William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:06:43 PM)
Good morning! Hope all is well with all of you.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:06:47 PM)
My best to all.

Peter Tonguette (Sep 22, 2001 1:06:53 PM)
Mr. Fraker: I thoroughly enjoyed Town and Country - it reminded me of many of the great screwball comedies from the '30s. Did you and Peter Chelsom attempt to imitate the style of some of those classic films photographically?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:07:19 PM)
Absolutely. We thought about the pictures in the '30s and the '40s. They were screwball, and we enjoyed trying to duplicate what they had done in the early years. I must say that Peter is a marvelous, understanding young director, and working with him was one of my major pleasures.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:08:35 PM)
I had worked with Warren and Diane and Goldie before, and it was a pleasure to work with them again. We all had major camaraderie. Mainly because all of them are actors, directors, and producers. So it was really a pleasure to work on that film.

Shaun (Sep 22, 2001 1:09:35 PM)
Mr. Fraker I am interested in attending the L.A. Film School next Fall, and I understand that you are a cinematography instructor there. Could you describe the cinematography program, and what you feel the programs strengths are?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:10:09 PM)
I think it's a marvelous, marvelous school, though I am no longer an instructor there.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:10:26 PM)
I am a teacher at USC (Univ of So California) Cinema now. Having been at the LA Film School, I find that the school is well managed, well thought, and gives you a compact area of movies within one year. It's a four-year course that's compacted to one year, so it's very thorough and well run. They have very knowledgeable teachers also.

Fstop (Sep 22, 2001 1:11:15 PM)
So many of today's new directors and cinematographers seem to be coming from commercials and music videos...how do you think that will alter the aesthetics of filmmaking?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:11:49 PM)
The reason they're coming from music videos and commercials is because that's their main entry into the motion picture business.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:12:38 PM)
I think the major alteration has already happened, and I believe it has come from television, and with the influx of new cinematographers and directors in commercials and music videos, you can see the change in motion picture production. You can visually see it.

hova (Sep 22, 2001 1:12:49 PM)
Do you think more directors are going to be shooting their own films like Steven Soderberg – and does that bother you? 

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:13:10 PM)
No, I don't believe directors will be shooting their own films because directing a picture is difficult. People like Steven Soderberg have the capabilities to direct and photograph at the same time.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:13:58 PM)
I believe that most directors have such a full time job at their occupation that it's a little too difficult to take on both aspects. You'll find that a director who is also the cinematographer will have a magnificent crew behind him, and with that he can do both jobs. But it's a little too difficult I think for everyone.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:14:39 PM)
It doesn't bother me that a man will direct and photograph his own picture, because it's his picture.

Mick McNeely (Sep 22, 2001 1:14:50 PM)
Billy, Do you have any projects coming up? 

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:15:16 PM)
Mick, I love you!

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:15:34 PM)
Yes, there are two projects in the makings, and we may be talking. How have you been? How's everybody? And say hello for me.

Shaun (Sep 22, 2001 1:15:37 PM)
What skills do you think are the most important for a cinematographer to have? And how would you suggest an aspiring D.O.P. should go about attaining those skills?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:16:25 PM)
Number one, you need major dedication. Your avocation has to be the most important part of your life. You have to have the determination, the willingness to spend the time to achieve your goal. I think the most important part of becoming a cinematographer is the discipline you need to achieve your goals. Learn everything you can about making motion pictures.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:17:36 PM)
That is, everything. Editing, production, writing, all of it. So you can begin to understand what is required to make a motion picture in order to tell your story visually. You must tell a story and you must be able to tell it without words. You must be able to tell it visually.

