Dean Cundey
Biography
Dean Raymond Cundey, A.S.C. (born March 12, 1946) is an American cinematographer and film director. He is known for his collaborations with John Carpenter, Steven Spielberg, and Robert Zemeckis, as well as his extensive work in the horror genre, in addition to numerous family and comedy films.
He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on Who Framed Roger Rabbit and has been nominated for numerous BAFTAs and BSC Awards.
Cundey was born in Alhambra, California, in the United States. As a child, he used to build model sets, suggesting an interest in films from an early age. Cundey already had several low-budget films when he met Debra Hill, who in 1978 recruited him to work on Halloween, a film she co-wrote with director John Carpenter.
Having Cundey work on a film brought considerable advantages. In addition to his considerable skill as a cinematographer and director of photography, he also had the advantage of owning most of his own equipment packed in a large van, referred to by Debra Hill as the "movie van".
Cundey's work on Halloween is cited by many fans as being among his best as a director of photography. In addition to his lighting skills, particularly in the famous hallway scene where the hidden face of Michael Myers is slowly revealed by way of a blue light next to the mask, he was among the first cinematographers to make use of a recent invention called the Steadicam, or panaglide.
The panaglide allowed the camera operator to "wear" the camera and obtain shots that were previously deemed too difficult or even impossible.
In Halloween, the panaglide was used as a point of view reference for Michael Myers, allowing the audience to see what he saw.
