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Author	Topic: We've lost Conrad Hall

Dylan Standard Userer	Hello, A very sad night. I, just this last hour, received word that my favorite cinematographer, Conrad Hall (Road to Perdition, American Beauty, In Cold Blood, the original Outer Limits tv series) died today from complications of bladder cancer. I know many on this board also love his work. It certainly meant a great deal to me, as Hall is certainly one of my idols (I have about 10 of them, he was one who was still alive). When I viewed his black and white work he did for Outer Limits only one year ago, I started my long journey of love and passion for black and white (now one of my most intense passions). My favorite work of Hall's is "In Cold Blood" from 1967, photographed in black and white 2.35:1 widescreen (also one of my top 5 favorite films of all time). After the 60's, he would develop different styles of cinematography and different symbolic expressions through his work, but he did return to his roots for "The Road to Perdition" (the only 2002 film I saw in the theater this year that I honestly loved) where that "In Cold Blood"/"Outer Limits" style is alive and well (Perdition's cinematography, I felt, was terrifyingly perfect). I can't really say enough about Hall, but I better leave it at this. It's a terrible pain when an artist whose work you love so much passes on. Dylan [Message edited by Dylan on 01-05-2003]
posted 01-05-2003 09:26 PM PT (US)

PeterK FishChip	Dylan, we're on the same page apparently. When I clicked "add topic" to add my Conrad Hall piece, yours wasn't here. Thanks for mentioning this; I knew you would take note.... Thankfully, we have something like In Cold Blood.
posted 01-05-2003 09:33 PM PT (US)

Dylan Standard Userer	No problem Peter. I know you were one who admired his work as well (we've brought him up a few times on the MM chats). Take care. Dylan
posted 01-05-2003 09:43 PM PT (US)

Lou Goldberg Standard Userer	I see we're all on the same page about IN COLD BLOOD. I caught some documentary recently that showed that clip of Robert Blake talking by the rainy window with the shadows from the rain streaking down his face. But there were all sorts of moments in IN COLD BLOOD where a stark light in some pitch black night scene defined the whole terror of the situation of these guys holding the family. I was thankful to see IN COLD BLOOD in 35mm scope on a big screen. I knew that Hall had been working on recent films but I wasn't aware he was so active or that the films were still major ones. Things like ROAD TO PERDITION are simply not my cup of tea and so I skip them and then only find out who worked on them after the fact as here. Since, in the end, we're going to lose everybody whose work we admire to some cause of death, perhaps it's best to think of this topic as "at least we had Conrad Hall for a while".
posted 01-05-2003 09:44 PM PT (US)

Dylan Standard Userer	Perdition isn't a film that is widely loved (I certainly loved it, though that's evident in my first post); it was a magicial experiance for me to see Hall's work projected on the big screen, especially since I had discovered him only months before, and especially since the film was brand new and it had a veteran artist working on it. I didn't think i'd be the last time I'd see a new Hall work though. Lou, have you seen Incubus, the B&W 1965 cult film with William Shatner, photographed by Hall (and made by the Outer Limits crew...and it was filmed in the Esperanto language, a strange experiment)? Worth checking out, especially for those who love Outer Limits. Around the same time, he photographed an independant film "The Wild Seed" (which I've been unable to locate, though boots are on eBay...I imagine I'll be obtaining a copy from there soon), which lead him to his job on the Brando film Morituri (which has been on the Fox Movie Channel recently). [Message edited by Dylan on 01-05-2003]
posted 01-05-2003 09:58 PM PT (US)

Crono/Kyp Standard Userer	I found out today in the beginning of my film class at school Is "In Cold Blood" on DVD? I need to rent it. Ironically, later this week we are going to watch a documentary called "Visions of Light." According to my teacher, Hall is one of the primary speakers. Hall was a brilliant photographer, he will be missed. --Brian [Message edited by Crono/Kyp on 01-06-2003]
posted 01-06-2003 06:22 PM PT (US)

Dylan Standard Userer	Hi Brian, You were one who I was thinking of (one on this board who knew of Hall's work). Wow, you're taking a film class? Way to go Bri. I still haven't found a copy of Visions of Light, but I know that it talks about all of my favorite cinematographers. "In Cold Blood" has not been released on DVD (and is not commercially available in widescreen, and it must be seen in 2.35), but a beautiful widescreen print shows up on Turner Movie Classics every once in a while (unfortunately, this channel is only in our living room, where there is no VCR recorder, so I don't have a copy myself). I'll drop you a line when it does show up in their schedule...last time was in the summer (when I first saw it), so another airing should be scheduled. But I do think it's time that Columbia Pictures bring this film out of their vaults and onto a DVD, letterboxed and with extra features. Does anybody know what Conrad Hall Jr. is up to now? I haven't heard of any new projects for him. He's awfully great as well, and has very much studied his dad's style. Dylan
posted 01-06-2003 07:19 PM PT (US)

Lou Goldberg Standard Userer	No I haven't seen Incubus but I saw a trailer for the VHS/DVD of it that showed me enough scenes to get a pretty good idea of what it's like. I didn't realize Hall had done it though even though the look of the images did strike me as interesting. I've seen Morituri but don't know the indie film you refer to. So many movies, so little time...
posted 01-06-2003 08:54 PM PT (US)

Dylan Standard Userer	Hi, I must say that the trailer to Incubus (made by the video company) is quite misleading. This film is no masterpiece (other than Hall's cinematography), but it's not an Ed Wood-like film either and other than maybe a couple parts that are laughable, it's consistantly good...and with great Dominic Frontiere music (though other than about 10 minutes of original score, the remainder is mostly tracked from the Outer Limits episode Nightmare). For a cult film, this gets 4/5 from me. The DVD has a commentary with Hall. Dylan
posted 01-06-2003 10:33 PM PT (US)

James Standard Userer	I finally get my Internet working again and I come to this unfortunate news. We have lost a truly gifted and brilliant artist of our time. I've still only seen a relatively small amount of Hall's work, but I still can't think of anyone who does it better. Does anybody know what the Academy's rules are on nominations and awards for the deceased? It would be great to give him one final bow, and at any rate his work on PERDITION deserves it on its own merits. Kirk
posted 01-07-2003 08:55 PM PT (US)

Dylan Standard Userer	Hi Kirk, Good to see you online again. Well, the 1976 ceremony which took place after Bernard Herrmann's death gave him nominations for Obsession and Taxi Driver. I hope Hall is nominated for an Oscar, and that they also do a 10 (or so) minute tribute to him. Dylan
posted 01-08-2003 05:38 PM PT (US)

Crono/Kyp Standard Userer	Dylan, Hall Jr's last work was Fincher's "Panic Room." --Brian
posted 01-08-2003 06:32 PM PT (US)

Dylan Standard Userer	Hi Brian, I knew that, and that was actually quite a while back. I was just wondering if anybody has heard of his future projects...since Panic Room, I haven't heard of anything up the road for him. Dylan
posted 01-08-2003 08:31 PM PT (US)

Philipp Standard Userer	Conrad Hall was a master of light. He was a true visionary, one of the last great dinos of photography. I shall miss him and his art. There was none like him. Thank you Sir, for sharing your profession with us. I shall never forget you In Rememberance: http://us.imdb.com/EGallery?source=ss&group=0257044&photo=CN-173-15A.jpg&path=pgallery&path_key=Hall,+Conrad+L. Philipp [Message edited by Philipp on 01-09-2003]
posted 01-09-2003 02:54 PM PT (US)

Lou Goldberg Standard Userer	The Academy felt the loss of Hall just as much as Dylan!
posted 03-24-2003 01:15 AM PT (US)

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