American Cinematographer - December 2007 - 73

his lighting and camerawork and ignore the story. It was like watching a miracle happen. His lighting changed my visual vocabulary. Gyorgy Illes was a great filmmaker who was like another father to me. I once asked him how we could ever repay him for his many kindnesses, and he said I should help young filmmakers whenever I had the opportunity. I have tried my best to do that.” Indeed, Kovacs repaid his mentor by serving for years as chair of the ASC’s Education Committee, acting as a tireless liaison between the Society and students eager to learn the art of cinematography. Along with fellow Hungarian Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC, his friend of 55 years (see sidebar on page 75), Kovacs also shared his wisdom by teaching a series of master classes in Budapest. Speaking for the students of the 2003 class, LuLu de Hillerin recalled Kovacs’ generosity, noting, “Surely it is a mark of true greatness when one who has achieved so much has the patience and the long memory of his own youth, and takes the time to pass on his experience and wisdom to younger people who will follow him. It is a measure of Laszlo’s great love for the art he practiced so well that he took such a keen, selfless interest in ensuring its future.” Kovacs’ ride to Hollywood was anything but easy. In 1956, during an uprising against Hungary’s Communist regime, Kovacs and Zsigmond risked their lives to shoot footage of the chaotic events. After they smuggled the film out of the country, portions of the footage were later used in a documentary. Kovacs moved to the U.S. in 1957, despite the fact that he spoke no English. After settling briefly in New Jersey, he moved to Seattle. In 1959, he boarded a bus to Los Angeles, where he reunited with Zsigmond. During the 1960s, the duo honed their skills on a string of low-budget exploitation films, many Photos from the ASC archives, 20th Century Fox (Say Anything.…) and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (Frances). of which were produced by B-movie king Roger Corman. Methods favored by the old Hollywood system were giving way to more experimental aesthetics, allowing Kovacs and Zsigmond to work with smaller crews and lighter equipment while developing their ingenuity on the fly. “Those early years of no- and lowbudget filmmaking gave us incredible opportunities to try different things with a minimum of equip- ment, slow film and slow lenses,” Kovacs told AC (Feb. ’02). “It forced us to be very inventive. It was our training ground.” Kovacs put his early experiences to great use on Easy Rider, which showcased his considerable skill as a camera operator. He became renowned as one of the finest handheld shooters, demonstrating time and again his unerring eye for improvisational composi- Opposite: Kovacs stands by the camera on Multiplicity (1996). This page, top: Filming Targets (1968) for first-time director Peter Bogdanovich was a big break for Kovacs. Here, Kovacs is seen metering the light around horror-film great Boris Karloff, who was put in the film because he owed producer Roger Corman a week’s work. Bottom: Jack Nicholson’s psychedelic band plays a gig for San Francisco hippies in PsychOut (1968), directed by Richard Rush and filmed with cinematic bravura by Kovacs. Kovacs became one of the leading cameramen on motion pictures that captured the youth-oriented era of the 1960s. American Cinematographer 73

American Cinematographer - December 2007

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