Wally Champ (Sep 22, 2001 1:17:52 PM)
For a film like War Games...how do you create the visual language that represents the different forms of technology depicted in the film?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:18:13 PM)
Good question.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:18:37 PM)
That was a very interesting picture. That picture was made before all the great special effects houses came into being.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:18:50 PM)
We did nine days of tests on all the screens that were used in the Crystal Palace. We had, I believe, 12 projection screens, five being front projection with art projectors, and the seven smaller screens were rear-projected and projected through mirrors that projected the pictures on the screens. Having to capture an image on 250 television monitors, we had to shoot at a very low light level. And during the tests, we achieved the light level we needed. And the light level – and I hope you understand this – we photographed the complete interior of the Crystal Palace at 6-foot candles at F2.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:21:13 PM)
It's because we were given the opportunity to do our tests, which is rather unusual to have nine days of tests, we were able to achieve what we needed to achieve.

MidwestOp (Sep 22, 2001 1:21:25 PM)
You spoke about using only two lenses, an 18mm and a 25 mm on Rosemary's Baby. Because that was the language chosen for telling that story. What would have been wrong with using a longer lens if it was right for a particular shot?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:21:58 PM)
There was nothing wrong with using another lens for a particular shot.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:22:09 PM)
We were in New York City shooting Mia after she had run out of the doctor's office, and she ran into a telephone booth on the street. Roman went to lunch with the man who had just bought Paramount Studios and asked me to shoot an insert of the phone. So I looked at the phone, looked at the background and said, all right, let's shoot this insert with a 40mm lens. We shot the insert and it came out beautifully.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:23:09 PM)
The next day in dailies, Roman saw the insert and screamed at me, “No, no, Billy, it's wrong, we have to reshoot it!” Now that comes from his perception of what the director's look of the picture should be. And he was absolutely correct. Because the picture had its own look which was a little bit unusual and for the picture itself, it really worked. I agreed with him 100%. The two lenses actually gave Rosemary's Baby a different look.

Arri-man (Sep 22, 2001 1:24:06 PM)
I heard you say something about Richard Brooks not caring how dark it got as long as the audience could see the actors' eyes. Is it always necessary to see the actors' eyes?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:24:22 PM)
Absolutely.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:24:47 PM)
You learn more from watching a person's eyes than you do any other part of their bodies. The eyes are the most expressive part of almost anyone's body. So he was absolutely correct.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:25:00 PM)
This picture was Looking for Mr. Goodbar with Dianne Keaton, and it launched Richard Gere into a movie career. Richard said, I don't want to see any nudity. You will have naked bodies on the bed, I don't want to see any nudity or anything that we should not see, but I want the audience to think they've seen everything. I don't care where you put the lights or how you light it, but I want the audience to believe they've seen everything. And we achieved that.

Fstop (Sep 22, 2001 1:26:06 PM)
Your bio says that your uncle and father were Hollywood still photographers. What did you learn from them and their work?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:26:30 PM)
I tried to duplicate their glamour photography. But I learned more about photography from my grandmother, who actually taught my father photography. My grandmother was a marvelous photographer.

Lighter (Sep 22, 2001 1:26:50 PM)
Is USC teaching student directors and cinematographers how to work with colorists?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:27:29 PM)
Yes. It's interesting because colorists actually are becoming a very, very important part of making motion pictures. And it's a sort of a new career avenue.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:29:14 PM)
I believe colorists should be represented by agents. But I think it's extremely important that colorists understand cinematography. They have to understand lighting, light sources, everything that's required to become a cinematographer. I think it's a very important position.

FOGFILTER1 (Sep 22, 2001 1:30:00 PM)
Who's decision was it to shoot Games in Techniscope?

William Fraker  (Sep 22, 2001 1:30:47 PM)
Games was not shot in Techniscope. It was shot in 1:85 aspect ratio. It was shot with Eastman Kodak film.

Mick McNeely (Sep 22, 2001 1:30:54 PM)
Billy, How do you manage to stay strong and healthy enough?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:31:39 PM)
You've got to stay healthy because you love what you're doing. Have a scotch and soda on me, Mick.

