The ACS have attracted more than 50 of Cinema`s leading image creators from around the world to this celebration.    The presenters include Academy, BAFTA and AFI award winning cinematographers, animators, computer artists, image creatives and technologists.       Click here to go to their website for more information.

Exhibiting at the show - Abakus, A.C. Lighting, ARRI GB, ARRI Media, ARRI Lighting, ASPEC, BSC, British Cinematographer Magazine, Camerimage, Cammotion, Chapman Leonard, Cine Power, CGGB, Cmotion, Cirro Lite, Cooke Optics, Daylight Grip & Textiles, DeSisti Lighting, Elstree Studios, Fujifilm UK, Hat Factory Post, GBCT, High Level TV, Ianiro, ICE Film, iLab, Kays, Kodak, Kontrol Freax, Lee Filters, Mark Roberts Motion Control, MK-V, Movie-intercom, Movietech, Moy EF, Panalux, Panavision, Panther Gmbh, P & S Technik, Photobubble Co, Pirate, Polecam, Production Gear, Prokit, Ronford-Baker, Rosco, Soho Images, Solid Grip Systems, Sonic Films, South London Filters, Take 2 Films, Tiffen Europe, Top Teks, True Lens Services, The Visual Effects Company.

He leaves behind a wealth of memories for everyone who ever met him and an enormous library of features he photographed.
His working years and extracts of his private life are honestly documented in his two autobiographies. Articles about him and lectures he gave endeared him to a student following and his `Lifetime Achievement Awards` reflected the respect of his peers. His wicked sense of humour was legendary as were his technical and aesthetic achievements and pioneering spirit.




Weeks before his death, copies of his Second Autobiography, Was Clara Schumann a Fag Hag?, arrived from the printers, to his great satisfaction.

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Roger Deakins ASC BSC	`The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford`
Seamus McGarvey BSC	`Atonement`
Rodrigo Prieto ASC	`Babel`
Peter Suschitzky BSC	`Eastern Promises`
Remi Adefarasin BSC	`Elizabeth, The Golden Age`
Dick Pope BSC	`The Illusionist`

Sadly they were pipped by `Transformers` Nigel was also the recipient at the BSC Operators Night in December of the `Charles Staffell Award` for outstanding achievement in Special Effects.

Seamus McGarvey BSC; is in the running for his stunning photography of `Atonement` and Roger garnered two Academy Award Nominations for `No Country for Old Men` and `The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford` The first double in the Cinematography category since Robert Surtees was nominated for `The Last Picture Show` (1971) and `Summer of `42` (1971); added to which this is Roger`s seventh nomination following his previous accolades for `The Man Who Wasn`t There`, `O Brother, Where Are Thou?`, `Fargo` `Kundun` and `Shawshank Redemption`.

Ken Higgins BSC, at the age of 88, died peacefully on 22nd January 2008 on the Isle of Wight with his children Peter and Pam by his side.   
Born 26.12.1919 Ken became one of the top cameramen at the BBC working with many prestigious directors such as Ken Russell on 'Elgar'.   This collaboration continued with 'French Dressing; one of Ken Russell's first feature films in 1963 and Ken Russell comments that Higgins' helpfulness and talent were instrumental in launching Russell's career as a director.

Ken won accolades during his career as a cinematographer including Oscar and BAFTA Nominations for 'George Girl' (1966) and another BAFTA nom for 'Darling' (1965)

On Tuesday 5th February 2007, we heard the news that Roy Moores, who had been unwell for some time,  had passed away.     Roy belonged to a very special breed of camera maintenance engineers who used to accompany camera crew on foreign locations.    His incredible knowledge of camera engineering was developed during his days in the camera department at Technicolor, he later took over the camera department at Merton Park Studios before starting his own rental company Coefficient. Subsequently, he moved his company across the road and added an engineering facility to the camera hire, thus becoming Moores and Grifffin. It was here he, Ted Worringham and Harry Griffin adapted and improved a mobile front projection system whilst maintaining a duplicate unit for a company in Toronto.   He also developed and manufactured several silent reflex cameras which is quite remarkable considering the limited facilities his workshop offered.

