Bill Butler

Wilmer Cable Butler, ASC was born on April 7, 1921, in Cripple Creek, Colorado. He graduated from Mount Pleasant High School in 1940.

During World War II, Butler served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, working as a signal caller due to his background with high frequency electronics. However, he was discharged when an untreated hernia was discovered.

Early career Butler began his career as an engineer at a radio station in Gary, Indiana. He subsequently moved to Chicago, where he helped design and build the first television stations at the ABC affiliate and later at WGN-TV. When WGN went on the air, Butler operated a live video camera for commercials and for locally produced programs. who was introduced to him by Friedkin. as well as Capricorn One (1977),Stripes (1981), Biloxi Blues (1988), Child's Play (1988), Graffiti Bridge (1990), Flipper (1996), Anaconda (1997) and Deceiver (1997). Bill Paxton, the director of the former film, said, "I was excited when Bill Butler who was the cinematographer on such classic films as Jaws and The Conversation came aboard as my director of photography for Frailty. And I really picked his brain, always asking 'how did you do this shot?' and 'how did you figure that out?'" Bill Butler recounted his initial conversations with Paxton about the script: "I liked the direction he wanted to take, and he inspired me to share his vision. It was a great collaboration."

Butler is also notable for being a replacement to Haskell Wexler on two occasions: The Conversation (1974; also directed by Coppola) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). The latter earned him his first and only Academy Award nomination.

Butler was named KODAK Cinematographer in Residence at the University of Arizona (Department of Media Arts) in 2006.

Jaws Butler had heard that Spielberg was preparing to shoot Jaws (1975), mainly on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. "I said, 'I hear you're making a movie about a fish,'" Butler recalled. After they joked for a few minutes, Spielberg asked Butler if he was interested.

Butler's crew included Michael Chapman as camera operator. When they arrived on Martha's Vineyard, Butler showed Spielberg how he could brace a handheld Panaflex camera and take the roll out of the boat rocking on the waves with his knees instead of using a 400-lb gimbal. Spielberg embraced the idea. "About 90% of the shots on the boat were handheld," Butler says. "Michael was intrigued by the idea and was very good at it. We did things that we probably wouldn't have tried without the lightweight camera. Michael even climbed the mast and shot from the top straight down. We also put him in a small boat."

Butler also created a pontoon camera raft with a waterproof housing that achieved those trademark water level shots that gave a point of view from the shark fin. To stop water drops hitting the lens, Butler used the Panavision Spray Deflector that saw an optical glass spin at high speed to deflect the drops except for the 4th of July beach stampede where the water-lens interface adds to the panic.

Butler originally envisioned the look of Jaws to start in bright, summer sunshine and then become more ominous as the shark hunt goes on. The first half remains a riot of vibrant primary colors. In filming Amity, Butler was inspired by the work of painters such as Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth in their view of the United States untainted by urban life. On June 1, 2014, Butler returned to his hometown of Mount Pleasant for a reception honoring his career. and died in Los Angeles on April 5, 2023, aged 101 just two days shy of what would have been his 102nd birthday.

Filmography Film

Short films Year Title Director Notes 1968 A Space to Grow Robert O'Donnel Documentary short 2005 Berserker Josh Eckberg 2006 Zombie Prom Vince Marcello 2008 Looking Up Dresses Jared Ingram

Television Year Title Notes 1972–1973 Ghost Story 5 episodes 1975 McCoy Episode: "The Big Ripoff" 1991 Brooklyn Bridge12 episodes 1996 Dark Skies Episode: "The Awakening (Part 1)" 1999 G vs E Episode: "Orange Volvo"TV movies, miniseries, and specials

Awards and nominations