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Those were the days

Happy 87th, Eleanor Coppola.

With Francis, Gian-Carlo, Roman, and Sofia Coppola.

#eleanor coppola #francis ford coppola

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By The Associated Press

Eleanor Coppola, who documented the making of some of her husband Francis Ford Coppola’s iconic films, including the infamously tortured production of “Apocalypse Now,” and who raised a family of filmmakers, has died. She was 87.

Coppola died Friday at home in Rutherford, California, her family announced in a statement.

Eleanor, who grew in Orange County, California, met Francis while working as an assistant art director on his directorial debut, the Roger Corman-produced 1963 horror film “Dementia 13.” (She had studied design at UCLA.) Within months of dating, Eleanor became pregnant and the couple were wed in Las Vegas in February 1963.

Their first-born, Gian-Carlo, quickly became a regular presence in his father’s films, as did their subsequent children, Roman (born in 1965) and Sofia (born in 1971). After acting in their father’s films and growing up on sets, all would go into the movies.

“I don’t know what the family has given except I hope they’ve set an example of a family encouraging each other in their creative process whatever it may be,” Eleanor told The Associated Press in 2017. “It happens in our family that everyone chose to sort of follow in the family business. We weren’t asking them to or expecting them to, but they did. At one point Sofia said, ‘The nut does not fall far from the tree.’”

Gian-Carlo, who’s seen in the background of many of his father’s films and had begun doing second-unit photography, died at the age of 22 in a 1986 boating accident. He was killed while riding in a boat piloted by Griffin O’Neal, son of Ryan O’Neal, who was found guilty of negligence.

Roman directed several movies of his own and regularly collaborates with Wes Anderson. He’s president of his father’s San Francisco-based film company, American Zoetrope.

Sofia became one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of her generation as the writer-director of films including “Lost in Translation” and the 2023 release “Priscilla.” Sofia dedicated that film to her mother.

In joining the family business, the Coppola children weren’t just following in their father’s footsteps but their mother’s, too. Beginning on 1979’s “Apocalypse Now,” Eleanor frequently documented the behind-the-scenes life of Francis’ films. The Philippines-set shoot of “Apocalypse Now” lasted 238 days. A typhoon destroyed sets. Martin Sheen had a heart attack. A member of the construction crew died.

Eleanor documented much of the chaos in what would become one of the most famous making-of films about moviemaking, 1991’s “Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse.”

“I was just trying to keep myself occupied with something to do because we were out there for so long,” Eleanor told CNN in 1991. “They wanted five minutes for a TV promotional or something and I thought sooner of later I could get five minutes of film and then it went on to 15 minutes.”

“I just kept shooting but I had no idea ... the evolution of myself that I saw with my camera,” continued Eleanor, who ended up shooting 60 hours worth of footage. “So, it was a surprise for both of us and a life changing experience.”

Eleanor also published “Notes: On the Making of ‘Apocalypse Now’” in 1979. While the film focused on the film set tumult, the book charted some of Eleanor’s inner turmoil, including the challenges of being married to a larger-than-life figure. She wrote of being a “woman isolated from my friends, my affairs and my projects” during their year in Manilla. She also frankly discusses Francis having an extramarital affair.

“There is part of me that has been waiting for Francis to leave me, or die, so that I can get my life the way I want it,” wrote Eleanor. “I wonder if I have the guts to get it the way I want it with him in it.”

They remained together, though, throughout her life. And Eleanor continued to seek out creative outlets for herself. She documented several more of her husband’s films, as well as Roman’s “CQ” and Sofia’s “Marie Antoinette.” She wrote a memoir in 2008, “Notes on a Life.”

In 2016, at the age of 80, Eleanor made her narrative debut in “Paris Can Wait,” a romantic comedy starring Diane Lane. She followed that up with “Love Is Love Is Love” in 2020. Eleanor had initially set out only to write the screenplay to “Paris Can Wait.”

“One morning at the breakfast table my husband said, ‘Well you should direct it.’ I was totally startled,” Eleanor told The AP. “But I said ‘Well, I never wrote a script before and I’ve never directed, why not?’ I was kind of saying ‘why not’ to everything.”

#francis ford coppola #eleanor coppola #the heart of darkness

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George Lucas to receive honorary Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival

By Associated Press
April 9, 2024 at 9:01 a.m. PT
George Lucas will receive an honorary Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival next month, festival organizers announced Tuesday.
Lucas will be honored at the closing ceremony to the 77th French film festival on May 25. He joins a short list of those to receive honorary Palmes. Last year, Harrison Ford, a regular leading man for Lucas in “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones,” was awarded one. Other recent recipients include Michael Douglas, Tom Cruise, Forest Whitaker and Jodie Foster.
“The Festival de Cannes has always held a special place in my heart,” Lucas said in a statement. “I was surprised and elated when my first film, ‘THX-1138,’ was selected to be shown in a new program for first time directors called the Directors’ Fortnight. Since then, I have returned to the festival on many occasions in a variety of capacities as a writer, director and producer. I am truly honored by this special recognition which means a great deal to me.”
The Cannes Film Festival runs May 14-25. The closing ceremony, during which the festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or, will be awarded to one of the films in competition, will be broadcast in France on France Télévisions and streamed on Brut.

(Pictured: Boy wonder, George Lucas, Victor Kemper, asc and Haskell Wexler, asc)

#george lucas #cannes #palm dor

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The onetime SOC president collaborated with cinematographer William Fraker on 17 films, including ‘Tombstone,’ ‘Honeymoon in Vegas’ and ‘Town & Country.’

