Tak Fujimoto
{{Short description|American cinematographer}}
{{use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Tak Fujimoto
| honorific_suffix = ASC
| image =
| birth_name = Takashi Fujimoto
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1939|07|12}}
| birth_place = San Diego, California, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| education = San Dieguito High School
| alma_mater = University of California, Berkeley
London Film School
| relatives = Jack Fujimoto (brother)
| years_active = 1970–2013
}}
Takashi Fujimoto {{small|ASC}} (born July 12, 1939) is a retired American cinematographer,[https://web.archive.org/web/20160105082429/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/90724/Tak-Fujimoto/biography The New York Times] known for his frequent collaborations with directors Jonathan Demme and M. Night Shyamalan.
He had won a Primetime Emmy Award, and was nominated for the BAFTA and Satellite Awards. In 2016, IndieWire named him one of the 11 best cinematographers to have never won an Academy Award.{{Cite web |last=Ruimy |first=Jordan |date=2016-02-23 |title=11 Outstanding Cinematographers Who Have Never Won An Oscar |url=https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/11-outstanding-cinematographers-who-have-never-won-an-oscar-67799/ |access-date=2024-01-27 |website=IndieWire |language=en-US}}
Early life and education
Takashi Fujimoto {{nihongo||藤本 隆|lead=yes}} was born in San Diego, California to Japanese American parents. His father, Morizo, was an Issei (first-generation) from Hiroshima, and his mother, Emi, was a Nisei (second-generation) born in Glendale, California. His older brother, Jack Fujimoto, was a well-known academic. During World War II, Fujimoto and his family were interned at the Poston War Relocation Center due to Executive Order 9066.{{cite web | title=Japanese American Internee Data File: Tak Fujimoto|url=https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=3099&mtch=440&tf=F&q=Fujimoto&bc=&rpp=50&pg=1&rid=6655&rlst=6643,6644,6645,6647,6648,6652,6653,6654,6655,6656| publisher=National Archives and Records Administration|access-date=2019-08-17}}
Fujimoto graduated San Dieguito High School from 1957. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley and the London Film School. He began his career as an assistant to Haskell Wexler at his production company Dove Films.
Career
Fujimoto's first film as cinematographer was Chicago Blues, a 1970 music documentary featuring the likes of Dick Gregory, Buddy Guy and Muddy Waters. He was one of three directors of photography that worked on Terrence Malick's 1973 directorial debut Badlands, earning rave reviews. He shot a string of low-budget exploitation films for producer Roger Corman, including Death Race 2000 and Switchblade Sisters (as second unit photographer). He was also one of several second unit cinematographers who worked on the first Star Wars film.
During this period, he also began his long-running collaboration with director Jonathan Demme. Their first film together was Caged Heat in 1974. He would shoot a total of 11 films with Demme, as well as the 2013 pilot episode of the television drama A Gifted Man. He also had fruitful collaborations with M. Night Shyamalan, shooting The Sixth Sense, Signs, and The Happening.
Fujimoto has been a member of the American Society of Cinematographers since 1997.{{Cite web |title=TAK FUJIMOTO |url=https://cinematographers.nl/PaginasDoPh/fujimoto.htm |access-date=2024-01-27 |website=cinematographers.nl}}
Personal life
Fujimoto had retired by 2015, and lived with his wife Anthea in Santa Fe, New Mexico.{{cite web|url=https://www.santafenewmexican.com/life/home/marvelous-home-on-alamo-creek-drive/article_9c2a4d7b-45ef-5431-8734-1bdc6a7e0471.html|title=Marvelous home on Alamo Creek Drive|last=Weideman|first=Paul|work=The Santa Fe New Mexican|date=March 1, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724133551/https://www.santafenewmexican.com/life/home/marvelous-home-on-alamo-creek-drive/article_9c2a4d7b-45ef-5431-8734-1bdc6a7e0471.html|url-access=subscription|archive-date=July 24, 2023|access-date=July 24, 2023}} He is the younger brother of academic Jack Fujimoto.{{cite web|url=http://articles.ivpressonline.com/2002-08-26/internment_24159662/2|title=IVC's interim president recalls days of internment|last=Ralton-Smith|first=Jennifer|work=Imperial Valley Press|date=August 26, 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421065803/http://articles.ivpressonline.com/2002-08-26/internment_24159662|archive-date=April 21, 2012|access-date=July 24, 2023}}
