Dion
Beebe Wins 2005
The Los Angeles Times, March 6, 2005 Los Angeles Times calls Beebe's accomplishment "the craftiness of old and the new technology." Perhaps Dion Beebe's toughest job as the cinematographer on "Memoirs of a Geisha" was depicting delicate Japanese lighting and seasons in the harsh Southern California sunlight (most of the movie was filmed in Thousand Oaks rather than in 1930s Tokyo). So Beebe redid the sky. He hung a massive layer of silk over an entire five-block "town," even fashioning controls to alter the amount of light let in. The result was a movie almost universally praised by critics for its technical prowess and visual delicacy, so it comes as no surprise that Beebe was rewarded with an Oscar. He was previously nominated for another massive production, "Chicago." The level of thought that went into setting the right light and visual tone in "Memoirs of a Geisha" is perhaps rarer these days than it once was; the cost of transferring film to digital stock, then altering characteristics such as color in post-production before transferring it back to film, has become cheaper in recent years. But as with much modern filmmaking, "Geisha's" creators employed both the craftiness of old and the new technology. Even after the shoot was finished and Beebe was on to his new film project, "Miami Vice," he flew back at various intervals to check on the final product, which went through several stages of digital post-production. Beebe received top honors for "Memoirs of a Geisha" from the American Society of Cinematographers, and this is only the seventh time in the last 20 years that the cinematographers society has agreed with the academy. "What an amazing feeling," Beebe said when he received the Oscar. "Terrifying, but amazing. "Mom, I know you're up there somewhere," he said, gazing toward the Kodak Theatre's ceiling. |
In only the 7th time in 20 years, Director of Photography
Wins Both ASC Award and Oscar for Film