Greig Fraser

Greig Fraser (born October 3, 1975) is an Australian cinematographer. He received the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for Dune and two other nominations for Lion (2016) and Dune: Part Two (2024). He is additionally known for his work on The Batman (2022), The Mandalorian (2020), Rogue One (2016), The Creator (2023) and Project Hail Mary (2026).

Early life and education Greig Fraser graduated from Luther College in Croydon Hills in 1993. He studied at the RMIT University in Melbourne. Despite forming an interest in photography at an early age, Fraser discovered that videography was perhaps a medium he felt more passion for as he started harnessing his skills along with his first feature documentary as Cinematographer, P.I.N.S., which released in 2000.

Career For his short film Cracker Bag he was nominated for Best Cinematography at the 2003 AFI Awards.

For his work on Lion, he won the American Society of Cinematographers Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases and AACTA Award for Best Cinematography and received Academy Award and BAFTA Award nominations.

Fraser shot Rogue One on the Arri Alexa 65 large format digital camera and Panavision lenses from the 1970s, making it the first feature film shot entirely with the Alexa 65. Fraser said of working with the Alexa 65, "The images are sharper and have more resolution, and those things are an advantage, but for me it is about the depth of the image -- there is a three-dimensionality to it. Often the beauty came from the texture; we found that the camera excelled when we were filming something with texture; it really enhanced the quality of picture."

Fraser returned to the Star Wars franchise with the 2019 television series The Mandalorian. In 2020, for his work on the series, Fraser won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (Half-Hour).

For his work on Dune he won his first Academy Award for Best Cinematography in 2022. Fraser said a feature of his work in that film was intentionally using simple compositions, "We tried to simplify the frames as much as we could. By doing that, we've been able to give the viewers that absorption of story and experience" and colour palette: "We tried quite hard to make sure that it all sat within a certain tone."

Style Starting on Dune, Fraser has utilized variations of the film-out process, whereby digitally-shot footage is first transferred to film, then re-scanned back into a digital format. Speaking to Filmmaker in 2021, he explained, "What I found with this [film-out] process is that it allowed me to have a clear vision of something that should look more organic than digital, but less organic than film."

Critical reception Film critic Glenn Kenny has praised Fraser's work in The Batman and Dune, saying they were a "sort of stunning magic trick". Writing for RogerEbert.com, Christy Lemire said of his cinematography in Dune: "There's both a gauziness and a heft to his imagery. His use of shadow and silhouette is masterful, and does so much to convey a sense of foreboding and tension." Fellow cinematographer and Academy Award winner Roger Deakins praised Fraser's work on The Batman as "extraordinary", and called Fraser's and the film's omission from being nominated in the category at the 95th Academy Awards due to the Academy's tendency to avoid superhero films "snobbery."

Critic Susan Wloszczyna praised his work on Lion, saying it was "visually poetic".

Personal life Fraser met costume designer Jodie Fried in Sydney in 2004, while they were working on a short film. After moving to the United States in 2008, they were married in a helicopter above Las Vegas. They live in Los Angeles with their three children.

Filmography

Feature film +Key Denotes films that have not yet been released

Short film Year Title Director Notes

Television Year Title Director Episodes Ref.2019The MandalorianDave FiloniDeborah Chow"Chapter 1: The Mandalorian""Chapter 3: The Sin""Chapter 7: The Reckoning" (With Baz Idoine);Also credited as co-producer on season 1

Awards and nominations

Other awards Year Award Category Title Result 2009 Chicago Film Critics Association Best Cinematography Bright Star 2012 New York Film Critics Circle Best CinematographerZero Dark Thirty Chicago Film Critics Association Best Cinematography National Society of Film Critics Best Cinematography Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Best Cinematography 2016 AACTA Awards Best Cinematography Lion 2021 Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Best CinematographyDune Houston Film Critics Society Awards Best Cinematography San Diego Film Critics Society Best Cinematography Satellite Awards Best Cinematography Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Best Cinematography Chicago Film Critics Association Best Cinematography Florida Film Critics Circle Best Cinematography Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Cinematography San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle Best Cinematography St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Best Cinematography Critics Choice Association Best Cinematography 2022 British Society of Cinematographers Best CinematographyThe Batman Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Best Cinematography St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Best Cinematography 2023 Seattle Film Critics Society Best Cinematography (Shared with Oren Soffer)The Creator