American Cinematographer - November 1999 - 45

John Schwartzman, ASC and

peers

Robert Brinkmann,

well

as

as

direc¬

Phil Joanou, who would go on to
make three pictures (State of Grace,
tor

U2:

Rattle and Hum and Final

Analysis) with his father.
After graduation, Cronenweth
resumed

joining

working with his father,
that
operators John Toll, ASC

a core camera team

included

and Dan Lerner, and first assistants

Bing Sokolsky and Art Schwab.
Moving up to first assistant,
Cronenweth began to work with Toll,
who was just beginning his career as
a

cameraman,

and veteran Sven

Nykvist, ASC. "I couldn't have
learned from better people than
John, Sven and my father,"
Cronenweth relates. "They were all
soft-spoken, but very tenacious in
achieving their goals. It was a great
experience to watch them, learn set
etiquette and see how they delegated
responsibilities and dealt with
producers and crews. I did six
pictures with my father and eight
pictures with Sven."
Fostering his son's develop¬
the

in

ment

craft,

elder

the

Cronenweth would often let him
handle much of the

"grunt
work"
establishing the lighting
and camera placement - as well as
operate. It was this formative period
that introduced Jeff to many of the
producers and directors who would
later hire him as a cinematographer.
A key figure in this progres¬
sion was Fincher, a longtime
on-set

-

admirer of Jordan's work who had
collaborated with him on a host of
music

videos

and

commercials.

"Once

again, I was fortunate
enough to have worked with David
through
my
father,"
says
Cronenweth. "The first thing my
father

shot

for

David

was

the

Madonna video 'Oh Father.' A little
while after that job,

asked

me

to meet

David called and

him

at

Panavision

inserts for the video

After

as

well."

string of projects with
the two Cronenweths, culminating in
AlienFincher continued to bring
Jeff in on projects as an operator after
a

Jordan retired. The young camera¬
man was hired to operate B-camera
on Seven, and several months after
that

had
wrapped,
Cronenweth was brought in to oper¬
ate on an extensive 18-day reshoot
with
cinematographer
Harris
Savides (the film's primary camera¬
man, Darius Khondji, ASC, AFC was
picture

unavailable). However, when the
workload

proved to be

substantial

even more

than

anticipated,
given his own addi¬
tional unit to shoot crucial pickups,
as well as portions of the film's strik¬
ing title sequence. He later served in a
similar capacity on The Game.
When Cronenweth got a call
from Fincher to discuss Fight Club,
the cinematographer - who by then
was
shooting full-time on commer¬
Cronenweth

was

would be

rough, I had so much trust

in David

as a

the confidence
such

filmmaker that I had
to

do the film. He has

distinct eye

and is such a
storyteller that the visuals in
his films are always a collaboration in
the truest sense. His knowledge of
a

talented

the medium allows

a cameraman

to

go to places that other directors
would either be afraid of or not

understand."
While discussing the look of
Fight Club, Fincher and Cronenweth
elected to continue on the visual path
that the director had begun explor¬
ing on Seven and The Game. "Fight
Club is a reality-driven picture about
Edward Norton's daily nine-to-five

work. He

was wrong.
better movie

was being
second-unit

the look

was

bland and realistic. For the
when he is with

scenes

Tyler, though, David
to be more hyper-

wanted the look

real in
sense

a

-

torn-down, deconstructed
a

visual

metaphor of what

"I couldn't

"A lot of the movie's look

McDowell. We chose

to use

was

heavily

first film than

costuming, makeup and art direc¬
tion, and also established that we

meter?' I ended up

Cronenweth.

were

some

shooting

some

a

to

as

my

Fight Club," says
"Although I knew it

(Edward
Norton)
plunges further
into Fight
Club's sinister

opted to
incorporate the
natural lighting
of their
locations.
"If the

surroundings
had a particular
color of light,
then we'd go
with that and

perhaps add to
it," says
Cronenweth.

desaturated colors in all of the

pickup shots. When I got
there, he said, 'Okay, where's your

do

do

heading into.

think of

to

narrator

Fincher and
Cronenweth

planned out early, in collaboration
with the production designer, Alex

more

film's nameless

underworld.

reality situations,
supposed to be fairly

Wittenmeier and Matthew Rolston

naturally assumed he

compositions.
Above: The

all of the 'normal'

he's

considered for

for battle.The
filmmakers
shot in Super
35 to achieve a
widescreen
frame in order
to lend scope
and tension to
their

doldrums," Cronenweth details. "In

cials and music videos for such top
directors as Mark Romanek, Charles

-

Opposite page:
Fight Club's
enigmatic
leader, Tyler
Durden (Brad
Pitt), prepares

going to make

as

much

use as

American

Cinematographer 43
American Cinematographer - November 1999

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - November 1999