BY MIKE BARNES

David E. Diano, a veteran camera operator with credits including Tombstone, The Fast and the Furious, Wedding Crashers and Spider-Man 3, has died. He was 71.

Diano died Jan. 22 at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena of coronary issues after a battle with prostate cancer, his wife, still photographer Gemma LaMana, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Diano served as president of the Society of Camera Operators from 2003-04 before deciding not to run for a second term.

“To write that David was a one-of-a-kind friend to those of us who worked with him would be an understatement,” SOC historical chair Michael Frediani said in a statement. “His kindness, artistry and boyish smile endeared him to countess friends and fellow industry colleagues — and that is what set him apart from many,”

Diano shot 17 movies for cinematographer William Fraker, a six-time Oscar nominee, from 1983-2002. Those films included War Games (1983), Murphy’s Romance (1985), Baby Boom (1987), Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Tombstone (1993), Father of the Bride Part II (1995), Town & Country (2001) and Waking Up in Reno (2002).

A native of Los Angeles, David Edward Diano graduated from Eagle Rock High School and UCLA before working as a camera operator on the 1980 releases How to Beat the High Cost of Living and The Formula.

He went on to work on such other features as Night Shift (1982), Leap of Faith (1992), Angels in the Outfield (1994), 2 Days in the Valley (1996), The Fast and the Furious (2001), Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003), National Treasure (2004), Wedding Crashers (2005), Spider-Man 3 (2007), You Don’t Mess With the Zohan (2008) and Little Fockers (2010).

Diano also manned a camera on the TV series Bones in 2013-15 and Bosch in 2015.

In addition to his wife — they were married in 1991, and she received a lifetime achievement honor from the SOC in 2001 — survivors include his sons, David and Sean.

#society of camera operators #david e diano #William Fraker

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The Art of the Lighting Cameraman

Allen Daviau, ASC; Conrad Hall, ASC and James Wong Howe, ASC

#conrad hall #alan daviau #james wong howe

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#society of camera operators #lifetime achievement award #steven spielberg #jacquline bisset #Vimeo

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#best cinematography #academy award winner #Youtube

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#bound for glory #cinemetography #haskell wexler #hal ashby #david carradine #academy award winner #best cinematography #soundtrack #mary lou harris #woody guthrie #Youtube

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Director of Photography Haskell Wexler ; Special Visual Effects, Matt Photography Albert Whitlock; Camera Assistant Randy Robinson

#bound for glory #Al Whitlock #cinematography #visual effects #dust bowl #Youtube

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Remember My Name 1978: Director Alan Rudolph; Cinematographer Tak Fujimoto; Camera Assistant Randy Robinson; Starring Geraldine Chaplain, Tony Perkins, Berry Berenson (RIP American Airlines flight 11, World Trade Center 9-11)

#remember my name #geraldine chaplin #tony perkins #berry berenson #alan rudolph #tak fujimoto #cinematography #Youtube

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Director Adrian Lyon; Cinematography Michael Seresin; Camera Operator Ralph Gerling; Camera Assistant Randy Robinson

#foxes #jodie foster #adrian lyne #Michael Seresin #Youtube #cinematography #soundtrack

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The Buddy Holly Story 1977: Director of Photography Steven Larner; camera operator David Dalzel, Bill Johnson; camera assistants Steve Peterson, Randy Robinson; Steadicam operator Garrett Brown.

Soundtrack recorded live to 16 track recorder in truck outside. Audience bused in from Whitter, Los Angeles, CA

#Buddy Holly #gary busey #Youtube #soundtrack #cinemetography

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You Light Up My Life 1977 Cinematography Eric Saarinen, camera assistant Randy Robinson , director Joseph Brooks

#you light up my life #soundtrack #cinemetography

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The museum describes itself as the first to focus exclusively on storytelling through images and will include paintings, sculptures, murals, photography, comic art, and illustrations. Lucas’ eclectic personal collection contains everything from Norman Rockwell paintings to Alberto Vargas pin-ups to comics by R. Crumb and is reportedly valued at over $600 million.

#george lucas #star wars

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Writer/ Director Woody Allen

#woody allen

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Cinematographer Gordon Willis, ASC: The Godfather 1972, Director Francis Ford Coppola; All the President’s Men 1976, Director Alan J Pakula; Manhattan 1979, Director Woody Allen; All the Presidents Men 1976, Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, crew dressed in flight gear as joke to fast dolly shot; The Godfather 1972, Robert Duvall and Marlon Brando, Gordon Willis with camera assistant Tibor Sands

#cinemetography #the Godfather #all the presidents men #gordon willis #woody allen

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American Film Institute AFI, though, was unstructured to say the least. The school was then located at the spacious and lavish Greystone Mansion, a.k.a. the Doheny Mansion, in Beverly Hills. In 1981, it moved to the 8-acre former Immaculate Heart College campus near Griffith Park.

In Pursuit of Treasure 1972, Director Stanton Kay; Eraserhead 1977, David Lynch, Jack Nash; The Right Stuff 1983, Cinematographer Caleb Deschanel; The Stronger 1976, Director Lee Grant, Dolores Dorn; In Pursuit of Treasure 1962, Scott Glenn(back to camera, photo by Randy Robinson); Director Terrence Makick’s 1970 thesis film (right hand on hip) with cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, Dean Staton; 50th Anniversary first class alumni

#AFI #American Film Institute