Joe Dunton, a near-legendary figure in the world of motion picture camera technology, will receive the 2008 Society of Camera Operators (SOC) Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by the society’s Board of Governors.  The presentation will be held on Saturday, February 16, 2008 at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in North Hollywood, Calif.
Previous winners of the award include John Huston, Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Sidney Poitier, Roger Corman and Haskell Wexler, ASC.
Dunton is executive vice president of Panavision Inc.  His UK company, The Joe Dunton Company, was acquired by Panavision in late 2007.
 “The election of Joe Dunton to the SOC’s pantheon of lifetime achievement is enormously well deserved,” said Bob Beitcher, Panavision president and CEO.  “In a career spanning 40 years, Joe has championed some of our industry’s key developments including anamorphic lenses and video assist, and has been associated with some of the most luminary craftsmen in our industry like the late Stanley Kubrick and the late Oswald Morris.  In addition, he has been committed to giving back to the industry through his work with the BSC and various student film programs.  We thank him for his service to our industry and congratulate him on his SOC award.”
The SOC presents the Lifetime Achievement Award to accomplished veterans of the cinematic arts with more than 20 years’ experience.  The SOC's Board of Governors chose Dunton for its 2008 Lifetime Achievement award as the industry veteran most worthy of this honor.
Dunton’s career started in the UK as a video engineer with Pye London Ltd. His first feature film work was on “Le Mans” with Steve McQueen.   He then converted a Mitchell camera for cinematographer Oswald Morris, BSC to use on the film “Oliver” which helped lay the foundation for today’s video assist. His fascination with anamorphic and video assist led to his starting Joe Dunton Cameras in the UK in 1976.
Some of his inventions include development of the first heated camera eyepiece; the Ladderpod; the first video assist for the Louma crane; the Moy Bazooka; the Mitchell Vitesse geared head; and an HD camera magazine that is interchangeable with a traditional film magazine.
Dunton worked on a variety of high-profile productions including “Poltergeist,” “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi,” and “The Mission.”  His alliance with Stanley Kubrick was legendary, starting with ”A Clockwork Orange” in 1971.  
Among many career awards, Dunton has received the M.B.E. (Member of the Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth for his services to the UK camera and film industry.  Two of his children are following in his footsteps: director Erica Dunton, and Lester Dunton, a well known camera technician.

Douggie notched up 80 feature credits in his long career as a cinematographer, 3 Oscar nominations for 'Travels with my Aunt', 'Julia' and 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and 3 BAFTA Cinematography Awards for 'The Servant', 'Great Gatsby' and 'Julia' along with eight other nominations and numerous other accolades.

A packed house enjoyed an enthralling evening 'It was fantastic to hear two people at the very top of their craft speak of their work, and the fact that they were so willing to share their knowledge and experiences so generously very much made the evening. The film was absolutely astounding, and really set itself apart as a wonderful example of the beauty of cinema.'
Pictured L to R: Peter Robertson, Associate BSC, Sue Gibson BSC Vice President & Seamus McGarvey BSC

Phil spoke via phone link from Mexico where he is currently filming to say how “thrilled” he was to be nominated and now “overwhelmed to be chosen from amongst such a glorious selection of films and D.P.s”, giving grateful thanks to his crew and the myriad of technicians and facility houses that had supported him during 120 days and nights of shooting. He was doubly pleased for a film from the BOND franchise to be recognised as they had given continuous work to UK technicians during the last 45 years.

Earlier in the proceedings Gavin Finney BSC, President, announced that the luncheon had been dedicated to the memory of two great, recently deceased, BSC cinematographers Freddie Francis BSC and Alex Thomson BSC and went on to bid welcome to their families, Pam and Gareth Francis and Diana and Chyna Thomson along with Society guests David Gritten from the Telegraph and critic James Cameron Wilson.

Billy Williams BSC welcomed and presented certificates to new BSC Friend Martin Hammond, and new Full BSC members Michael Fox BSC and Haris Zambarloukos BSC, witnessed by his parents Michael and Lena who had flown in from Cyprus especially for the occasion.

Billy was also delighted to have the opportunity to present personally a BSC Best Cinematography Nomination Certificate to José Luis Alcaine AEC for his cinematography of 'Volver'. Jose had travelled from Spain for the event.

Other nominees included Dion Beebe ASC, ACS for 'Memoirs of a Geisha', Emmanuel Lubezki ASC for 'Children of Men', Guillermo Navarro ASC AMC for 'El Laberinto de fauno' (Pan's Labryinth) and Wally Pfister ASC for 'The Prestige'.

