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{{Short description|English filmmaker (born 1939)}}
{{other people|Peter MacDonald}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Peter MacDonald
Line 6 ⟶ 9:
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth_date_and_age|1939|06|20|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[LondonWillesden]], [[England]]London, [[UK]]England
| death_date =
| death_place =
| othername =
| occupation = [[Film director]]<br>[[Cinematographer]]<br>[[Film producer]]
| yearsactive = 1957 -– present
| spouse =
| domesticpartner =
Line 18 ⟶ 21:
| awards =
}}
'''Peter MacDonald''' (born 20 June 1939<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PKQlCgAAQBAJ&q=peter+macdonald+director+born+1939&pg=PA85|title=In Conversation with Cinematographers|date=16 July 2015|isbn=9781442251106}}</ref>) is an English [[film director]], [[cinematographer]], and producer from [[London]], [[England]]. A prolific [[Second unit|second unit director]], MacDonald has worked on various Hollywood blockbusters including ''[[Guardians of the Galaxy (film)|Guardians of the Galaxy]], [[The Bourne Ultimatum (film)|The Bourne Ultimatum]], [[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)|Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban]]'', and ''[[The Empire Strikes Back]].''
 
==Career==
MacDonald currently works most frequently as a second unit director.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003423/filmoyear] Filmography by year for
Peter MacDonald at IMDb</ref> He has said about this role, "The most important thing about any second unit is that you can't tell the difference between the second unit and the first unit. It must have the stamp of the first unit, both in photography and the style of direction. That's why, when I do second unit, I always photograph ''and'' direct, so you try and copy what the first unit does as much as possible. You mustn't be on an ego trip and try and do your own style, because your material has to cut into theirs and it mustn't jar, it must fit in exactly so no-one can tell the difference."<ref name=starlog>''A Dark Night in Gotham City'', ''Starlog'' issue 142, May 1989, pp. 37-40.</ref> MacDonald has directed second unit on such films as ''[[X-Men Origins: Wolverine]]'', ''[[The Bourne Ultimatum (film)|The Bourne Ultimatum]]'', ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)|Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]'', ''[[Batman (1989 film)|Batman]]'' (1989), and ''[[Cry Freedom]]''.
 
Starting his career in the camera department, MacDonald subsequently spent 10 years as [[camera operator]] for renowned cinematographer [[Geoffrey Unsworth]], working on films including ''[[Superman (1978 film)|Superman]]'', ''[[The Return of the Pink Panther]]'', ''[[Murder on the Orient Express (1974 film)|Murder on the Orient Express]]'' and ''[[Cabaret (1972 film)|Cabaret]]''. After Unsworth's death in 1978, MacDonald increasingly worked as a second unit director, and as a cinematographer himself.
 
MacDonald's debut as director, ''[[Rambo III]]'', came about at extremely short notice. "I started it without ''any'' preparation," he explained in an interview, "because [[Russell Mulcahy]] [''Rambo III'''s original director] left after two weeks, so I came into it totally ill-prepared - I was directing the ''second unit'' on the film. Literally the day before I left America to start ''Rambo III'' I'd finished photographing a film, ''Shag'', in America; came to Israel, thinking I was going to do a second unit which I could slowly get into, and within a week or two I was directing one of the most expensive films ever made."<ref name=starlog /> MacDonald has since directed other productions including ''[[The NeverEnding Story III]]'', and the television mini-series ''[[The Monkey King (TV miniseries)|The Monkey King]]'' (also known as ''The Lost Empire''). In 2016, MacDonald was hired to direct reshoots during post-production on [[Rogue One|''Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.'']]
 
MacDonald currently works most frequently as a second unit director.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003423/filmoyear] Filmography by year for
Peter MacDonald at IMDb</ref> He has said about this role, "The most important thing about any second unit is that you can't tell the difference between the second unit and the first unit. It must have the stamp of the first unit, both in photography and the style of direction. That's why, when I do second unit, I always photograph ''and'' direct, so you try and copy what the first unit does as much as possible. You mustn't be on an ego trip and try and do your own style, because your material has to cut into theirs and it mustn't jar, it must fit in exactly so no-one can tell the difference."<ref name=starlog>''A Dark Night in Gotham City'', ''Starlog'' issue 142, May 1989, pp. 37-40.</ref> MacDonald has directed second unit on such films as ''[[X-Men Origins: Wolverine]]'', ''[[The Bourne Ultimatum (film)|The Bourne Ultimatum]]'', ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)|Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]'', ''[[Batman (1989 film)|Batman]]'' (1989), and ''[[Cry Freedom]]''.
 
