Hands-on Manual for Cinematographers

David Samuelson entered the British film industry in 1941 and has been a projectionist, a cutting room assistant, a film cameraman, a facilities company executive, a consultant on the technology of filmmaking, a computer program writer, and an author and lecturer. He is a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, a Fellow of the British Kinematograph, Sound and Television Society, a Fellow of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, a Member of the British Society of Cinematographers, and an Associate Member of the American Society of Cinematographers. In 2005, he was awarded an Oscar statuette for engineering and co-developing the Louma Camera Crane and remote system for motion picture production, which has served as the inspiration for many subsequent remote camera systems. He was awarded the Special Commendation Award of the SMPTE for 'Outstanding Contributions to Motion Picture Technology' in 1978, the Presidential Proclamation Award of the SMPTE for Continued support of the Industry on an International level and for his longstanding contributions as a writer and lecturer' in 1984, an Academy Scientific and Engineering Award of the AMPAS for the development of the Louma Camera Crane and remote control system for motion picture production in 1980, an Academy Technical Achievement Award for the 'Development of the Cinematographers' Computer Programs' in 1987, the Journal Award of the BKsTS in 1984 and the UNIATEC 'Prix de Literature Technique' in 1975. Original inventions and developments include the video viewfinder for film cameras, the electronic remote control pan and tilt head, the Samcine Depth of Field calculator, the Samcine Inclining Prism, the Mitchell BNC/Front Projection conversion, the dSam Cinematographers' Computer Calculator, and the dSam Depth of Field Test Chart. As a film cameraman he has filmed in more than 40 countries, shot four Olympic Games, and has lectured on various aspects of motion picture technology in more