Gilbert Taylor

Gilbert Taylor, B.S.C. (12 April 1914 – 23 August 2013), sometimes credited as Gil Taylor, was an English cinematographer. He worked with directors Stanley Kubrick, Roman Polański, Richard Lester, J. Lee Thompson, and the Boulting brothers, as well as George Lucas on the original Star Wars (1977). Quotes American Cinematographer (February 2006) "High-Key Highlights", American Cinematographer (February 2006). [Photographing nighttime bombing raids over Germany] This was requested by Winston Churchill, and my material was delivered to 10 Downing Street for him to view. He was keen for the public to see what our lads were doing. I did 10 of those operations, including raids on Cologne and Dresden. [The scene in A Hard Day's Nigh (1964)] featuring female fans shot with multiple cameras using a 10:1 zoom lens] There was very little lighting of any sort, as the authorities would not allow us to control the [Crowcrombe train] station in any way. [...] We also had a very limited budget and couldn't afford generators, so any fill was coming from a small, handheld, battery-powered lamp. They wouldn’t have let us bring generators or cables onto the platform anyway. [Dr.] Strangelove was at the time a unique experience because the lighting was to be incorporated in the sets, with little or no other light used. I was delighted to be asked to work with Polanski, and I turned down a Bond movie to make Repulsion. [...] Roman had only made one feature, Knife in the Water [1962], which I thought looked absolutely dreadful. It was very wishy-washy, no real blacks at all. So when he saw the kind of image I could give him, he was impressed. He said, "I never knew you could get photography like this!" External links Category:1914 births Category:2013 deaths Category:Cinematographers