==Selected filmography==
 
===As director===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
*''[[Rambo III]]'' ([[1988 in film|1988]])
|-
*''[[Mo' Money]]'' ([[1992 in film|1992]])
! Year
*''[[The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles]]'' (1993 episode "The Phantom Train of Doom")
! Film
*''[[The NeverEnding Story III]]'' ([[1994 in film|1994]])
! Notes
*''[[Legionnaire (film)|Legionnaire]]'' ([[1998 in film|1998]]) (director and producer)
|-
*''[[The Extreme Adventures of Super Dave]]'' ([[2000 in film|2000]])
| 1988
*''[[The Monkey King (TV miniseries)|The Lost Empire]]'' (2001)
| ''[[Rambo III]]''
|
|-
| 1992
| ''[[Mo' Money]]''
|
|-
| 1993
| ''[[The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles]]''
| Episode: "The Phantom Train of Doom"
|-
| 1994
|''[[The NeverEnding Story III|The NeverEnding Story III: Return to Fantasia]]''
|
|-
| 1996
| ''[[Tales from the Crypt (TV series)|Tales from the Crypt]]''
| Episode "Escape"
|-
| 1998
| ''[[Legionnaire (film)|Legionnaire]]''
|
|-
| 2000
| ''[[The Extreme Adventures of Super Dave]]''
|
|-
| 2001
|''[[The Monkey King (TV miniseries)|The Lost Empire]]''
| TV Miniseries
|-
|}
 
===As producer===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
*''[[Graffiti Bridge (film)|Graffiti Bridge]]'' ([[1990 in film|1990]]) (executive producer)
|-
! Year
! Film
! Notes
|-
| 1989
| ''[[Tango & Cash]]''
| rowspan="3" |Executive producer
|-
| 1990
| ''[[Graffiti Bridge (film)|Graffiti Bridge]]''
|-
| 1996
| ''[[The Quest (1996 film)|The Quest]]''
|-
| 1998
| ''[[Legionnaire (film)|Legionnaire]]''
| Producer
|-
| 2005
| ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)|Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]''
| Co-producer
|-
|}
 
===As camera operator===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
*''[[Cabaret (1972 film)|Cabaret]]'' ([[1972 in film|1972]])
|-
*''[[Murder on the Orient Express (1974 film)|Murder on the Orient Express]]'' ([[1974 in film|1974]])
! Year
*''[[Zardoz]]'' ([[1974 in film|1974]])
! Film
*''[[The Return of the Pink Panther]]'' ([[1975 in film|1975]])
|-
*''[[Superman (1978 film)|Superman: The Movie]]'' ([[1978 in film|1978]])
| 1972
*''[[Superman II]]'' ([[1980 in film|1980]])
*| ''[[LegendCabaret (19851972 film)|LegendCabaret]]'' ([[1985 in film|1985]])
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1974
| ''[[Murder on the Orient Express (1974 film)|Murder on the Orient Express]]''
|-
| ''[[Zardoz]]''
|-
| 1975
| ''[[The Return of the Pink Panther]]''
|-
| 1978
| ''[[Superman (1978 film)|Superman The Movie]]''
|-
| 1980
| ''[[Superman II]]''
|-
| 1983
| ''[[Yentl (film)|Yentl]]''
|-
| 1985
| ''[[Legend (1985 film)|Legend]]''
|-
|}
 
===As cinematographer===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
*''[[Solarbabies]]'' ([[1986 in film|1986]])
|-
*''[[Hamburger Hill]]'' ([[1987 in film|1987]])
! Year
*''[[Shag (1989 film)|Shag]]'' ([[1989 in film|1989]])
! Film
|-
| 1986
| ''[[Solarbabies]]''
|-
| 1987
| ''[[Hamburger Hill]]''
|-
| 1989
| ''[[Shag (1989 film)|Shag]]''
|-
|}
 
