Dean Cundey
Cundey in 2025
Born	Dean Raymond Cundey (1946-03-12)March 12, 1946 (age 79) Alhambra, California, U.S.
Years active	1971–present
Organisation	American Society of Cinematographers

Dean Raymond Cundey,A.S.C.^[1] (born March 12, 1946) is an Americancinematographer andfilm director.

He is known for his collaborations with directors likeJohn Carpenter andRobert Zemeckis, with an extensive work in thehorror genre, as well asfamily andcomedy films.

Cundey was nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Cinematography for his work onWho Framed Roger Rabbit, and has been nominated for numerousBAFTAs andBSC Awards.

He was born inAlhambra, California, United States. As a child, he used to build model sets, suggesting an interest in films from an early age.

Cundey already had several low-budget films when he metDebra Hill, who in 1978 recruited him to work onHalloween, a film she co-wrote with directorJohn Carpenter.

Having Cundey work on a film brought considerable advantages. In addition to his considerable skill as acinematographer anddirector of photography, he also had the advantage of owning most of his own equipment packed in a large van, referred to by Debra Hill as the "movie van".^[2]

Cundey's work onHalloween is cited by many fans as being among his best as director of photography. In addition to his lighting skills, particularly in the famous hallway scene where the hidden face ofMichael Myers is slowly revealed by way of a blue light next to the mask, he was among the first cinematographers to make use of a recent invention called thesteadicam, orpanaglide.

The panaglide allowed the camera operator to "wear" the camera and obtain shots that were previously deemed too difficult or even impossible. InHalloween, the panaglide was used as a point of view reference for Michael Myers, allowing the audience to see what he saw.^[3]

Cundey would go on to work with Carpenter and Hill again on the filmsThe Fog (1980),Escape from New York,Halloween II (both 1981),The Thing, andHalloween III: Season of the Witch (both 1982).^[4] He would also return to work with Carpenter for the last time on the 1986 big budget fantasy/comedy adventureBig Trouble in Little China.

He also was director of photography on the4D filmHoney, I Shrunk the Audience!, which ran in fiveWalt Disney theme parks around the world.

In addition to his work with Carpenter, Cundey would lend his talents to the filmsPsycho II (1983),Romancing the Stone (1984), theBack to the Future trilogy (1985–1990),Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988),Road House (1989),Jurassic Park (1993),Apollo 13 (1995),What Women Want (2000), andGarfield: The Movie (2004), among others. In 1997, he made his directorial debut with the direct-to-video sequelHoney, We Shrunk Ourselves.

He recently worked in Canada onCamp Rock, one of several movies that he has filmed outside the United States, includingWho Framed Roger Rabbit which was filmed primarily in England.

In 2011, Cundey shot the comedy filmJack and Jill, which involved extensivesplit-screen andmotion control effects to create the illusion of actorAdam Sandler interacting with multiple on-screen personas.

Director

• Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves (1997)

2nd unit director

• Deep Rising (1998)
• Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006)

Cameos

Academy Awards

American Society of Cinematographers

BAFTA Awards

British Society of Cinematographers

Chicago Film Critics Association

Society of Camera Operators

Daytime Emmy Awards

Primetime Emmy Awards

• Dean Cundey atIMDb

• 1946 births
• American cinematographers
• Living people
• People from Alhambra, California

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles with hCards