Joseph Caleb Deschanel, ASC (born September 21, 1944) is an American cinematographer and director of film and television. He has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography six times. He is a member of the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress, representing the American Society of Cinematographers. He has been married to actress Mary Jo Deschanel since 1972, with whom he has two daughters, actresses Emily Deschanel who plays Temperance Brennan in Bones and Zooey Deschanel who plays Margaret Whitesell.
Biography[]
Deschanel was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Ann Ward (née Orr) and Paul Jules Deschanel. His father was French, from Oullins, Rhône, and his mother was U.S.-born. Deschanel was raised in his mother's Quaker religion. He enrolled in Severn School for his high school years.
He attended Johns Hopkins University from 1962 to 1966, where he met Walter Murch, with whom he staged "happenings," including one in which Murch simply sat down and ate an apple for an audience. Murch graduated a year ahead of him and encouraged Deschanel to follow him to the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, where he graduated in 1968. During this time, Deschanel was a member of a band of film students called "The Dirty Dozen;" this group attracted attention from the Hollywood system. Following his graduation, he attended the American Film Institute (AFI) Conservatory and graduated in 1969 as a member of its first class.
Filmography[]
Director[]
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | The Escape Artist | |
| 1988 | Crusoe | |
| 1990-91 | Twin Peaks | Television series - 3 episodes |
| 1991 | Rhythm of My Heart | Music video |
| 2005 | Law & Order: Trial by Jury | Television series - 3 episodes |
| 2006 | Conviction | Television series - 2 episodes |
| 2007 | Bones | Television series The Glowing Bones in the Old Stone House |
Cinematographer[]
| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Being There | Hal Ashby |
| More American Graffiti | Bill L. Norton | |
| The Black Stallion | Carroll Ballard | |
| 1983 | The Right Stuff | Philip Kaufman |
| 1984 | The Natural | Barry Levinson |
| 1985 | The Slugger's Wife | Hal Ashby |
| 1994 | It Could Happen to You | Andrew Bergman |
| 1996 | Fly Away Home | Carroll Ballard |
| 1998 | Hope Floats | Forest Whitaker |
| 1999 | Anna and the King | Andy Tennant |
| Message in a Bottle | Luis Mandoki | |
| 2000 | The Patriot | Roland Emmerich |
| 2003 | The Hunted | William Friedkin |
| Timeline | Richard Donner | |
| 2004 | National Treasure | Jon Turteltaub |
| The Passion of the Christ | Mel Gibson | |
| 2006 | Ask the Dust | Robert Towne |
| 2008 | Killshot | John Madden |
| The Spiderwick Chronicles | Mark Waters | |
| 2009 | My Sister's Keeper | Nick Cassavetes |
| 2011 | Dream House | Jim Sheridan |
| Killer Joe | William Friedkin | |
| 2012 | Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter | Timur Bekmambetov |
| Jack Reacher | Christopher McQuarrie | |
| 2014 | Winter's Tale | Akiva Goldsman |
| 2016 | Rules Don't Apply | Warren Beatty |
| 2017 | Unforgettable"' | Denise Di Novi |
| 2018 | Never Look Away | Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck |
| 2019 | The Lion King | Jon Favreau |
Additional photography credits[]
| Year | Title | Director | Cinematographer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Angels Hard as They Come | Joe Viola | Stephen M. Katz | |
| THX 1138 | George Lucas | David Myers Albert Kihn |
Uncredited | |
| 1972 | The Godfather | Francis Ford Coppola | Gordon Willis | Newspaper sequence |
| 1974 | A Woman Under the Influence | John Cassavetes | Mitch Breit Al Ruban |
|
| 1979 | Apocalypse Now | Francis Ford Coppola | Vittorio Storaro | Insert photography |
| 1983 | The Black Stallion Returns | Robert Dalva | Carlo Di Palma | |
| 1997 | Titanic | James Cameron | Russell Carpenter | Halifax contemporary shoot |
| 2013 | Gangster Squad | Ruben Fleischer | Dion Beebe | |
| 2019 | Ad Astra | James Gray | Hoyte van Hoytema |