===As second unit director===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
*''[[Zulu Dawn]]'' ([[1979 in film|1979]])
|-
*''[[The Empire Strikes Back]]'' ([[1980 in film|1980]]) (location second unit director)
! Year
*''[[Dragonslayer (1981 film)|Dragonslayer]]'' ([[1981 in film|1981]])
! Film
*''[[Excalibur (film)|Excalibur]]'' ([[1981 in film|1981]]) (second unit director/photographer)
! Director
*''[[Rambo: First Blood Part II]]'' ([[1985 in film|1985]]) (helicopter unit director/photographer)
|-
*''[[Batman (1989 film)]]'' (second unit director/photographer)
| 1979
*''[[Tango & Cash]]'' ([[1989 in film|1989]]) (executive producer and second unit director)
|''[[Zulu Dawn]]''
*''[[The Quest (film)|The Quest]]'' ([[1996 in film|1996]]) (executive producer and second unit director)
| [[Douglas Hickox]]
*''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)|Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]]'' ([[2002 in film|2002]])
|-
*''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)|Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban]]'' ([[2004 in film|2004]])
| rowspan="2"| 1981
*''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)|Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]'' ([[2005 in film|2005]]) (co-producer and second unit director)
*| ''[[EragonDragonslayer (1981 film)|EragonDragonslayer]]'' ([[2006 in film|2006]])
| [[Matthew Robbins (screenwriter)|Matthew Robbins]]
*''[[The Golden Compass (film)|The Golden Compass]]'' ([[2007 in film|2007]])
|-
*''[[X-Men Origins: Wolverine]]'' ([[2009 in film|2009]])
| ''[[Excalibur (film)|Excalibur]]''
| [[John Boorman]]
|-
| 1985
| ''[[Rambo: First Blood Part II]]''
| [[George P. Cosmatos]]
|-
| 1986
| ''[[Labyrinth (1986 film)|Labyrinth]]''
| [[Jim Henson]]
|-
| 1987
| ''[[Cry Freedom]]''
| [[Richard Attenborough]]
|-
| rowspan="2" |1989
| ''[[Batman (1989 film)|Batman]]''
| [[Tim Burton]]
|-
| ''[[Tango & Cash]]''
| [[Andrei Konchalovsky]]
|-
| 1992
| ''[[Radio Flyer (film)|Radio Flyer]]''
| [[Richard Donner]]
|-
| 1996
| ''[[The Quest (1996 film)|The Quest]]''
| [[Jean-Claude Van Damme]]
|-
| 1997
| ''[[Batman and Robin (1997 film)|Batman and Robin]]''
| [[Joel Schumacher]]
|-
| 2002
| ''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)|Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]]''
| [[Chris Columbus (filmmaker)|Chris Columbus]]
|-
| 2004
| ''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)|Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban]]''
| [[Alfonso Cuarón]]
|-
| 2005
| ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)|Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]''
| [[Mike Newell (director)|Mike Newell]]
|-
| 2006
| ''[[Eragon (film)|Eragon]]''
| [[Stefen Fangmeier]]
|-
| rowspan="2" |2007
| ''[[The Golden Compass (film)|The Golden Compass]]''
| [[Chris Weitz]]
|-
| ''[[The Bourne Ultimatum (film)|The Bourne Ultimatum]]''
| [[Paul Greengrass]]
|-
| 2009
| ''[[X-Men Origins: Wolverine]]''
| [[Gavin Hood]]
|-
| 2010
| ''[[Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief]]''
| Chris Columbus
|-
| 2013
| ''[[Jack the Giant Slayer]]''
| [[Bryan Singer]]
|-
| 2014
| ''[[Guardians of the Galaxy (film)|Guardians of the Galaxy]]''
| [[James Gunn]]
|-
|}
 
===As second unit photographer===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Year
! Film
|-
| 1979
|''[[Zulu Dawn]]''
|-
| 1981
| ''[[Excalibur (film)|Excalibur]]''
|-
| 1985
| ''[[Rambo: First Blood Part II]]''
|-
| 1986
| ''[[Labyrinth (1986 film)|Labyrinth]]''
|-
| 1987
| ''[[Cry Freedom]]''
|-
| 1989
| ''[[Batman (1989 film)|Batman]]''
|-
|}
 
== References ==
Line 83 ⟶ 276:
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Peter}}
[[Category:British1939 film directorsbirths]]
[[Category:British cinematographers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:British cinematographers]]
[[Category:Film directors from London]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Action film directors]]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_MacDonald_(director)"