Dean Cundey

American cinematographer and film director

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. His filmography as a cinematographer includes Halloween (1978), The Fog (1980), Escape from New York (1981), The Thing (1982), the Back to the Future trilogy (1985–1990), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Jurassic Park (1993), Apollo 13 (1995), and Garfield: The Movie (2004). Cundey 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, 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 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.

Cundey would go on to work with Carpenter and Hill again on the films The Fog (1980), Escape from New York, Halloween II (both 1981), The Thing (1982), and Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1983). He would also return to work with Carpenter for the last time on the 1986 big budget science fiction/comedy adventure Big Trouble in Little China. Cundey also served as director of photography on the 4D film Honey, I Shrunk the Audience!, which ran in five Walt Disney theme parks around the world.

In addition to his work with Carpenter, Cundey would lend his talents to the films Psycho II (1983), Romancing the Stone (1984), the Back to the Future trilogy (1985–1990), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Road House (1989), Jurassic Park (1993), Apollo 13 (1995), What Women Want (2000), and Garfield: The Movie (2004), among others. In 1997, he made his directorial debut with the direct to video sequel Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves. He recently worked in Canada on Camp Rock, one of several movies that he has filmed outside the United States, including Who Framed Roger Rabbit which was filmed primarily in England. In 2011, Cundey shot the comedy film Jack and Jill, which involved extensive split screen and motion control effects to create the illusion of actor Adam Sandler interacting with multiple on screen personas.

Year Title Director Notes 1973 The No Mercy Man Daniel Vance 1973 Brother on the Run Edward J. LaksoHerbert L. Strock 1974 So Evil, My Sister Reginald Le Borg Where the Red Fern Grows Norman Tokar 1975 That Girl from Boston Matt Cimber 1976 The Witch Who Came From the Sea Creature from Black Lake Joy N. Houck Jr. Black Shampoo Greydon Clark Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks Don EdmondsThe Human Tornado Cliff Roquemorecredited as Gene Condie, co cinematographer with Bob Wilson 1977 Satan's Cheerleaders Greydon Clark Charge of the Model T's Jim McCullough Sr. Bare Knuckles Don Edmonds 1978 Hi Riders Greydon Clark Goodbye, Franklin High Mike MacFarland Halloween John Carpenter 1st collaboration with Carpenter 1979 Angels' Brigade Greydon Clark Rock 'n' Roll High School Allan Arkush Roller Boogie Mark L. Lester 1980 Without Warning Greydon Clark The Fog John Carpenter Galaxina William Sachs 1981 Separate Ways Howard Avedis Jaws of Satan Bob Claver Escape from New York John Carpenter Halloween II Rick Rosenthal 1982 The Thing John Carpenter Halloween III: Season of the Witch Tommy Lee Wallace 1983 Psycho II Richard Franklin D. C. Cab Joel Schumacher 1984 Romancing the Stone Robert Zemeckis 1st collaboration with Zemeckis 1985 Back to the Future Warning Sign Hal Barwood 1986 Big Trouble in Little China John Carpenter 1987 Project X Jonathan Kaplan 1988 Big Business Jim Abrahams Who Framed Roger Rabbit Robert Zemeckis Nominated – Academy Award for Best CinematographyNominated – BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography 1989 Road House Rowdy Herrington Back to the Future Part II Robert Zemeckis Shot back to back 1990 Back to the Future Part III 1991 Nothing but Trouble Dan Aykroyd Hook Steven Spielberg Nominated – ASC Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography 1992 Death Becomes Her Robert Zemeckis 1993 Jurassic Park Steven Spielberg Minor film appearance as a boat crew member (credited as "Mate") 1994 The Flintstones Brian Levant 1995 Casper Brad Silberling Apollo 13 Ron Howard Nominated – ASC Award for Outstanding Achievement in CinematographyNominated – BAFTA Award for Best CinematographyNominated – CFCAA for Best Cinematography 1997 Flubber Les Mayfield 1998 Krippendorf's Tribe Todd Holland The Parent Trap Nancy Meyers 2000 What Women Want 2003 Looney Tunes: Back in Action Joe Dante 2004 Garfield Peter Hewitt 2006 The Holiday Nancy Meyers 2007 Whisper Stewart Hendler 2009 Shannon's Rainbow Frank E. Johnson 2010 The Spy Next Door Brian Levant 2011 Jack and Jill Dennis Dugan 2013 Crazy Kind of Love Sarah Siegel Magness 2014 Walking with the Enemy Mark Schmidt 2015 Diablo Lawrence Roeck The Girl in the Photographs Nick Simon 2017 Slamma Jamma Timothy A. Chey Home Again Hallie Meyers Shyer 2020 Anastasia: Once Upon a Time Blake Harris