Wally Pfister

Wally Pfister

Birth : 1961-07-08, Chicago, Illinois, USA

History

Wally Pfister was born on July 8, 1961 in Chicago, Illinois, USA as Walter Pfister. He is known for his work on The Dark Knight (2008), Inception (2010) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). He has been married to Anna Julien since 1992.

Profile

Wally Pfister

Movies

Lennon or McCartney
Self
550 artists were interviewed over ten years. At some point during those interviews, they were asked a question and told to answer with one word only. Some stuck to one, some said more, some answered quickly, some thought it through, and some didn't answer at all. That question… Lennon or McCartney?
Transcendence
Director
Two leading computer scientists work toward their goal of Technological Singularity, as a radical anti-technology organization fights to prevent them from creating a world where computers can transcend the abilities of the human brain.
Ending the Knight
Self
A comprehensive look into how Director Christopher Nolan and his production team made "The Dark Knight Rises" the epic conclusion to the Dark Knight legend. These cover stunts and action, production/vehicle design, various effects, photography and shooting IMAX, sets and locations, sound design and music, story/character areas, cast and performances, and some general thoughts about the series.
Side by Side
Self
Since the invention of cinema, the standard format for recording moving images has been film. Over the past two decades, a new form of digital filmmaking has emerged, creating a groundbreaking evolution in the medium. Keanu Reeves explores the development of cinema and the impact of digital filmmaking via in-depth interviews with Hollywood masters, such as James Cameron, David Fincher, David Lynch, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Steven Soderbergh, and many more.
The Dark Knight Rises
Camera Operator
Following the death of District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman assumes responsibility for Dent's crimes to protect the late attorney's reputation and is subsequently hunted by the Gotham City Police Department. Eight years later, Batman encounters the mysterious Selina Kyle and the villainous Bane, a new terrorist leader who overwhelms Gotham's finest. The Dark Knight resurfaces to protect a city that has branded him an enemy.
The Dark Knight Rises
Director of Photography
Following the death of District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman assumes responsibility for Dent's crimes to protect the late attorney's reputation and is subsequently hunted by the Gotham City Police Department. Eight years later, Batman encounters the mysterious Selina Kyle and the villainous Bane, a new terrorist leader who overwhelms Gotham's finest. The Dark Knight resurfaces to protect a city that has branded him an enemy.
Moneyball: Playing the Game
Self
Cast and crew discuss the film's authentic recreation of baseball scenes and the landscape of the 2002 baseball season, sets and filming locales, costuming, and more.
Moneyball
Director of Photography
The story of Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to put together a baseball team on a budget, by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players.
Inception
Director of Photography
Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious.
The Dark Knight
Director of Photography
Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as the Joker.
The Prestige
Director of Photography
A mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy -- full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences.
Slow Burn
Director of Photography
A district attorney (Ray Liotta) is involved in a 24-hour showdown with a gang leader (LL Cool J) and is, at the same time, being manipulated by an attractive assistant district attorney (Jolene Blalock) and a cryptic stranger.
Batman Begins
Director of Photography
Driven by tragedy, billionaire Bruce Wayne dedicates his life to uncovering and defeating the corruption that plagues his home, Gotham City. Unable to work within the system, he instead creates a new identity, a symbol of fear for the criminal underworld - The Batman.
The Italian Job
Director of Photography
Charlie Croker pulled off the crime of a lifetime. The one thing that he didn't plan on was being double-crossed. Along with a drop-dead gorgeous safecracker, Croker and his team take off to re-steal the loot and end up in a pulse-pounding, pedal-to-the-metal chase that careens up, down, above and below the streets of Los Angeles.
Laurel Canyon
Director of Photography
Laurel Canyon focuses on Sam and Alex, a pair of upper-middle class lovebirds from the East Coast who relocate to Los Angeles. Enter Jane, Sam's estranged mother, a successful record producer, who's more than willing to put the couple up in her lavish digs. As Sam and Alex settle in at Jane's, they gradually lose their straight-and-narrow approach to life and begin to experiment.
Insomnia
Director of Photography
Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen.
Rustin
Director of Photography
Rick Johnson directs and stars in this small town drama about a man who is forced to confront some uncomfortable issues when his past comes back to haunt him. Billy Stagen (Johnson) appears to have it all. A former pro football player, Billy has returne
Scotland, PA
Director of Photography
Joe McBeth is a hard-working but unambitious doofus who toils at a hamburger stand alongside his wife Pat, who is much smarter. Pat believes she could do better with the place than their boss Norm is doing, so she plans to usurp Norm, convincing Mac to rob the restaurant's safe and then murder Norm, using the robbery as a way of throwing the cops off their trail.