FOGFILTER1 (Sep 22, 2001 1:31:51 PM)
Have you ever told anything about the one frame of red?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:32:27 PM)
That is a director's choice and a film editor's choice. But it actually works to put in one frame of red just before the explosion or the accident or whatever happens. But that's a director's choice. When it works, it works beautifully.

Curious (Sep 22, 2001 1:32:39 PM)
What's the longest period you've gone without work?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:37:18 PM)
I love what I'm doing so much that I feel I've been out of work for the past 40 years, because for me, going to work is not going to work, because there's a new different challenge every day, and if you're adventurous, it's so easy, it's like not working at all.

Bob Clem (Sep 22, 2001 1:37:45 PM)
Is great cinematography the result of a plan or it is intuition at the moment of photography? What's been your experience?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:38:00 PM)
Both. You have a well thought out plan before you start shooting the picture, but then situations arise and you change with the situation, and creativity comes from nowhere. And out of that nowhere comes the art form. Therefore, you're open to any element that comes in front of you when you say, let's shoot it.

Peter Tonguette (Sep 22, 2001 1:39:06 PM)
What kind of challenges did shooting the sequel to The Exorcist present? Did you and John Boorman feel you needed to replicate the look of the original to some extent? (I'm a big fan of the film, btw)

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:39:55 PM)
There were many challenges. Working with John Borman is a challenge because he requires you to be dedicated to what you're doing.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:40:08 PM)
Number two, we tried to duplicate a lot of the look of the film. And if you're following a master cinematographer, Owen Roizman, it can be very challenging. We did duplicate the middle scene in the sequence of where she is in the middle of the exorcism in The Exorcist. And we duplicated that on stage 17 at Warner Bros. and had a duplicate set right next to it and we shot through a two-way mirror and slowly dimmed the lights on one set and duplicated the other set by bringing up the lights.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:41:41 PM)
Now that may seem somewhat complicated and it would take a long while to explain it, but we had a different story and a different ending, and working with Richard Burton was absolutely marvelous. Linda Blair was marvelous. John was tough, but it's great that he demands you to work to your capacity, and that's what makes it really interesting going to work every day.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:42:29 PM)
I love the original picture The Exorcist and was very happy to take on this assignment. And working with John Borman was absolutely marvelous. But tough.

Nadine Reston (Sep 22, 2001 1:42:43 PM)
What are your most memorable commercials and why?

Buffy (Sep 22, 2001 1:43:40 PM)
Can you talk a bit about how to use darkness to communicate emotions?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:44:10 PM)
Sorry, we got two questions there. First, most memorable commercials.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:44:47 PM)
IBM. We were in Germany when the Pope visited the United States for the first time in history, and we photographed his arrival past the Statue of Liberty in Germany on a monitor that was part of the Telstar system, one of the first satellites in orbit.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:46:02 PM)
But we had visited four cities, we photographed Telstar station in Manns End England outside of London. From there we went to Portofino Italy where there was another station. Then we went to Reisting (sp?) Germany and then on to Paris, France, and photographed the Telstar system at all the places. That's my most memorable commercial because we went first class and everything was just absolutely marvelous.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:46:14 PM)
Now as to darkness and emotions.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:46:25 PM)
The best teacher of how to use darkness to create or explain emotion – you should look at all the film noirs done in the '40s and '50s. That's the best use of darkness to explain emotion that I know. And those films were magnificently shot by the black-and-white cinematographers of the day.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:47:09 PM)
Black is very important and you have to look at film in a gray scale – from black to white. Whether you're shooting black and white or color. Everything works in a gray scale. As long as you achieve a portion of that gray scale in each frame of your photography, then you create a visual image. And it's important to have that visual image working all the time.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:48:12 PM)
Most of the great black-and-white cinematographers would spend hours lighting the backgrounds and five minutes on the stars. Thereby creating the mood and the visual impact of the scene, using the background, and then beautifully lighting the stars.

