John Schwartzman, ASC
Seabiscuit

John Schwartzman, ASC was born and raised in Los Angeles, where his father was an entertainment lawyer whose clients included Stanley Kubrick, Francis Ford Coppola, John Schlesinger and William Friedkin. Schwartzman majored in economics at the University of Colorado, and minored in fine arts. He continued his education at the University of Southern California, where he discovered cinematography. Schwartzman launched his career in 1985 by shooting 18-day horror flicks. A few years later, he began shooting music videos and commercials and eventually segued into narrative films. His body of work includes Benny & Joon, Conspiracy Theory, The Rock, Armageddon, Edtv, Pearl Harbor and The Rookie. Schwartzman earned the 2004 ASC Outstanding Achievement for Seabiscuit.

Synopsis: Seabiscuit is about a time in America when dreams were shattered and hope was lost, until an ordinary horse proved that miracles can happen if you refuse to quit. The story follows three men whose belief in a horse named Seabiscuit enabled them to inspire a nation.

Quote: "Our color palette was fairly muted until we shot at the track. People could escape the realities of their mundane lives at the racetrack. The grass was a lush emerald green, and the red, blue and yellow silks worn by the jockeys exploded with saturation. There are visceral scenes where we put the audience places they have never been before. Normally, you watch horse races with binoculars from a quarter of a mile away. It's a different experience when you are right there in the middle of the race with the jockeys and horses."

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