Age, Biography and Wiki

John Alcott is an English cinematographer and camera operator who has worked on some of the most iconic films of all time. He was born on 27 November 1930 in Isleworth, Middlesex, England, UK. He is best known for his work on Stanley Kubrick's films, including A Clockwork Orange (1971), Barry Lyndon (1975), and The Shining (1980). Alcott began his career as a camera assistant in the 1950s, working on films such as The Dam Busters (1955) and The Guns of Navarone (1961). He then moved up to camera operator, working on films such as The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968) and The Battle of Britain (1969). In 1971, Alcott began his long collaboration with Stanley Kubrick, working as the cinematographer on A Clockwork Orange. He went on to work with Kubrick on Barry Lyndon (1975) and The Shining (1980). Alcott won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography for Barry Lyndon. Alcott has also worked on films such as The Elephant Man (1980), The Bounty (1984), and The Name of the Rose (1986). He retired in the late 1990s. John Alcott's net worth is estimated to be around $2 million.

Popular As N/A
Occupation camera_department,cinematographer
Age 56 years old
Zodiac Sign Sagittarius
Born 27 November 1930
Birthday 27 November
Birthplace Isleworth, Middlesex, England, UK
Date of death 28 July, 1986
Died Place Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France
Nationality United Kingdom

We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 27 November. He is a member of famous Camera Department with the age 56 years old group.

John Alcott Height, Weight & Measurements

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Dating & Relationship status

He is currently single. He is not dating anyone. We don't have much information about He's past relationship and any previous engaged. According to our Database, He has no children.

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John Alcott Net Worth

His net worth has been growing significantly in 2022-2023. So, how much is John Alcott worth at the age of 56 years old? John Alcott’s income source is mostly from being a successful Camera Department. He is from United Kingdom. We have estimated John Alcott's net worth , money, salary, income, and assets.

Net Worth in 2023 $1 Million - $5 Million
Salary in 2023 Under Review
Net Worth in 2022 Pending
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Source of Income Camera Department

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Timeline

2001

By the mid-'60s Alcott was a member of the camera team of master cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth, working on Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). When Unsworth had to leave the project during its two-year-long shoot to meet other commitments, Alcott was elevated to lighting cameraman by Kubrick.

The idea of using candlelight solely for illumination was discussed by Alcott and Kubrick after the wrap of "2001" for Kubrick's planned film about the life of Napoleon, but there wasn't a fast-enough lens in existence then. After a search, Kubrick located three unique 50mm f/0. 7 still-camera camera lenses designed by the Zeiss Corporation for use by NASA in its Apollo moon-landing program in order to shoot still pictures in the low light levels of outer space. The lens was 2 f stops faster than the fastest movie camera lens made at the time. Kubrick tasked Cinema Products Corp. to adapt a standard 35mm non-reflexed Mitchell BNC movie camera so that the camera could accept the lens. The camera was outfitted with a side viewfinder from one of the old Technicolor three-strip cameras that used mirrors rather than prisms (like a modern camera) to show what it "sees", the mirrors providing a much brighter image than did a prism-based single-lens reflex system, which could not obtain enough light to register an image. There was no real problem with parallax, as the viewfinder was mounted close to the lens. Cinema Products also created two special lenses by mating a 70mm projection lens with the remaining 0. 7 Zeiss 50mm lenses. This battery of three lenses allowed Kubrick and Alcott to shoot the indoor scenes using nothing but candlelight. It was a formidable task, as the lenses could not be focused by eye. Metal shields also had to be installed above the sets, which were filmed in actual castles and manor houses in Ireland and England, to keep the heat and smoke from the candles from damaging the ceilings. Fortitously, the shields also reflected the candlelight back into the scene (this approach was later used successfully by lighting cameraman Alwin H.

2000

Küchler on the western The Claim (2000), which shot its saloon interiors in very low light). The candles had to be constantly replaced to keep continuity during the scenes, and shooting was hampered by the fact that many of the manor houses were open to the public and the crew had to wait until the intervals between tours to film a scene.

