing service to the Society - on multiple
fronts - he was recognized with the 2023 Presidents Award at the 37th
Annual ASC Awards on March 5.
Early Approaches
Lieberman grew up in Chicago in the 1950s, and going to the movies was
a favorite pastime. " The first I remember seeing was King Kong [1933],
and I couldn't have been more than 6. I completely believed every minute
of it, except that I thought Kong moved a little funny. But I totally bought
into the story. I think at some later point in my life, I came to realize
that all films are a fiction in one way or another; even in documentaries,
there's a viewpoint involved in the storytelling decisions being made. I
had no idea as a child, or even a young adult, that I'd end up working as a
cinematographer in Hollywood, but it just worked out that way, and my
whole path started with watching that film. "
As Lieberman's interest in creating his own images developed, his
older sister Maggie was a major supporter. " She was an artist - a sculptor
and painter who clearly had talent even as a child, " he remembers. He
taught himself the basics of photography, " and when I was in my 20s, I
got the idea that I wanted to see if I had an eye for it, so I dedicated all
my spare time to shooting what I later knew as 'street photography.' And
I gave myself a year to take one good picture. My sister encouraged all
of that. Finally, I got what I thought was a good photo - though now I
think it's pretty lame! " The process, however, encouraged him to persist.
One of Lieberman's first professional assignments was to photograph
Indigenous cultures in small villages across 14 countries for a series
of anthropology books. One project led to another. " A documentary
filmmaker saw some of these photos hanging in a bar in Chicago and
hired me to shoot production stills on an anti-drug documentary starring
Olympic gold medalists. He ended up incorporating them into the
film itself. He didn't tell me he'd done this, and invited me over to see a
cut of the project. I was incredibly surprised, and those became the first
images I ever contributed to a motion picture. "
That inspired Lieberman to pursue filmmaking, " and I started watching
films more closely, trying to learn, and probably the people who affected
me the most were [ASC members] Owen Roizman, Conrad Hall
and Gordon Willis. I started to search for their names in the ads for
Opposite page: Students attend the September 2022 ASC
Master Class, whose instructors included Society members
Jon Joffin (center, on dolly), Armando Salas (middle row,
fourth from right) and Lieberman (bottom row, far right).
movies that were playing so I could see more of their work. I didn't care
if the reviews of the films were negative; every movie of theirs was an
opportunity to learn something. I didn't go to film school, so only later
did I start looking back and discovering [ASC members] Stanley Cortez,
Russell Metty, Phil Lathrop, Gregg Toland and so many others who did
great work and became major heroes.
" I learned on the job. I started in stills and was fortunate to work for
companies that began to branch out and shoot films. Their clients started
asking for motion pictures, and I happened to be there. My goal was
to pay attention, do what I did well, and teach myself anything I could to
advance - as well as keep food on the table.
" Before I started thinking seriously about becoming a narrative cinematographer
- which followed many years of working on documentary,
educational and industrial projects for local businesses in Chicago
- I never thought my work would ever be seen by anybody outside a
certain circle. My biggest audience was probably third-graders and
businessmen! "
While the technical aspects of cinematography were something Lieberman
could learn - often through trial and error - the confidence
demanded by the position was another matter. " Early on, shooting a documentary,
I was nervous about everything and worried I wasn't remembering
my light-meter readings correctly, so I kept checking over and
over again, " he says. " The director noticed this and quietly said to me,
'That's not a good look. You can be nervous, but you can't act nervous.' "
MAY 2023 / 59
OPPOSITE PAGE, PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ASC.
THIS PAGE, PORTRAIT BY JOHN SIMMONS, ASC.
American Cinematographer - May 2023

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