Dick Pope, BSC
The Illusionist

Dick Pope, BSC became interested in photography as a young boy in Kent, England. After his father gave him a box brownie camera, Pope began making portraits of his family and neighbors. Later, an uncle who worked for BBC suggested a career as a cameraman. Pope began as a trainee at Pathé Film Laboratory in London and worked on camera crews on B-movies. Pope sharpened his eye while shooting television documentaries. Eventually, he began shooting music videos and dramatic films. In 1990, Pope worked with director Mike Leigh on Life is Sweet, beginning a collaboration that has produced such films as Naked, Secrets & Lies, Topsy-Turvy and Vera Drake. Pope won the top prize at Camerimage for Vera Drake and Secrets & Lies, and was honored with the Silver Frog Award for The Illusionist. In 1999, Leigh and Pope were also recognized at Camerimage for their career collaboration. Pope’s credits include Nicholas Nickleby, Swept from the Sea, The Way of the Gun, Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, Man of the Year, and the upcoming Honeydripper. This is his first nomination for both an Academy Award and ASC Outstanding Achievement Award.

“We wanted the audience to be amazed by Eisenheim’s illusions, not by the filmmaking. … I love getting the light into the faces. To me, one of the most important elements of my work is to help drive the emotional content of films with the kind of light I use to illuminate faces. Cinema, in the end, is about the close-up, and the human emotions it communicates.”

When the accomplished magician Eisenheim (Edward Norton) re-encounters the beautiful Duchess Sophie (Jessica Biel), the lost love of his youth, he uses his power to win her back from the arrogant Crown Prince to whom she is engaged. Even the royal inspector (Paul Giamatti) is incapable of uncovering the trade secrets that unravel in this sleight-of-hand tale set in Vienna at the turn of the century.

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