1987

Alcott could not shoot Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987), which commenced shooting in 1985 and -- like any Kubrick shoot -- would involved a substantial commitment of time, as Alcott was committed to other projects (Kubrick hired Douglas Milsome, who had been Alcott's focus puller on "Barry Lyndon" and "The Shining", to shoot "Jacket").

1986

Alcott suffered a massive heart attack and died on July 28, 1986, in Cannes, France. At the time of his death he was considered one of the film industry's great artist-technicians, someone who through his ability to push back the boundaries of what was technically possible, linked technology to aesthetic needs and contributed to the development of cinema as an art form.

1981

Alcott, who shot films and TV commercials for other directors in the UK, moved to the US in 1981 in order to obtain more steady work than was possible in the ailing British film industry. His non-Kubrick projects as a cinematographer included three films with director Stuart Cooper and two with Roger Spottiswoode.

His non-Kubrick oeuvre was eccentric, and included the Canadian slasher film My Bloody Valentine (1981), but he was able to bring his outstanding visual quality to such movies as Fort Apache the Bronx (1981), The Beastmaster (1982), Under Fire (1983) and Hugh Hudson's Greystoke (1984).

1980

It was the aesthetic opposite of the cubism evoked by "A Clockwork Orange",While shooting what would turn out to be his last film for Kubrick, The Shining (1980), Alcott lit the hotel sets with "practicals" (sources of lighting that are visible on screen as part of the set, such as lighting fixtures). As on "Barry Lyndon", Alcott supplemented the lighting with illumination coming into the set from outside the windows, though the "windows" on "The Shining" were part of a set. The high temperatures (110 degrees Fahrenheit) caused by the 700,000 watts of illumination outside the set's "windows" Alcott used to create the high white effect favored by Kubrick caused the set to burn down.

1976

Was a member of the British Society of Cinematographers (BSC) since 1976.

1975

Thus began a collaboration that would reach its zenith a decade later with Barry Lyndon (1975). His association with Kubrick propelled him to the top of his craft, in terms of both style and in pushing the technical aspects of the discipline. Alcott preferred lighting that appeared natural and did not draw attention to itself.

Alcott told "American Cinematographer" in a December 1975 interview that the ultra-fast lens had no depth of field at all. This necessitated the scaling of the lens by doing hand tests. Alcott's focus puller, Douglas Milsome (who would succeed him as Kubrick's cinematographer), used a closed-circuit video camera at a 90-degree angle to the film camera to keep track of the distances to maintain focus. A grid was placed over the TV screen and, by taping the various actors' positions in the set, the distances could be transferred to the TV grid to allow the actors a limited scope of movement during the scene, while keeping in focus. Alcott won an Academy Award for his work on "Barry Lyndon", which is considered one of the most visually beautiful movies ever made.

1971

His ideas meshed perfectly with those of Kubrick, and the two developed their ideas about "natural" lighting in two landmark films, A Clockwork Orange (1971) and "Barry Lyndon", which incorporated scenes shot entirely by candlelight.

1960

By the early 1960s he had worked his way up to focus puller, the #3 position on a camera crew after the lighting cameraman and camera operator. As a focus puller Alcott was responsible for measuring the distances between the camera and the subject being shot, which is critical during traveling shots, and more vitally, he was tasked with adjusting the lens when the camera is following a subject.

1950

(Three of Alcott's movies were ranked in the top 20 of "Best Shot" movies in the period after 1950-97 by the American Society of Cinematographers: "2001" at #3, "Barry Lyndon" at #16, and "A Clockwork Orange", for which he won the British Academy Award, at #19. ) Alcott realized Kubrick's vision by evoking the paintings of Corot, Gainsborough, and Watteau, creating gorgeous tableaux.

1931

John Alcott, the Oscar-winning cinematographer best known for his collaboration with director Stanley Kubrick, was born in 1931, in Isleworth, England, the son of movie executive Arthur Alcott, who would become the production controller at Gainsborough Studios during the 1940s. Alcott began his film career as a clapper boy, the lowest member of a camera crew.