Vittorio Storaro

Vittorio Storaro (born 24 June, 1940 in Rome, Italy) is an Italian cinematographer.

The son of a film projectionist, Storaro began studying photography at the age of 11, and went on to formal cinematography studies at the national Italian film school when he was 18. Working as a camera operator for many years, his first film as cinematographer was Giovinezza, Giovinezza (Youthful, Youthful) in 1968.

He has worked with many influential film directors, in particular Bernardo Bertolucci, with whom he has had a long collaboration, as well as Francis Ford Coppola and Warren Beatty.

His credits include The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, The Last Emperor, Apocalypse Now, Bulworth, The Sheltering Sky, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, Ladyhawke and Tango.

Storaro’s first mainstream American film was Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Ford Coppola in 1979 for which he won his first Oscar (Academy Award). He has also received Oscars for Reds (1981), The Last Emperor (1987) and Dick Tracy (1990).

Storaro is a master cinematographer with a sophisticated philosophy largely inspired by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's theory of colors, which focuses in part on the psychological effects different colors have and the way in which colors influence our perceptions of different situations. In 2002, Storaro completed the first in a series of books that attempt to more substantively articulate his philosophy of cinematography.

References

• Masters of Light - Conversations with cinematographers (1984) Schaefer, S & Salvato, L., ISBN 0-520-05336-2

• Vittorio Storaro: Writing with Light: Volume 1: The Light (2002) Storaro, V., ISBN 1931788030

• Writer of Light: The Cinematography of Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC (2000) Zone, R., ISBN 0-935578-18-8

External links

• International Cinematographers Guild Interview