ASC to fete lenser Deschanel

Org awards its lifetime achievement kudo

By JENNIFER KONERMAN

Deschanel

Caleb Deschanel, the d.p. for such films as "The Passion of the Christ," "The Natural" and "The Right Stuff," will receive the American Society of Cinematographers' lifetime achievement kudo at the 24th annual ASC awards ceremony Feb. 27.

Deschanel follows in the footsteps of such previous honorees as Stanley Cortez, Conrad Hall and Vittorio Storraro, as well as two groundbreaking lensmen who acted as his mentors, Gordon Willis and Haskell Wexler.

After enrolling in the film studies program at USC in 1967, Deschanel earned a fellowship at AFI and shot educational films until collaborating with Carroll Ballard on his breakthrough feature, "The Black Stallion" (1979). He went on to direct two features: 1982's "The Escape Artist," produced by Francis Ford Coppola, and "Crusoe" (1988).

A five-time Oscar nominee, Deschanel has also received ASC noms for his feature work three times, having won for "The Patriot" (2000). Most recently he has worked on films "My Sister's Keeper" and "The Spiderwick Chronicles" and directed an episode of Fox's "Bones," which stars his daughter Emily. (His other daughter is actress Zooey Deschanel.)