Oliver Wood (cinematographer)
# Oliver Wood (cinematographer)

Oliver Wood (21 February 1942 – 13 February 2023) was a British cinematographer, best known for his work on blockbuster action and comedy films such as Die Hard 2, Face/Off, Freaky Friday, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and the Bourne franchise. He collaborated with directors like Paul Greengrass, John Woo, Renny Harlin, Ron Underwood, and Adam McKay, and was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography for The Bourne Ultimatum.

## Biography

Wood was born in London on 21 February 1942. At the age of 19, he moved to New York City. His first break came for director Leonard Kastle on cult crime film The Honeymoon Killers (1969) where he used available light to give the dark comedy a newsreel look. He shot numerous B-movies and independent films throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, frequently collaborating with cinematographers Joseph Mangine and Fred Murphy. He also worked as a camera operator on higher-profile projects including Body Rock (1984) and To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), both of which were shot by Robby Müller. He also became a music video and commercial cinematographer, working for directors like Bob Giraldi and Rupert Wainwright.

His big break came when he was director of photography for 53 episodes of stylish crime drama Miami Vice, serving as the series primary DP between 1987 and 1989. His work on the series caught the attention of producers, enabling him to work on big-budget Hollywood films including Die Hard 2 (1990), Face/Off (1997), U-571 (2000) Fantastic Four (2005), and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013). He was the original director of photography on the swashbuckling action film Cutthroat Island, but suffered an on-set injury and was replaced by Peter Levy. He also shot the Bourne Trilogy, where he worked with director Paul Greengrass to produce a spontaneous, naturalistic effect, often using multiple cameras, frequently handheld, citing films such as The Battle of Algiers as an influence. He was nominated for a BAFTA for The Bourne Ultimatum (2007).

In 2016, Wood shot the remake of Ben-Hur, directed by Timur Bekmambetov, utilizing GoPro cameras to film the movie's action sequences. His last credit was for Morbius (2022).

## Death

Wood died from cancer at his home in Los Angeles, California on 13 February 2023 at the age of 80, eight days before his 81st birthday.

## Filmography

### Director of photography

Film

| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1967 | Popdown | Fred Marshall | |
| 1969 | The White Slave | Rene Daalder | Co-cinematographer with Jan De Bont |
| 1970 | The Honeymoon Killers | Leonard Kastle | |
| 1977 | Danny | Gene Feldman | |
| 1978 | Feedback | Bill Doukas | |
| 1980 | Don't Go in the House | Joseph Ellison | |
| 1982 | Maya | Ágúst Ágústsson | |
| 1982 | Q - The Winged Serpent | Larry Cohen | Co-cinematographer with Fred Murphy |
| 1983 | The Returning | Josh Bender | |
| 1983 | The Sex O'Clock News | Romano Vanderbes | |
| 1984 | In Our Words | Robert Richter Stanley Warnow | Documentary |
| 1984 | Alphabet City | Amos Poe | |
| 1986 | Joey | Joseph Ellison | |
| 1986 | Quiet Cool | Clay Borris | Co-cinematographer with Jacques Haitkin |
| 1986 | Neon Maniacs | Joseph Mangine | Co-cinematographer with Joseph Mangine |
| 1990 | Die Hard 2 | Renny Harlin | |
| 1990 | The Adventures of Ford Fairlane | Renny Harlin | |
| 1991 | Mystery Date | Jonathan Wacks | |
| 1991 | Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey | Peter Hewitt | |
| 1993 | For Love or Money | Barry Sonnenfeld | |
| 1993 | Rudy | David Anspaugh | |
| 1993 | Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit | Bill Duke | |
| 1994 | Terminal Velocity | Deran Sarafian | |
| 1995 | Mr. Holland's Opus | Stephen Herek | |
| 1996 | Celtic Pride | Tom DeCerchio | |
| 1996 | 2 Days in the Valley | John Herzfeld | |
| 1997 | Face/Off | John Woo | |
| 1997 | Switchback | Jeb Stuart | |
| 1998 | Mighty Joe Young | Ron Underwood | Co-cinematographer with Donald Peterman |
| 2000 | U-571 | Jonathan Mostow | |
| 2002 | The Adventures of Pluto Nash | Ron Underwood | |
| 2002 | I Spy | Betty Thomas | |
| 2002 | The Bourne Identity | Doug Liman | |
| 2003 | National Security | Dennis Dugan | |
| 2003 | Freaky Friday | Mark Waters | |
| 2004 | Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed | Raja Gosnell | |
| 2004 | The Bourne Supremacy | Paul Greengrass | |
| 2005 | Fantastic Four | Tim Story | |
| 2006 | Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby | Adam McKay | |
| 2007 | The Bourne Ultimatum | Paul Greengrass | Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography |
| 2008 | Step Brothers | Adam McKay | |
| 2009 | Surrogates | Jonathan Mostow | |
| 2010 | The Other Guys | Adam McKay | |
| 2012 | Safe House | Daniel Espinosa | |
| 2013 | 2 Guns | Baltasar Kormákur | |
| 2013 | Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues | Adam McKay | |
| 2015 | Child 44 | Daniel Espinosa | |
| 2016 | Grimsby | Louis Leterrier | |
| 2016 | Ben-Hur | Timur Bekmambetov | |
| 2016 | Jack Reacher: Never Go Back | Edward Zwick | |
| 2018 | The Equalizer 2 | Antoine Fuqua | |
| 2018 | Holmes & Watson | Etan Cohen | |
| 2022 | Morbius | Daniel Espinosa | |

Short films

| Year | Title | Director |
| - | - | - |
| 1979 | Mr. Gimme | Peter Mark Schifter |
| 1984 | My Hometown | Bob Giraldi |
| 1988 | One or the Other | Nicholas Hondrogen |

Television

| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1985 | City Boy | Bob Giraldi | TV movie |
| 1987 | Nasty Hero | Nick Barwood | TV movie |
| 1987–89 | Miami Vice | | 53 episodes |
| 1991 | Angel City | Renny Harlin | TV movie |
| 2020 | Cine Chalom | Yossi Benavraham | Episode "EXTRAIT DU FILM "VOLTE FACE" DE JOHN WOO... 1997" |

### Other credits

Camera operator

| Year | Title | Director | DoP. |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1984 | Body Rock | Marcelo Epstein | Robby Müller |
| 1985 | To Live and Die in L.A. | William Friedkin | Robby Müller |

Director of Photography: 2nd Unit

| Year | Title | Director | DoP. |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1985 | Seven Minutes in Heaven | Linda Ferferman | Steven Fierberg |
| 1985 | Rappin' | Joel Silberg | David Gurfinkel |
| 1986 | Hoosiers | David Anspaugh | Fred Murphy |

Additional photography

| Year | Title | Director | DoP. |
| - | - | - | - |
| 2007 | Breach | Billy Ray | Tak Fujimoto |
| 2010 | The Town | Ben Affleck | Robert Elswit |
| 2010 | Little Fockers | Paul Weitz | Remi Adefarasin |
| 2011 | Battle: Los Angeles | Jonathan Liebesman | Lukas Ettlin |
| 2012 | Wrath of the Titans | Jonathan Liebesman | Ben Davis |
