Michael Chapman

Michael Chapman was an American cinematographer and director associated with the American New Wave, working on a number of its notable films across the 1970s and 1980s. Born in New York City and raised in Wellesley, Massachusetts, he began in commercials as an assistant cameraman before becoming a camera operator on The Godfather (1972) and Jaws (1975). He later photographed Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976) and Raging Bull (1980), receiving his first Academy Award nomination for Raging Bull's black-and-white cinematography. His other credits as cinematographer included Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Last Waltz, the Band documentary that employed nine cameras. He also directed features, most notably All the Right Moves (1983), and shot comedies like Ghostbusters II and Kindergarten Cop. A second Oscar nomination came for The Fugitive (1993). The American Society of Cinematographers gave him a lifetime achievement award in 2004, and Bridge to Terabithia was his final film. He died in 2020.