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" |
| Year
! Title ! Director ! Notes |
|---|
| 1970
| Chicago Blues | Documentary film |
| 1973
| Badlands | With Stevan Larner and Brian Probyn |
| rowspan=2|1974
| 1st collaboration with Demme |
| Bootleggers
| |
| 1975
| |
| rowspan=2|1976
| |
| Cannonball
| Paul Bartel | |
| rowspan=2|1977
| |
| Bad Georgia Road
| |
| rowspan=2| 1978
| |
| Stony Island
| |
| 1979
| Jonathan Demme | |
| rowspan=3|1980
| |
| Borderline
| Jerrold Freedman | |
| Melvin and Howard
| Jonathan Demme | |
| 1983
| |
| 1984
| Jonathan Demme | |
| rowspan=3|1986
| |
| Ferris Bueller's Day Off
| |
| Something Wild
| Jonathan Demme | |
| 1987
| Backfire | |
| rowspan=3|1988
| Jonathan Demme | |
| Sweet Hearts Dance
| |
| Cocoon: The Return
| |
| 1990
| |
| rowspan=2|1991
| Jonathan Demme | |
| Crooked Hearts
| Michael Bortman | |
| rowspan=3|1992
| |
| Singles
| With Ueli Steiger |
| Night and the City
| |
| 1993
| Jonathan Demme | |
| rowspan=2|1995
| |
| Grumpier Old Men
| Howard Deutch | |
| 1996
| |
| 1997
| |
| 1998
| Beloved | Jonathan Demme | |
| 1999
| |
| 2000
| Howard Deutch | |
| rowspan=2| 2002
| Signs | M. Night Shyamalan | |
| The Truth About Charlie
| Jonathan Demme | |
| rowspan=2| 2004
| |
| The Manchurian Candidate
| Jonathan Demme | |
| 2007
| Breach | |
| rowspan=2| 2008
| |
| The Happening
| M. Night Shyamalan | |
| 2010
| Devil | |
| 2013
| |
Short film
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" |
| Year
! Title ! Director ! Notes |
|---|
| rowspan=2|1982
| Growing Yourself |rowspan=2|Bob Giraldi |rowspan=2|Segments of National Lampoon's Movie Madness |
| Success Wanters |
| 1994
| The Complex Sessions | |
=Television=
TV movies
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" |
| Year
! Title ! Director |
|---|
| 1976
| Almos' a Man |
| 1978
|rowspan=2|Jerrold Freedman |
| 1979
| Some Kind of Miracle |
| 1982 |
| 1984
| The Seduction of Gina |rowspan=2|Jerrold Freedman |
| rowspan=2|1985
| Seduced |
| Blackout |
| 1989
| Cast the First Stone |
TV series
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" |
| Year
! Title ! Director ! Notes |
|---|
| 1978
| At Home with Shields and Yarnell | TV short |
| 1985
| MacGyver | Jerrold Freedman{{efn|Credited as Alan Smithee}} | Episode "Pilot" |
| 2008
| 4 episodes |
| 2011
| Episode "Pilot" |
Awards and nominations
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Award ! Category ! Title ! Result |
|---|
| rowspan=2| 1991
| Boston Society of Film Critics |rowspan=2| The Silence of the Lambs | {{won}} |
| BAFTA Awards
| {{nom}} |
| 1995
| National Society of Film Critics | {{won}} |
| rowspan=2| 1998
|rowspan=2| Beloved | {{nom}} |
| Chicago Film Critics Association
| {{nom}} |
| 1999
| American Society of Cinematographers | Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography | {{nom}} |
| rowspan=2| 2008
|rowspan=2| Primetime Emmy Awards |rowspan=2| Outstanding Cinematography |rowspan=2| John Adams | {{won}}{{efn|For the episode "Independence"}} |
| {{nom}}{{efn|For the episode "Don't Tread Me"}} |
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=0005714}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Tak Fujimoto
|list =
{{Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography}}
{{Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie}}
{{National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fujimoto, Tak}}
Category:Alumni of the London Film School
Category:American cinematographers
Category:American people of Japanese descent
Category:Film people from California
Category:Japanese-American internees