Wally Champ (Sep 22, 2001 1:48:31 PM)
How did Conrad Hall and Jordan Cronenweth influence you? How did you influence them?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:49:04 PM)
There was a picture called The Professionals directed by Richard Brooks starring Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Rboert Ryan, Woody Strode, Jack Palance. It was a Western.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:50:40 PM)
The camera crew on that picture was Conrad Hall, cinematographer, Bill Fraker, camera operator, Jordan Cronenwith, assistant cameraman. The second camera was Charles Rosher Jr., camera operator, and Robert Burns, assistant camera. So we all worked together on a picture. Everybody mentioned above became cinematographers. And great cinematographers. And we all influenced each other. We had great respect for each other and we learned a lot through association.

Mick McNeely (Sep 22, 2001 1:51:11 PM)
In light of the long hours and tough conditions that we sometimes endure, what would you recommend to filmmakers in order to maintain health and sanity, to have the kind of long career that you continue to enjoy.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:51:44 PM)
To love what you're doing. To be interested in what you're doing. To take pride in what you're doing. And to be dedicated to what you're doing. Didn't we do that on Tombstone?

jeff (Sep 22, 2001 1:52:06 PM)
Can you tell us a little about your experiences on shooting Bullit?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:52:23 PM)
San Francisco was great in the '70s.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:52:47 PM)
You had the flower children work on one side, you had Haight-Ashbury in the middle of it all, and the Filmore Auditorium was going full blast. That was a great time in San Francisco. Plus you had Steve McQueen and the director Peter Yates. And Jackie Bisset's first picture in the U.S. And some of the greatest stunt drivers in the world. How could it not be wonderful?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:53:25 PM)
I loved San Francisco, and they loved us too.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:53:52 PM)
It was an effort by the entire crew. The entire crew loved what we were doing, and so it was really – it really wasn't work. It was fun. I was very fortunate to be part of that picture. And today I still love the picture.

LNE (Sep 22, 2001 1:54:07 PM)
What did your directing experiences teach you about being a cinematographer?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:54:53 PM)
Being a cinematographer allows you to concentrate on what you are there for: to tell the story visually.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:55:24 PM)
Being a director gets a little complicated because you have to deal with the suits. You have to deal with another area of politics that you're really not trained to deal with.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:55:59 PM)
So having the power of being a director is marvelous, but unless you have definitive power, then you're at the mercy of committees. And as a cinematographer, you don't work with committees. You're on your own, creating your own vision. I'd much rather be a cinematographer.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:56:24 PM)
As an artist, the achievement is much greater and much more satisfactory.

Becka (Sep 22, 2001 1:56:29 PM)
What are the most memorable scenes from your films that stick in your mind? Why?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:57:14 PM)
It's difficult to answer a question like this. Only because I associate the pictures I've worked on as being great and marvelous or being somewhat unsatisfactory, by the relationships you develop during a picture. When somebody says to me, I loved a certain picture I've done, I only think of what we didn't achieve in making that picture. What we tried to achieve and didn't come up to our achievement 100%. I always think of these what I call non-achievements. I call them mistakes. You tell me you like War Games – I know what we wanted to achieve and I know what we didn't achieve.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 1:58:29 PM)
So my happiest moments are the relationships that I developed with different producers and different directors. I've always worked with great great crews, and it's important that you have good relationships with your crews. Because if they're happy, then they're working to 100% of their capacity. And I think everyone has to try to achieve 100% of their working capacity in order to achieve your goals.

Ned (Sep 22, 2001 1:59:36 PM)
Is there a future for cinematographers or will they be replaced by technology?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:00:06 PM)
That's a very good question.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:00:14 PM)
They have been making motion pictures for over 100 years and they've been making motion pictures exactly the same way as when they started. You still need a writer, director, cinematographer, grips, electrician, prop men, actors. That is not going to change. What you capture the image on may change. But you still have to have a crew to tell a story. And as long as you are making motion pictures you will always have to tell a story.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:01:14 PM)
Technology only allows you to capture the image differently. It doesn't tell you how to make a movie, so technology is not going to change motion pictures.

