Dispatches from Dreamland: Remembering Savides

On 9 October 2012 we lost a shining figure in the production world when cinematographer Harris Savides passed away at the tender age of 55.

Savides was widely known for lensing features that included David Fincher’s The Game and Zodiac, Ridley Scott’s American Gangster and six films for Gus van Sant including Milk, Finding Forrester and Elephant.

Savides was also a large figure in the commercial and music video world, on the cusp of cutting-edge commercial filmmaking with Fallon’s breakthrough interactive campaign for BMW Films’ The Hire series back in 2001, where he worked with director Wong kar Wai to shape The Follow.

He also pushed the boundaries of filmmaking whenever he had the chance. For Jonathan Glazer’s powerful film Birth, Savides deliberately underexposed his film stock by several stops to break up the colours and give the blacks a purplish and brownish tint – a non-conventional approach that led to a hauntingly beautiful look resembling the chiaroscuro light in painting by Baroque artists such as Georges De La Tour and Caravaggio.

Savides was also the only cinematographer to have won three MTV Video Music Awards for Best Cinematography – also notably winning two in a row for Rain by Madonna and Everybody Hurts by R.E.M – the latter directed by RSA’s Jake Scott, who took time out with me to convey his thoughts on Savides:

“Harris saw the world in a way I had never imagined,” Scott explains. “It was like he opened a window onto another way of seeing for me. His love of life, humour and sensitivity seemed to permeate every frame of the film.”

“I remember his constant giggling and the little beads of perspiration that would twinkle on his pate when he got excited,” he continues, “a true alchemist and artist who had much to teach us. We shall never forget him.”

Anonymous Content’s Mark Romanek recalls teaming up with Savides a number of times on various music videos; work that included Michael Jackson’s Scream, Fiona Apple’s Criminal, Madonna’s Rain and Bedtime Story, and Nine Inch Nails’ Closer:

“A beautiful and incredibly amusing man, Harris taught me so much about the meaning of real beauty and the power of simplicity,” he tells me. “He expressed these essential notions in his life and in his work. I was blessed to know him. Today, I feel a great emptiness.”

Speck/Gordon of FURLINED also worked with Savides on a global Levi’s campaign through BBH, London: “before we worked with Harris, we were intimidated,” recall the duo, before adding:

“His body of work was epic, and every DP we seemed to work with had been birthed out of his crew. The stories about him were always of this boundary-breaking maverick – and then he showed up.  He was warm and funny, humble and inclusive and we realized that his brilliance was not just in his technical gifts, or his eye, but in his ability to make those around him better.  He made us better.  And we will be forever grateful for it…”