Biography
Frederick Elmes' body of work as cinematographer includes groundbreaking projects with some of cinema's most original and innovative filmmakers.
He has collaborated three times prior with Jim Jarmusch: on Night on Earth (for which he won an Independent Spirit Award), Coffee and Cigarettes, and the Ten Minutes Older short piece "INT. TRAILER. NIGHT." (starring Chloë Sevigny).
Mr. Elmes' interest in photography began when his father gave him his Leica camera. After studying photography at the Rochester Institute of Technology, his fascination with the medium's possibilities for telling a story led him to pursue graduate film studies at New York University. The offer of a fellowship at the American Film Institute brought him to Los Angeles in 1971, where he began a long-term collaboration with David Lynch.
While at AFI, he photographed Mr. Lynch's Eraserhead (starring Jack Nance), and worked on John Cassavetes' The Killing of a Chinese Bookie and Opening Night.
Mr. Elmes' cinematography of Mr. Lynch's Blue Velvet earned him several accolades, and was cited as the year's best by the National Society of Film Critics. His next film with Mr. Lynch, Wild at Heart, won the top prize (the Palme d'Or) at the Cannes International Film Festival, and brought Mr. Elmes his first Independent Spirit Award.
He has worked twice with Tim Hunter (on River's Edge and The Saint of Fort Washington) and four times with Ang Lee (on The Ice Storm, Ride with the Devil, The Hulk, and the short film "The Chosen" [as part of The Hire series]).
Mr. Elmes' other films as cinematographer include Norman René's Reckless, Barry Hershey's The Empty Mirror, Todd Solondz' Storytelling, and Bill Condon's Kinsey.
He has also shot commercials, music videos, and telefilms. Among the latter have been Charles Burnett's The Wedding and Christopher Reeve's In the Gloaming (for which he received an Emmy Award nomination).
Mr. Elmes was honored, for his films with David Lynch, at the 2000 CamerImage Festival in Poland.
Cinematographer
Movies | |
---|---|
2021 |
Transfer at Aachen |
2019 |
The Dead Don't Die |
The Jesus Rolls |
|
2017 |
Wilson |
2016 |
Paterson |
2013 |
Horns |
2012 |
A Late Quartet |
2010 |
A. Hitler |
2009 |
A Dog Year |
Bride Wars |
|
Brothers |
|
2008 |
Synecdoche, New York |
2006 |
The Namesake |
2005 |
Broken Flowers |
2004 |
Kinsey |
2003 |
Coffee and Cigarettes |
Hulk |
|
2002 |
Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet |
Trapped |
|
2001 |
Storytelling |
2000 |
Chain of Fools |
1999 |
Ride with the Devil |
1998 |
The Wedding (TV movie) |
1997 |
In the Gloaming (TV movie) |
The Ice Storm |
|
1996 |
The Empty Mirror |
1995 |
Reckless |
1994 |
Trial by Jury |
1993 |
The Saint of Fort Washington |
1991 |
Night on Earth |
1990 |
Cold Dog Soup |
Wild at Heart |
|
1988 |
Moonwalker |
Permanent Record |
|
Tales from the Hollywood Hills: Closed Set (TV movie) |
|
1987 |
Aria |
Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8 (TV movie) |
|
1986 |
Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold |
Blue Velvet |
|
River's Edge |
|
1983 |
Valley Girl |
1977 |
Breakfast in Bed |
Eraserhead |
Series | |
---|---|
2020 |
Hunters |
In the Belly of the Whale (S01E01) |
|
2018 |
The Looming Tower |
9/11 (E10) |
|
Tuesday (E09) |
|
A Very Special Relationship (E08) |
|
The General (E07) |
|
2016 |
The Night Of |
The Call of the Wild (E08) |
|
Ordinary Death (E07) |
|
Samson and Delilah (E06) |
|
The Season of the Witch (E05) |
|
2014 |
Olive Kitteridge |
Security (E04) |
|
A Different Road (E03) |
|
Incoming Tide (E02) |
|
Pharmacy (E01) |
Documentaries | |
---|---|
2019 |
The Family (series) |
Submersion (E01) |
|
1990 |
Hollywood Mavericks |
1988 |
The French as Seen by... (series) |
1985 |
Broken Rainbow |
1970 |
Street Scenes |
Music videos | |
---|---|
2022 |
Cat Power: A Pair of Brown Eyes |
1984 |
Go-Go's: Head Over Heels |
Short | |
---|---|
2021 |
French Water |
2017 |
Hair |
2015 |
The Most American Thickburger |
1995 |
Coffee and Cigarettes III |
1988 |
Calvin Klein: Obsession |
The Cowboy and the Frenchman (TV movie) |
|
1976 |
Number One |
1974 |
The Amputee |
Actor
Documentaries | |
---|---|
2006 |
Edge of Outside |
2003 |
Il était une fois... (series) |
1992 |
Visions of Light |
Fans
(46)- ninon cinematographer
- Socrates cinematographer
- thecentre cinematographer
- ad-k cinematographer
- erl cinematographer
- kobejn cinematographer
- Popluh cinematographer
- swed cinematographer
- Driss cinematographer
- Gianni_B cinematographer
- Hamaradža cinematographer
- 4ward cinematographer
- roorybacky cinematographer
- Čumbrk cinematographer
- Carra cinematographer
- mickyreed cinematographer
- haluska11 cinematographer
- derryl cinematographer
- no2 cinematographer
- Tomihiro cinematographer