Spielberg a cut of Young Sherlock Holmes. Johnson later suggested Daviau
to Levinson for Avalon.
"I had to meet with him and talk about multiple cameras . . . before he
would give me the script. Then, I took the script home and went, `Wow.'"
For certain flashback sequences, Davaiu worked out a stretch printing
technique. "You shoot in silent film speed, which was 16 frames a second,
and then you take it and print every other frame twice. That gives you
24 frames. That's how silent films are updated for showing at sound
speed. You've seen this many, many times, but you don't see it very often
in color. I did tests and showed them to Barry and he bought it immedi-
ately." Daviau earned a fourth Oscar nod for his work on the film.
He went on to work on the Albert Brooks picture Defending Your Life,
then reunited with Levinson for Bugsy, which brought Daviau yet
another Academy Award nomination.
Over the next decade he added Fearless, Congo, The Astronaut's Wife,
The Translater, Sweet, and Hearts in Atlantis to his résumé.
Professional Profile: Clark Mathis, ASC, Cinematographer
"My job is to collaborate with the director in developing a visual look
for the film and carrying it out," says Clark Mathis.
Filmmaking was not part of Clark Mathis's original career plan. "I was
sort of destined for a life of science," he says. Both his parents worked for
NASA and several relatives were in science and engineering. In prepara-
tion to enter the family business, Mathis studied science and mathematics
throughout high school.
His first inclinations toward filmmaking surfaced in his senior year,
when home video equipment became readily available. "I was enamored
with it instantly. My friends and I made the most superficial photo plays
and movies." Instead of writing a term paper about Captain John Smith
and colonial customs, he was allowed to make a video about the subject.
"By the time I finished shooting and editing it on the crudest interfaces,
I spent probably 10 to 20 times more hours doing it than if I'd just sat
down and written a paper. And I couldn't have been happier. I realized
for the first time I had found something that when I was doing it, I com-
pletely lost track of time." Although he loved the idea of filmmaking, he
still only considered it a hobby.
Mathis entered a magnet school program outside his high school, to
study science and physics. "One of the requirements of that program was
that I intern with someone in the general professional community." Most
students interned with a scientist; many went to NASA. "Having just had
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