4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

Today the Shattered Lens celebrates what would have been the 91st birthday of the great cinematographer, Gordon Willis.  Willis was the master of using shadow and underexposed film to create some of the most haunting movie images of the 70s and 80s.  He was also one of the first cinematographers to take advantage of the so-called “magic hour,” that moment when the sun is setting and everything is bathed in a golden glow.  Today, everyone does that but Willis was the first.

Willis has often been cited as one of the most influential cinematographers of all time but, amazingly, Willis would receive only two Academy Award nominations (for Zelig and The Godfather Part III) and he would never win a competitive Oscar.  Remember that, the next time someone argues that the Oscars are the final arbitrator as far as cinematic quality is concerned.

(Actually, does anyone argue that anymore?)

In memory of Gordon Willis, here are….

6 Shots From 6 Gordon Willis Films

End of the Road (1970, dir by Aram Avakian, Cinematography by Gordon Willis)

The Godfather (1972, dir by Francis Ford Coppola, Cinematography by Gordon Willis)

The Parallax View (1974, dir by Alan J. Pakula, Cinematography by Gordon Willis)

The Godfather Part II (dir by Francis Ford Coppola, Cinematography by Gordon Willis)

All The President’s Men (1976, dir by Alan J. Pakula, Cinematography by Gordon Willis)

Manhattan (1979, dir by Woody Allen, Cinematography by Gordon Willis)