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Alexander Witt

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alexander Witt
Witt in 2016
Born (1952-04-10) April 10, 1952 (age 72)
Occupation(s)Film director and cinematographer

Alexander B. Witt (born 1952) is a Chilean-American filmmaker and cinematographer mostly known for his work as a camera operator and second unit director, including regular collaborations with director Ridley Scott.

Life and career

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From a 2004 interview on IGN, he says this about his history:

"I was born in Chile, the third generation of Germans there. And, we moved to Mexico, from Mexico in '73 I moved to Europe, where I started working in film. I started with Arriflex, the company that makes the cameras. I was there for a year and I did kind of a trainee type of year where I was in the sound department, in the lab, in the studio working with the actual productions and also assembling cameras. And then I moved to Europe, where I lived three years, and then, back in '76, I did my first movie as a camera assistant, which was 21 Hours at Munich. And then, I kept on going, I moved up to focus puller or first AC, and then operating and then DP-ing. And then I was DP-ing commercials and then I started directing commercials in the late 80's and beginning of [the] 90's. I was working with Jan de Bont and doing his second unit as a DP while he was a DP. He is the one that really gave me the break on Speed to start directing second unit."[1]

Witt works mostly as a second unit director and cinematographer and has worked on a plethora of films ranging from Gladiator to Cinderella. He is a frequent collaborator of director Ridley Scott, and served as the director of photography on his 2007 film Body of Lies. He made his directorial debut in 2004 with the video game adaptation Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Witt also served as the second unit director on the James Bond films Casino Royale (2006), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015) and No Time to Die (2020).

Filmography

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Second unit

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Year Title 2nd unit director 2nd unit DoP Director Notes
1985 The Jewel of the Nile No Yes Lewis Teague
1990 The Hunt for Red October No Yes John McTiernan
1992 Lethal Weapon 3 No Yes Richard Donner
Chaplin No Yes Richard Attenborough As Alex Witt
1994 Speed Yes No Jan De Bont
1995 Money Train Yes Yes Joseph Ruben New York unit
1996 Twister Yes Yes Jan De Bont
1997 Speed 2: Cruise Control Yes Yes
The Postman Yes No Kevin Costner
1998 The X-Files Yes Yes Rob Bowman Creature unit
1999 Forces of Nature Yes Yes Bronwen Hughes
Inspector Gadget Yes Yes David Kellogg Uncredited
2000 Gladiator Yes Yes Ridley Scott
Remember the Titans Yes Yes Boaz Yakin
2001 Hannibal Yes Yes Ridley Scott
Black Hawk Down Yes No
2002 The Bourne Identity Yes Yes Doug Liman
XXX Yes Yes Rob Cohen
2003 Daredevil Yes Yes Mark Steven Johnson
The Italian Job Yes No F. Gary Gray
Hollywood Homicide Yes Yes Ron Shelton Additional photography
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Yes Yes Gore Verbinski
2004 Hidalgo Yes No Joe Johnston
2005 Æon Flux Yes No Karyn Kusama
2006 She's the Man Yes No Andy Fickman
Casino Royale Yes Yes Martin Campbell
2007 American Gangster Yes Yes Ridley Scott
2008 Fool's Gold Yes No Andy Tennant
2009 The Taking of Pelham 123 Yes Yes Tony Scott
2010 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Yes Yes Mike Newell
Robin Hood Yes Yes Ridley Scott
The Town Yes Yes Ben Affleck
2011 Fast Five Yes Yes Justin Lin Train heist sequence
X-Men: First Class Yes Yes Matthew Vaughn
2012 Safe House Yes Yes Daniel Espinosa
Skyfall Yes Yes Sam Mendes
Code Name Oracle Yes No Max Bartoli
2014 Hercules Yes Yes Brett Ratner
2015 Cinderella Yes Yes Kenneth Branagh
Terminator Genisys Yes Yes Alan Taylor
Spectre Yes Yes Sam Mendes
2017 First They Killed My Father No Yes Angelina Jolie
2018 Avengers: Infinity War Yes Yes Anthony and Joe Russo
Bird Box Yes Yes Susanne Bier
2021 No Time to Die Yes Yes Cary Joji Fukunaga
Jungle Cruise Yes Yes Jaume Collet-Serra
2023 Fast X Yes Yes Louis Leterrier
Ferrari Yes Yes Michael Mann

Other work

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Director

Cinematographer

References

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  1. ^ Otto, Jeff (August 23, 2004). "Interview: Alexander Witt". IGN. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
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