Robert McLachlan is a Canadian cinematographer. A successful cyclist in his youth, McLachlan quit the sport to take up cinematography, and entered the field after studying at Simon Fraser University, McLachlan was mentored by Richard Leiterman. His professional career began with documentary work for Greenpeace, before he became involved in both television and feature films; his work has subsequently earned him several industry awards and award nominations.
McLachlan, who was inspired by both his father's photography and his own appreciation for the films Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Walkabout to choose his career path, would go on to find recognition as the chief cinematographer for the television series Millennium, for which he was scouted specifically. McLachlan's style on this series led to several industry awards and briefly became popular in the medium, as well as leading him directly to future work on Game of Thrones. He founded the documentary production company Omni Film Productions in the 1970s, later selling his share of the company.
Early life and education
In his youth, McLachlan was an avid cyclist. During his teenage years, he trained upwards of six hours a day, and won several national championships in the sport. He qualified to represent Canada in the 1976 Summer Olympics, but the lack of funding for cycling in North America at the time would have necessitated him funding his own journey and leaving school to do so. McLachlan opted instead to remain in education and focus on his interest in photography.
McLachlan first became interested in cinematography after viewing the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; Nicolas Roeg's work on the 1971 film Walkabout further cemented his interest in the field. McLachlan was also motivated by his father, who was an avid photographer. An early school assignment to create a Super 8 film project, for which he received an A grade, also proved a formative influence.
McLachlan studied fine art at the University of British Columbia for a year, before changing courses to attend classes at Simon Fraser University's film department. His education focused on the documentary style of John Grierson; however, when he began work in 1987, he was mentored by Richard Leiterman. McLachlan also cites influences outside the field of cinematography, drawing influence from the chiaroscuro, Dutch art and pre-Raphaelite movements of visual art, and the works of Andrew Wyeth and Georges de La Tour in particular.
Career Having graduated, McLachlan and Michael Chechik founded the production company Omni Film Productions in 1979, and began to work with Greenpeace, filming documentary footage on a range of subjects. McLachlan narrowly avoided trouble on several of these shoots, finding himself arrested for filming too close to an Exxon oil tanker and scarcely missing being assaulted by trophy hunters in British Columbia. McLachlan would later sell his stake in Omni, but remains proud of their documentary work. At the time, McLachlan was unsuccessful in joining an industry union, relegating his work to advertising and small-scale productions; his first union-backed project was on the revival of the television series Sea Hunt.
McLachlan found success on the Fox television series Millennium, earning several awards for his work on the show. He was head-hunted for the series by its creator Chris Carter, who had seen his work on the series Strange Luck. McLachlan was initially offered a position shooting Carter's other active series, The X-Files, then in its third season, but was unable to start work in time. He developed a distinctive style for the series, shooting it with desaturated colours and lighting scenes as though they were to be filmed in black and white; he also made use of high-intensity strobe lighting usually employed for advertising and macro cinematography. McLachlan has noted that this style briefly became popular after the series' broadcast but that other cinematographers had difficulty adjusting to it.
Having worked on Millennium with director David Nutter, McLachlan was able to parley this connection into a role on the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones. McLachlan has called working on the show's ten-person cinematography team "a major logistical challenge", noting the complexity of its out-of-sequence filming schedules as something unseen on a television series before. McLachlan has also worked on the programme Ray Donovan, and has based that series' cinematography on both film noir aesthetics and those of 1970s cinema, specifically citing The Long Goodbye, The Parallax View and All the President's Men, as well as the work of Gordon Willis.
