Joseph Caleb Deschanel, A.S.C. (born September 21, 1944) is an American cinematographer.

Early life

Deschanel was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to a French father and an American mother, who raised him in her Quaker religion. He went to Severn School for high school. He attended Johns Hopkins University from 1962 to 1966, where he met Walter Murch, with whom he staged happenings, including a memorable one where Murch simply sat down and ate an apple for an audience. Murch graduated a year ahead of him and encouraged Deschanel to follow him to the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, where he graduated in 1968. During this time, he was a member of a band of film students called The Dirty Dozen, a group that attracted the attention of the Hollywood system. Following his graduation, he attended the AFI Conservatory and graduated with an M.F.A degree in 1969.

Cinematography and direction

His cinematography credits include Fly Away Home, The Black Stallion, The Right Stuff, Hal Ashby's Being There, Timeline, and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. He also worked on John Cassavetes' A Woman Under the Influence.



He directed his first film The Escape Artist in 1982, and a second, Crusoe, in 1989. In 1990, Deschanel directed three episodes of the David Lynch series Twin Peaks. In 2007, he directed an episode of Bones, which stars his daughter Emily. He was the cinematographer in the 2009 film My Sister's Keeper.

He was an original member of the American Zoetrope production team, along with George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola.

Personal life

He is married to actress Mary Jo Weir and is the father of actresses Emily Deschanel and Zooey Deschanel.

Awards

He has been nominated for five Academy Awards, each time in the field of cinematography. The first nomination came in 1983 for the film The Right Stuff. His second was in 1984 for The Natural. A third came in 1996 for Fly Away Home, then a fourth in 2000 for The Patriot and finally a fifth for his work in The Passion of the Christ.

He also won the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) award for his work in The Patriot.

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