Mick McNeely (Sep 22, 2001 2:01:24 PM)
Would you consider shooting in high definition or any other digital format?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:01:39 PM)
Sure I would.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:01:50 PM)
High definition or any other digital format doesn't make a bit of difference. I just answered a question saying what you record your storytelling on won't affect the telling of the story.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:02:44 PM)
It's still a motion picture. So I believe that high definition, digital, whatever you want to call it, will eventually be the system that we make pictures on. But I think it's going to be a long time before that happens, because nothing can come up to the images that are recorded on film.

jeff (Sep 22, 2001 2:02:48 PM)
Can you tell us a little bit about your approach to taking on the mammoth film 1941? With so many shots in so many different locations.... they're all extremely well executed and wonderfully imaginative. Did you use any special tools to accompish so much in so very little time.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:03:35 PM)
We used a lot of smoke. And that was an important visual effect. I take a lot of pride in the work that was achieved in 1941, because 99% of it was done in the camera.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:04:02 PM)
We received two nominations for that picture – one for cinematography and the other for visual effects. I enjoyed working on the project because the studio was 100% behind us and you're working with such a creative mind as Steven Spielberg and almost anything we wanted we were given.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:05:04 PM)
The major achievement in that film was the miniature work at the pier, at the beach, and the airplanes flying down Hollywood Blvd. The miniature work was exquisitely done. And looking at the picture just a few months ago, I felt that was one picture that we achieved what we set out to do. I'm very proud of that picture. And by the way, I take that picture to all my seminars because of the achievements accomplished.

MidwestOp (Sep 22, 2001 2:06:03 PM)
For War Games you photographed dozens of large monitors in a new way. Please explain what was different about your technique and what challenges you had to overcome.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:06:59 PM)
Well, we did achieve quite a bit. As I said earlier, the fact that we did achieve what we set out to do was the fact that we were allowed to test for nine days prior to the beginning of the shoot.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:07:21 PM)
And mostly because we had five arc projectors to project the images through front projection, and we had to pull the arc smoke out of the sets, so we had to build special exhaust systems for each arc projector, and carry the arc smoke out of the stage.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:08:01 PM)
Then we had seven xenon projectors that projected their images through mirrors and they were front-plated mirrors, and those images were rear projected from behind. We had special screens built by 3M and they had to project an image that gave us the same illumination and intensity from any angle facing the screen – the side, the middle, wherever. The way we achieved the illumination on the screen was through the projectors and a white neon tube around each screen. Because next to something that's white and shiny, immediately you see the black. And the illusion created by that is that those screens were black. Actually, they were gray. So that was quite an achievement in itself.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:09:40 PM)
But it was through the nine days of tests that we were able to achieve what we set out to accomplish.

sbdp (Sep 22, 2001 2:09:42 PM)
How do you feel your work has evolved over the course of your career? Are there images from your early work that make you cringe today?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:10:19 PM)
No, I think it's just the opposite. I believe that in the earlier days of my career, it was much more creative, because the whole industry was creative. The industry and the studios were more individual enterprises. Today the studios are part of a conglomerate and I think it's more important to do the pictures on budget than to really try to create a piece of material.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:11:31 PM)
Once in a while a picture will come out that is really absolutely magnificent. But that's one or two pictures out of 300 or 400 released every year in the U.S. The schedule is more important today than the end result, and I think it's a shame.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:12:04 PM)
It was glorious to work in what I call the good old days, and that was up until the '80s or the middle part of the '80s because everybody was into creativity. The studios, the workers, everybody. Today, you don't find that type of energy at the studios. There are some good films being made today, but it's not as interesting.

