Gilbert Taylor facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gilbert Taylor
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Taylor with George Lucas filming Star Wars
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| Born | 12 April 1914 Bushey Heath, Hertfordshire, England
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| Died | 23 August 2013 (aged 99) Newport, Isle of Wight, England
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| Occupation | Cinematographer |
| Spouse(s) |
Dee Vaughan
(m. 1967) |
| Children | 4 |
Gilbert Taylor (born April 12, 1914 – died August 23, 2013) was a famous British cinematographer. A cinematographer is the person in charge of how a movie looks on screen. They decide on the lighting, camera angles, and how the film is shot. Gilbert Taylor worked on many well-known films like Dr. Strangelove, A Hard Day's Night, The Omen, and the original Star Wars.
He also worked with famous directors such as Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, and Roman Polanski. Gilbert Taylor won awards for his amazing work, including a special Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Society of Cinematographers.
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Early Life and First Jobs
Gilbert Taylor grew up in Bushey Heath, England. His dad was a builder. When Gilbert was ten, his uncle, who was a newsreel cameraman, showed him how cameras worked. Newsreels were short films shown in cinemas before the main movie, showing news and events. This early experience helped Gilbert learn about cameras and developing film.
As a teenager, Gilbert first studied architecture. But he soon decided he wanted to work in movies instead. When he was 15, a neighbor helped him get a job as a camera assistant. He worked for Gainsborough Studios in London. In 1929, he helped make the studio's last two silent films. A silent film is a movie without spoken dialogue.
Gilbert then worked at Elstree Studios. He was a "clapper loader" for the famous director Alfred Hitchcock on the film Number Seventeen (1932). A clapper loader helps load film into the camera and uses the clapperboard. Even though he was very young, Gilbert helped with special effects. He used special techniques to hide the roofs of old buildings that didn't look good on camera.
Filming During World War II
During World War II, Gilbert Taylor served in the Royal Air Force. He was an officer and became a special cameraman. He flew in Lancaster bomber planes. His job was to film the damage after British bombing raids.
He remembered that Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister, asked for these films. Gilbert's footage was sent to Churchill's home. Churchill wanted the public to see what the British airmen were doing. Gilbert flew on ten of these missions, including raids over cities like Cologne and Dresden.
A Career in Cinematography
After the war, Gilbert Taylor became a full cinematographer. This means he was the main person in charge of how the film looked. He worked on films like Fame Is the Spur (1947). For this film, he used a technique called "deep focus." This makes everything in the shot, both close up and far away, look sharp and clear.
He then worked for the Boulting brothers, who were film producers. For them, he filmed The Guinea Pig (1948), Seven Days to Noon (1950), and High Treason (1951). Gilbert started using "bounced" and "reflected" light. This made his films look more natural. Most other cinematographers at the time used direct light.
For Seven Days to Noon, London had to look empty. Gilbert had to wake up at 5 AM for seven weeks to film the city before people were out.
Working with Famous Directors
Gilbert Taylor was known for his amazing black and white photography. He worked on Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove and Richard Lester's A Hard Day's Night (both 1964).
For Dr. Strangelove, Gilbert filmed scenes in the Arctic. These were used as backgrounds for the flying scenes in the movie. He said that lighting the "war room" set in Dr. Strangelove was "sheer magic." He used lights built into the set and clever side lighting for faces.
Working on A Hard Day's Night with The Beatles was different. It was more relaxed and had a lot of improvisation. Gilbert used several cameras at once. He also used new zoom lenses. This allowed The Beatles to move freely without worrying about hitting specific marks. This new way of filming was perfect for the movie's small budget and black-and-white look. Gilbert and five other camera operators used hand-held cameras. He believed the key was to let the camera "breathe" with you, not hold it perfectly still.
His work on Dr. Strangelove led Roman Polanski to want Gilbert for his film Repulsion (1965). Gilbert turned down a chance to work on a James Bond film to work with Polanski. He felt Polanski was a very interesting director. Gilbert said his goal was to get "good shadows" in the final film, because "shadows are what make good movies."
Gilbert continued to work with Polanski on Cul-de-sac (1966) and Macbeth (1971). Even though Macbeth was in color, it looked almost black and white. This was because of its gray, misty landscapes. Gilbert was nominated for two BAFTA Awards for his work with Polanski.
Later Work in Color
Alfred Hitchcock asked Gilbert Taylor to work on his film Frenzy (1972). Gilbert and Hitchcock had stayed in touch over the years. Hitchcock relied on Gilbert for many decisions about how to shoot the film. One famous shot in Frenzy goes up and down stairs and into the street. It looked like one continuous shot, but it actually combined studio and street filming. Gilbert managed to hide the switch with an extra walking in front of the camera.
Gilbert's later famous films include The Omen (1976) and Star Wars (1977). For Star Wars, he helped create the visual style that has been used in all the later films in the series.
Working on Star Wars was challenging for Gilbert. He found director George Lucas hard to talk to. So, Gilbert often made his own decisions about how to film after reading the script many times. They had different ideas about how the movie should look. The film studio, 20th Century Fox, had to step in to make sure Gilbert stayed on the project. After Star Wars, Gilbert decided he would not work with Lucas again.
His last film was Don't Get Me Started in 1994. But he continued to work on commercials for a while after that.
Gilbert Taylor was one of the people who started the British Society of Cinematographers. He received their lifetime achievement award in 2001. He also received an international award from the American Society of Cinematographers in 2006.
Personal Life
Gilbert Taylor met his wife, Dee Vaughan, when they were both working on a film in 1963. Dee was a script supervisor. They got married in 1967 and had a son and a daughter. Gilbert also had a son and a daughter from an earlier marriage. He passed away on August 23, 2013, at his home on the Isle of Wight. He was 99 years old.
Filmography
As director of photography
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Television
- The Avengers
- episode "A Sense of History" (1966)
- episode "The Forget-Me-Knot" (1968)
- episode "The Curious Case of the Countless Clues" (1968)
- episode "Invasion of the Earthmen" (1968)
- episode "Split!" (1968)
- episode "Get-A-Way!" (1968)
- episode "Look - (Stop Me If You've Heard This One) But There Were These Two Fellers..." (1968)
- episode "Homicide and Old Lace" (1969)
- Breaking Up (1978)
As television director
- Department S ("The Man from X", 1969)
See also
In Spanish: Gilbert Taylor para niños
