VIDEO
Interview with Steven Douglas Smith
Running on the rooftops of Istanbul, Hope Cassidy, runs from
the Turkish police. Attempting to get away she jumps on a pile of clothes while the native
people of Turkey stare at the American woman running for her life. Deloach continues to
run and reaches a nearby street as she gets pummeled by a white van.
That was the beginning of the first scene of the 2006 film, “The Net 2.0”. Steven Douglas
Smith, 51, was the director of photography for the film. “
Out of all of my feature films I’ve been a part of, The Net 2.0 was the most agonizing,
but sweet at the same time,” said Smith.
S. Douglas Smith has been in the film industry for 20 years after getting his Master’s
of Fine Arts from the University of Southern California . With years of experience and
having worked with many influential cinematographers, producers, and directors. Smith
talks about what he feels he’s achieved in that span.
“Throughout my career as the director of photography on 30 plus feature films
and various television shows, he said, “I feel I have produced significant works, which combine
a visceral immediacy with a conceptual richness,” Smith elaborated on his most aspiring
work he’s done to date.
Not many get to sit down with a well-known cinematographer and talk Film. In
the calm streets of Brentwood, him and his lovely wife, Lisa Smith share a glamorous home
with their daughter and son. His wife runs an environmental program called, “Save A
Tree”. Steven associates his success to his beloved Lisa.
He talks about it, “ She’s like my caddy, whenever I need advice she let’s me
know exactly what I’m doing wrong,” he said.“ She’s my biggest critic, and I love
her for that.”
Smith is very open and as Director David Zucker puts it, “ He never lets his
ego get the best of him, he has an excellent eye for creativity and film.” Coincidentally,
Zucker is Steven’s neighbor, who produced “Naked Gun” and Scary Movie 3 &4.
His most memorable event he said, “ Meeting Steven Spielberg for the first on the set of
the show, “On The Lot” and him telling me how he wanted to work with me, that made my day”
he said.
On days where he doesn’t have anything going on he sits at the dinner table and talks to
acquaintances about funding a new project. A $10 million budget for a film, no big deal, right?
We would assume these people he’s talking are heavy hitters as well. Concerning his other work
he works also as an entrepreneur. He works with several small projects, you might have
downloaded some recently. He has Apps for mobile phones. “ I love to work, and on my day
when work isn’t work, I make my own apps and have people like you(Me) design and market
them.” Smith said.
When it comes to editing a video, Steven can be picky. He has a thing for concentrating
on the props or making sure small details aren’t left out. One of his favorite things to do as well
is cook. I myself have tasted his recipes. For a Hollywood cinematographer he sure can make a
frozen pizza taste good. For the most part, he is the cook, well at least for lunch when I’m at his
home working .
The 2000 animated film, “Dinosaur” was the highest budget film he has ever done.
$127,500,000 was the production budget. Which combined 1300 visual fx shots and hours an
hours with the post production crew making sure the feel of film wasn’t obscured, according to
Smith. One thing many people don’t know he said was that he filmed Tobey Maguire’s first
feature length film. Which was, “Joy Ride”. It was also his lowest budget film to date, which
also starred Amy Hathaway and Benicio Del Toro. Asked what was it like to make such a low
budget film with up and coming stars? “ It was a fun experience especially how motivated Tobey
was.
“As a boy scout in my younger years, I would never even ponder working in film, let
alone have my own name put next to James Cameron,” Smith talks about his role as a child and
how nobody really thought he could achieve “Eagle Scout”, in which he did. Also in reference to
James Cameron, he worked with him in the Documentary, “Exception Bismark”.
From the roads of Istanbul to the calm streets of Brentwood, CA. Smith continues to
create his methods on being creative and divergent while working with high end director and
producers. “I’ve enjoyed the collaboration of many talented people in the and on occasion, have
gone back to school as a guest lecturer to pass on the aesthetics of the cinematography to a new
generation of filmmakers.” Smith stated. As to any added statements, he says he plans on filming
in Beijing in the near future.
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