Fred Koenekamp

Among the lensmen working in Hollywood during the golden age of motion pictures, Fred Koenekamp is one DP who never rested on his laurels. In fact, it seems he never rested at all. He is a child of the industry whose father (Hans Koenekamp) was an effects cameraman at Mack Sennett Studios in the Charlie Chaplin days.

Koenekamp’s story began in 1946 after service in the Navy during WWII. He was able to ride the postwar boom of film and television work in Tinseltown and subsequently joined Local 659, laboring on the night shift as a film loader at RKO Pictures. Mentored by camera department head Bill Eglinton (of Citizen Kane fame), by 1954 Koenekamp made first assistant during five years at the famous studio.

Hired to do the Howard Hughes-produced Jane Russell vehicle Underwater (shot by cinematographer Harry Wild), Koenekamp parlayed his “wet skills” into a steady gig. Eventually, a lack of work at RKO necessitated a move to MGM, where he further perfected his water techniques while working on a couple of Esther Williams pictures.

Completing a year under DP Frank Phillips, Koenkamp ultimately became an operator on Gunsmoke, which put him one step closer towards becoming a shooter. Referred by Phillips to producer Gene Roddenberry (prior to Star Trek), Koenekamp was hired to lens a Marine Corps television drama, The Lieutenant. Although short-lived, the show proved to be a springboard for the young cameraman who was finally on the map as a DP.

Koenekamp’s initial lensing ran the gamut from classic 60s spy fare like Man from U.N.C.L.E., to westerns such as Heaven With a Gun, to Elvis flicks Stay Away, Joe, and Live a Little, Love a Little. Constantly adapting to the work at hand, he shot whatever came his way with equal panache, while honing his camera craft and refining his natural lighting style. By decade’s end, Koenekamp had earned the reputation of a can-do guy.

In 1970, ability met opportunity when director Franklin Schaffner teamed up with Koenekamp on Patton. The first of three great films that they would ultimately do together, Patton (which was shot in Spain in winter), earned him an Oscar nom for best cinematography. When asked about his photographic choices in the film, this retiree spoke passionately about the battle scenes in the snow. “I wanted to convey the feeling of cold and isolation,” Koenekamp said. With his palette of stark colors and close up views of frozen death, the film broke new cinematic ground.

With Patton’s success, Koenekamp took on a wide variety of assignments, ranging from Billy Jack to Skin Game and Uptown Saturday Night to Islands in the Stream. Shooting nearly three features a year, including The Towering Inferno, (for which he won a best cinematography Oscar), and Papillon (for which some would say he was robbed), Koenekamp lensed 28 pictures in a single decade.

After Inferno, Koenekamp’s choices over the next quarter century were no less challenging. Staying true to his spirit of filming stories, not styles, the DP lensed (among others) Stanley Kramer’s The Domino Principle, Franco Zeffirelli’s The Champ, Sam Arkoff’s The Amityville Horror and Steve McQueen’s final film, The Hunter. This divergent group of pictures shares one thing – the Koenekamp touch.

Before retiring in 1993, Koenekamp shot the John Miliuswritten and -directed Flight of the Intruder. Tasked with filming on an actual aircraft carrier (The Independence), the then 67-yearold DP saw the beginnings of digital effects added to his work. Asked if he was pleased with the film’s final look, he replied, “Absolutely. The miniature work is the best I’ve ever seen.”

At interview’s end, I asked the SOC award recipient his secret to a successful career. Standing slowly, as he answered my question, I realized by the pained expression on his handsome face, that he had paid his share of dues in the business. Laurels aside, he relayed the story of an on-set mishap that involved a moving truck and a camera smashed into his face. With the smile of a man who knows, he said, “Preparation is key. Read the script, take notes, get to know the director, and remember – there’s no school for learning like doing.”