Filmography
Film Year Title Director 1986 Abducted Boon Collins1992 Impolite David Hauka Ellen's Story Robert A. Duncan 2000 Final DestinationJames Wong 2001 The One 2003 Willard Glen Morgan2005 Cursed Wes Craven King's Ransom Jeffrey W. Byrd2006 Final Destination 3 James Wong Black Christmas Glen Morgan 2009 Dragonball Evolution James Wong 2021 Nightbooks David Yarovesky
Television Year Title Director Notes 1988-1990 The Beachcombers 19 episodes 1989-1995 Neon Rider 1991-1994 Northwood 29 episodes1991 MacGyver Michael Preece Episodes "Trail of Tears" and "Hind-Sight" Max Glick Season 2 1992 The Odyssey 12 episodes 1993 Cobra Brad Turner Episode "Push It" 1993-1995 The Commish 45 episodes 1995 Strange Luck 16 episodes 1996-1999 Millennium 65 episodes 2001 The Lone Gunmen Rob Bowman Episode "Pilot" 2002 Pasadena Sanford BookstaverRoy H. Wagner Episodes "The Truth Hurts" and "A Lie Worth Fighting For"2003 Out of Order Henry BromellTim HunterRoger KumbleWayne Powers 4 episodes Tarzan David NutterDavid SolomonPerry Lang 4 episodes Tru Calling Phillip Noyce Episode "Pilot" 2007 Bionic Woman Tim MathesonSteve BoyumPaul Shapiro 3 episodes 2009 Harper's Island All 13 episodes2011 Human Target 24 episodes The Secret Circle 21 episodes 2013 King & Maxwell 8 episodes 2013-2017 Game of Thrones David NutterMichelle MacLarenMatt Shakman 8 episodes 2013-2019 Ray Donovan 54 episodes 2016 Westworld Neil MarshallJonny CampbellFrederick E. O. ToyeStephen Williams 4 episodes 2019 Batwoman Marcos Siega Episode "Pilot" 2020 Lovecraft Country 6 episodes2022 Shining Girls Michelle MacLarenElisabeth Moss 4 episodes American Gigolo 7 episodes 2023 1923 Guy Ferland Episodes "Ghost of Zebrina" and "One Ocean Closer to Destiny" 2024 Yellowstone Taylor Sheridan Episode "Life Is a Promise" 2024-2025 Landman Taylor SheridanMichael FriedmanStephen Kay 6 episodes
TV movies Year Title Director 1989 What's Wrong with Neil? Brad Turner1993 Adrift Christian Duguay Other Women's Children Anne Wheeler 1995 When the Vows Break Eric Till1996 Abduction of Innocence James A. Contner Murder at My Door Eric Till2000 A Vision of Murder: The Story of Donielle Donald Wrye The New Adventures of Spin and Marty: Suspect Behavior Rusty Cundieff High Noon Rod Hardy 2002 The New Beachcombers Brad Turner 2004 The Robinsons: Lost in Space John Woo 2005 Once Upon a Mattress Kathleen Marshall 2006 A Little Thing Called Murder Richard Benjamin2010 The Boy Who Cried Werewolf Eric Bross Betwixt Christian Duguay 2011 Heavenly Mimi Leder
Awards and nominations Canadian Society of Cinematographers Year Category Title Episode Result Ref. 1985Outstanding Documentary CinematographyVariousrowspan=12 1986 1987 1994 Outstanding TV Drama Cinematography The Commish 1996 Outstanding Feature Cinematography Impolite 1997Outstanding TV Drama CinematographyMillennium 1996 1999 2000 The Lone Gunmen High Noon Outstanding Feature Film Cinematography Final Destination 2004 Willard 2015TV series Cinematography Game of Thrones "Oathkeeper" Ray Donovan "The Captain"
American Society of Cinematographers Year Category Title Episode Result Ref. 1998Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in a Regular SeriesMillennium "The Thin White Line" 1999 "Skull and Bones" 2000 "Matryoshka" Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in a Movie of the Week, Miniseries or Pilot (Basic or Pay) High Noon
Primetime Emmy Awards Year Category Title Episode Result Ref. 2013Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera SeriesGame of Thrones "Mhysa" 2015 "The Dance of Dragons"
References
Bibliography
External links Official website