Jon (Sep 22, 2001 2:12:27 PM)
Mr. Fraker, when working with color do you try to reproduce the production design colors, or do you try to augment colors in processes and printing, why or why not?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:13:19 PM)
The production design colors are all preconceived before you start to shoot, so that there is a compatibility to the look of the picture. You use light to reproduce the colors that you want to reproduce honestly. And you use light to help create a visual interest in the storytelling part.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:14:07 PM)
It's not difficult to change the production design colors. But your goal has already been achieved before you start to shoot, so you enhance what the production designer has given you and thereby you become a team to achieve your visual look.

jeff (Sep 22, 2001 2:14:21 PM)
Can you tell us a little about working with 2 directors.... Warren Beatty and Buck Henry on Heaven Can Wait.... How did the collaboration work?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:14:40 PM)
Marvelously.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:14:54 PM)
Both are extremely creative individuals. But remember, there is only one boss on the set. And that's the director. Warren was actually the stronger part of the direction. But Buck was the jury of the collaboration.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:16:09 PM)
So it worked very well. And both wanting to achieve the ultimate. I loved that picture. And still do. And it was marvelous to work with Warren. He's a major filmmaker and very intelligent and very smart. At one time there was some gossip about him running for President. I told him I would be the first one to vote for him.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:16:35 PM)
It was a great collaboration. I'm a great fan of Buck Henry's also.

Jon (Sep 22, 2001 2:15:56 PM)
As former ASC president I can assume you were actively involved in picking news members, how does one become an ASC member, what criteria do you look for, what sets members apart from other DP's?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:17:06 PM)
Nothing sets members apart from other Directors of Photography.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:17:17 PM)
You become a member of the ASC by being nominated by three members. You have to have been a cinematographer for five years. Your achievements speak for themselves. The ASC does not separate Directors of Photography. You're either a member or you're not. The non-members are as well respected by the ASC as members.

jeff (Sep 22, 2001 2:18:18 PM)
Going on your last answer regarding present vs. past films.... I would say that a lot of the reason good films aren't being made is because of the lack of solid, well thought out interesting stories. Do you think this is true or do you feel that good stories and film makers now are getting hurt more by the studio system? Meaning that more hands are on the film and influencing the story than need be.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:19:04 PM)
The last part of your question, I believe, is correct. I think there is more interference from upstairs than should be. I feel the leadership in Hollywood is not as strong as it used to be.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:19:26 PM)
There are some definite leaders in the industry, but mostly the leadership has changed. And I don't think the stories they're making today are as well thought out as stories in previous years.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:20:28 PM)
Not because I went through the old system do I say I wish we could go back to the old system where there was one leader and no committees. But since we're part of a conglomerate I don't think that will happen.

Suzanne (Sep 22, 2001 2:20:30 PM)
What was your collaboration with Roman Polanski in making Rosemary's Baby?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:20:52 PM)
Collaboration between a cinematographer and a director is like a marriage. It's give and take. It's love and hate. And being male, your wife always wins. So the director wins.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:21:33 PM)
But Roman is a sweet, sensitive, talented man. And he was generous and kind and listened to almost anything a cinematographer would have to say. And agreed most of the time.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:21:58 PM)
I'm sorry that he's not making films today here in Hollywood. And I would go anyplace in the world to make a film with him – he's a great, great filmmaker. Not only a director, but a filmmaker.

Wally Champ (Sep 22, 2001 2:22:02 PM)
Are there any tips you can give us for building relationships with big stars?

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:22:53 PM)
I'm not sure that you want to go there. I think if you make the actors look beautiful, it's like giving a bouquet of flowers to your girlfriend. But I think you want to start at the other end and build a relationship with the director and the producer.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:23:05 PM)
But first build a relationship with your crew, so they work for you.

William Fraker (Sep 22, 2001 2:24:09 PM)
I just want to thank everybody here at ICG, and I appreciate being asked to be on this chat. And thanks to all of you for being here and sharing your questions with me.