Greig Fraser
Greig Fraser is an Australian cinematographer.
He received the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for Dune and two other nominations for Lion and Dune: Part Two. He is also known for Zero Dark Thirty, Rogue One, The Batman, and The Creator.
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."
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.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": "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".
Filmography
Feature film
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 2005 | Jewboy | Tony Krawitz | |
| 2006 | The Caterpillar Wish | Sandra Sciberras | |
| 2006 | Out of the Blue | Robert Sarkies | |
| 2009 | Bright Star | Jane Campion | |
| 2009 | Last Ride | Glendyn Ivin | |
| 2009 | The Boys Are Back | Scott Hicks | |
| 2010 | Let Me In | Matt Reeves | |
| 2012 | Killing Them Softly | Andrew Dominik | |
| 2012 | Snow White and the Huntsman | Rupert Sanders | |
| 2012 | Zero Dark Thirty | Kathryn Bigelow | |
| 2014 | Foxcatcher | Bennett Miller | |
| 2014 | The Gambler | Rupert Wyatt | |
| 2016 | Lion | Garth Davis | |
| 2016 | Rogue One | Gareth Edwards | |
| 2018 | Mary Magdalene | Garth Davis | |
| 2018 | Vice | Adam McKay | |
| 2021 | Dune | Denis Villeneuve | |
| 2022 | The Batman | Matt Reeves | |
| 2023 | The Creator | Gareth Edwards | With Oren Soffer; Also credited as co-producer |
| 2024 | Dune: Part Two | Denis Villeneuve | |
| 2026 | Phil Lord Christopher Miller | Post-production | |
| 2028 | Sam Mendes | Filming | |
| 2028 | - | - | - |
| 2028 | - | - | - |
| 2028 | - | - | - |