José Luis Alcaine AEC 'Volver'
Dion Beebe, ASC, ACS 'Memoirs of a Geisha'
Emmanuel Lubezki ASC 'Children of Men'
Phil Mèheux BSC 'Casino Royale'
Guillermo Navarro, ASC, AMC 'Laberinto del fauno, El' (Pan's Labyrinth)
Wally Pfister ASC 'The Prestige'

The Award will be announced at presented on Sunday 15th July 2007 at the BSC Summer Luncheon at Pinewood Studios.

One of Britain’s great operators, he photographed his first major feature in 1965: Clive Donner’s HERE WE GO ROUND THE MULBERRY BUSH. He went on to shoot some 50 feature films including the Oscar nominated 'Excalibur', the BSC nominated 'Eureka', winning the BSC’s award for Ridley Scott’s 'Legend' and Kenneth Branagh's 'Hamlet' for which Alex also received the 1997 Camerimage Festival Jury award for films in the 65mm format. The film of which he was most proud photographically was Michael Cimino’s THE SICILIAN (1987).

He was a man of great wit and charm with his wonderful sense of humour and his highly amusing tales from the camera department, which appeared in the BSC Newsletter; a publication he also edited, gave us so much pleasure.

President of the BSC from 1980 to 1982, he worked tirelessly for the Society and was its longest serving Board Member constantly working to preserve the standards of the Society.

His publication of 'Out Standing Stills' lays testament to his enthusiasm for the camera department and will be followed by another book, "Take 1", a compilation of his hilarious stories from the set floor, which he had recently completed and which will be published in his memory posthumously.

Joe was very proud to be recognised and prophesied that Cine Gear would become the world platform for new equipment in these rapidly changing times.

Joe began his career in the motion picture industry more than 40 years ago as a Video Engineer with Pye London Ltd. Whilst out repairing a security camera at Samuelson Film Services, he was offered a position in the sound department on the feature film Le Mans, which following a delay, later starred Steve McQueen.

He then converted a Mitchell Camera for Ossie Morris for use on OLIVER which helped lay the foundation for video assist as we know it today. Joe worked for six months on 'OLIVER' on Video Assist and with 400 dancers and seven choreographers it really made an impact.

This experience fed his fascination with Anamorphic and Video Assist and in 1976 he started his own company, Joe Dunton Cameras (JDC) which now has operations in the United Kingdom and North Carolina.

During his years in the industry, Joe has received many awards, the highlight of which was receiving the M.B.E. (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1998 Queen's New Year's Honours List for his services to the camera and film industry.

Recipient of both the GBCT David Lenham Award and the BSC ARRI 'John Alcott' Memorial Award, Joe was presented in 1992 with the BSC Bert Easey Technical Award for the development of the J. D & C Anamorphic lens system.

A long serving Governor of the British Society of Cinematographers and current Vice President, he was solely responsible for initiating the BSC Equipment Show, which began in 1993 on a small stage at Shepperton. It has now expanded and become an annual event currently held on the George Lucas Stage at Elstree.

His passion for the British Film Industry encouraged him in 1997, assisted by the British Film Council and the DTI, to convey a wealth of British talent and service companies to attend the Showbiz show in Los Angeles, within an eye catching 'Joe Dunton designed' pavilion.

Another passion was to ensure that today's generation of film makers benefit from the vast experience of their predecessors. To this end he has persistently liaised with trade associations, training organisations and government departments and has headed the Cine Guilds of Great Britain for many years. This has culminated in the acquisition of funding to launch The CineMasters Academy, which will supply experienced film personnel to UK training organisations thereby ensuring that high standards are maintained and that the history and development of this great industry is never lost.

His passion for anamorphic is legendary. His association on hi profile production with Matthew Leonetti on Stephen Spielberg's 'Poltergeist' and Alan Hume BSC on Richard Marquand's 'Star Wars: Return of the Jedi' and with Oscar winning cinematographer Chris Menges BSC on 'The Mission' helped showcase his ardour for this format.

Following his long alliance with Stanley Kubrick, which started with 'Clockwork Orange' (1971) Joe has, since Stanley's death in 1999, been instrumental in illustrating Stanley's appreciation of the importance of the fine lenses which enhanced his motion pictures.

Despite this, Joe is forever keen to embrace new technology and was the founder of the BSC Technical Committee. Forever inventive and ever eager to experiment to achieve the directors and cinematographers vision, the late great Freddie Francis BSC thought that Joe, like an Oracle, should be 'locked in a room available for consultation at all times'.