Haris Savides

• Name — Harris Savides • Born — 28 September 1957 • Birthplace — New York City, New York, U.S. • Died — 9 October 2012 • Place of death — New York City, New York, U.S. • Occupation — Cinematographer • Years Active — 1980–2012 • Education — School of Visual Arts

Savides was born in New York City, to parents of Greek Cypriot origin, Eleni, a clerical worker, and Savas Savides, a short-order cook. He graduated with a degree in photography and film from the School of Visual Arts.

Savides started as a key grip in the documentary Fist of Fear, Touch of Death from the 1980. On TV, Savides served as a cinematographer on a short film entitled The Investigator (1994) directed by Matthew Tabak and a TV movie Lake Consequence (1993) directed by Rafael Eisenman. His first solo job as a cinematographer was on the thriller Heaven's Prisoners (1996). Savides was a frequent collaborator of Gus Van Sant, working in six of his films. After working in the opening title sequence of Seven, Savides worked two more times with David Fincher, in The Game and Zodiac, which the latter was shot mostly with digital cameras. Savides worked on a short film directed by Wong Kar Wai for BMW's "The Hire" film series, entitled The Follow. Savides also worked on Martin Scorsese's champagne commercial The Key to Reserva, an homage to Alfred Hitchcock. With director John Hillcoat, Savides worked in a series of Levi's commercials for their "To Work" advertising campaign. In 2010, Savides was attached to Stephen Daldry's Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, but dropped out after the diagnosis of his brain cancer was made. He was then replaced by Chris Menges Savides also worked on two films directed by Sofia Coppola, with The Bling Ring his final project before his death.

Savides was the cinematographer on a number of well-known music videos directed by Mark Romanek, including Michael Jackson's "Scream", Madonna's "Rain" and "Bedtime Story", Fiona Apple's "Criminal", and Nine Inch Nails' "Closer." He has also served as cinematographer on the music videos for The Rolling Stones' "Like A Rolling Stone", Chris Isaak's "Blue Spanish Sky", and R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts". Savides is the only person to date that has won three MTV Video Music Awards for Best Cinematography in a Music Video (for Madonna's "Rain", Fiona Apple's "Criminal" and R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts") and the only person to win two in a row (for "Rain" by Madonna and "Everybody Hurts" by R.E.M.)

Savides was known for the very delicate images that he created for The Yards and Birth. In both instances he underexposed the filmstock by several stops in order to break up the colors and give the blacks a purplish and brownish tint. This non-conventional approach leads to a look that resembles the paintings of Georges de La Tour and Caravaggio. For the visual style of Somewhere, Sofia Coppola discussed Bruce Weber's Hollywood portraits and Helmut Newton's of models at the Chateau Marmont, and Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975), the film by Chantal Akerman about the routine of a Belgian housewife, with Savides. Savides said, "The main thing was to tell the story really simply and let it play out in long beats and have the audience discover the moment." Coppola used the lenses that her father had filmed Rumble Fish (1983) with in an effort to give the film a more period look, although it is set in the present.

Savides lived in Manhattan with his wife Medine, and daughter Sophie. He died from brain cancer at age 55.

TV movies • Year — Title — Director • 1993 — Lake Consequence — Rafael Eisenman • 1994 — The Investigator — Matthew Tabak Feature film • Year — Title — Director • 1996 — Heaven's Prisoners — Phil Joanou • 1997 — The Game — David Fincher • 1998 — Illuminata — John Turturro • 2000 — The Yards — James Gray • Finding Forrester — Gus Van Sant • 2002 — Gerry • 2003 — Elephant • 2004 — Birth — Jonathan Glazer • 2005 — Last Days — Gus Van Sant • 2007 — Zodiac — David Fincher • Margot at the Wedding — Noah Baumbach • American Gangster — Ridley Scott • 2008 — Milk — Gus Van Sant • 2009 — Whatever Works — Woody Allen • 2010 — Greenberg — Noah Baumbach • Somewhere — Sofia Coppola • 2011 — Restless — Gus Van Sant • 2013 — The Bling Ring* — Sofia Coppola • Posthumous release (Shared credit with Christopher Blauvelt) Short film • Year — Title — Director — Notes • 2001 — The Follow — Wong Kar-wai — Segment of The Hire • 2007 — The Key to Reserva — Martin Scorsese Music video • Year — Title — Artist — Director • 1990 — "Something New" — Grand Daddy I.U. — Barry Michael Cooper • 1991 — "Blue Spanish Sky" — Chris Isaak — Bruce Weber • 1993 — "Everybody Hurts" — R.E.M. — Jake Scott • "Rain" — Madonna — Mark Romanek • 1994 — "Closer" — Nine Inch Nails • "Take a Bow" — Madonna — Michael Haussman • 1995 — "Violet" — Hole — Mark Seliger Fred Woodward • "Bedtime Story" — Madonna — Mark Romanek • "Human Nature" — Jean-Baptiste Mondino • "Scream" — Michael Jackson Janet Jackson — Mark Romanek • "Like a Rolling Stone" — The Rolling Stones — Michel Gondry • 1996 — "Little Trouble Girl" — Sonic Youth — Mark Romanek • "Twenty Foreplay" — Janet Jackson — Keir McFarlane • "Let It Flow" — Toni Braxton — Herb Ritts • 1997 — "Criminal" — Fiona Apple — Mark Romanek • 1998 — "Weird" — Hanson — Gus Van Sant • "If You Can't Say No" — Lenny Kravitz — Mark Romanek • 1999 — "I Try" — Macy Gray • 2001 — "From a Lover to a Friend" — Paul McCartney — Kate Miller • "I Might Be Wrong" — Radiohead — Sophie Muller • 2002 — "Die Another Day" — Madonna — Mats Lindberg Pontus Löwenhielm Ole Sanders • 2005 — "Speed of Sound" — Coldplay — Mark Romanek • "Someday (I Will Understand)" — Britney Spears — Michael Haussman • 2007 — "Desecration Smile" — Red Hot Chili Peppers — Gus Van Sant • 2011 — "Otis" — Jay-Z Kanye West — Spike Jonze