Sanctuary
Director of Photography
A famous photographer, Jo Ellen Hathaway, has been being stalked for quite some time. She returns to the island she grew up on in an effort to get away from the stalker and get some well-needed relaxation time. On the island, she meets up with old friends and boyfriends and works on relationships with her family. However, she can't shake the feeling that she's still being watched.
Memento
Director of Photography
Leonard Shelby is tracking down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The difficulty of locating his wife's killer, however, is compounded by the fact that he suffers from a rare, untreatable form of short-term memory loss. Although he can recall details of life before his accident, Leonard cannot remember what happened fifteen minutes ago, where he's going, or why.
Sharing the Secret
Director of Photography
A teenage girl, who feels she must always seem happy for her parents and friends, secretly binges and purges.
The Hi-Line
Director of Photography
A con man and a young woman travel across the country, first in search of a man he knows, and then in search of a woman she knows.
Instinct
Camera Operator
In a prison for the criminally insane, deranged anthropologist Ethan Powell is set to be examined by a bright young psychiatrist, Theo Caulder. Driven by ambition and a hunger for the truth, Caulder will eventually risk everything—even put his very life on the line—in a harrowing attempt to understand the bizarre actions of this madman.
Breakfast with Einstein
Director of Photography
The outrageously wisecracking Cheech Marin unleashes the laughs as the voice of a smart-alecky dog named Einstein who's out to find himself a new family... and a snack or two along the way! Einstein is a wisecracking dog with a huge appetite for outsmarting human beings!
Rhapsody in Bloom
Director of Photography
Artist Lilah Bloom's life is upended when her widowed brother decides to remarry a strong-willed business woman. Humor and self-awareness emerge as she ventures out to start a new life with a charming musician.
MouseHunt
Second Unit Director of Photography
Down-on-their luck brothers, Lars and Ernie Smuntz, aren't happy with the crumbling old mansion they inherit... until they discover the estate is worth millions. Before they can cash in, they have to rid the house of its single, stubborn occupant—a tiny and tenacious mouse.
MouseHunt
Camera Operator
Down-on-their luck brothers, Lars and Ernie Smuntz, aren't happy with the crumbling old mansion they inherit... until they discover the estate is worth millions. Before they can cash in, they have to rid the house of its single, stubborn occupant—a tiny and tenacious mouse.
A Kid in Aladdin's Palace
Director of Photography
Calvin, a young pizza delivery boy, is mistaken for the "Great Deliverer" by Aladdin, an eighth century genie imprisoned in a lamp. Thinking that the boy is his only hope for deliverance, the genie lures him back to the eigth century where he must join forces with Ali Baba in order to save Aladdin from the evil hands of Luxor.
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Additional Photography
As a swingin' fashion photographer by day and a groovy British superagent by night, Austin Powers is the '60s' most shagadelic spy, baby! But can he stop megalomaniac Dr. Evil after the bald villain freezes himself and unthaws in the '90s? With the help of sexy sidekick Vanessa Kensington, he just might.
Phenomenon
Camera Operator
An ordinary man sees a bright light descend from the sky, and discovers he now has super-intelligence and telekinesis.
Unstrung Heroes
Camera Operator
Steven Lidz, unhappy with his home life since his mother became sick, moves in with his two eccentric uncles. As Steven grows closer to his uncles, he learns how to cope with his emotions and to value his own uniqueness.
The Granny
Director of Photography
Granny's family wants her dead so they can collect her insurance. While she is on her death bed, she drinks an eternal life potion and returns to the land of the living. She is on a mission to wreak havoc over her greedy relatives.
While You Were Sleeping
Camera Operator
A transit worker pulls commuter Peter off railway tracks after he's mugged, but—while he's in a coma—his family mistakenly thinks she's Peter's fiancée, and she doesn't correct them. Things get more complicated when she falls for his brother, who's not quite sure that she's who she claims to be.
Stranger by Night
Director of Photography
Detective Bobby Corcoran and his partner, Detective Larson, are on the hunt for a vicious serial killer in this tense police thriller. As the murderous villain stalks the city streets leaving carnage in his wake, Corcoran begins to experience blackouts and sudden fits of anger. As the detectives pursue the case, they uncover evidence suggesting that one of them may be responsible for the mysterious deaths.
Secret Games 3
Director of Photography
A neglected housewife of a busy husband who is a doctor turns to prostitution to pass the time. One of her customers develops an obsession with her and begins stalking her.
Animal Instincts II
Director of Photography
An unhappy divorcée has the bad fortune to move next door to a security systems installer, a voyeur whose hobby is planting hidden video cameras in the bedrooms of all his clients. He then monitors the sex lives of his customers through an elaborate TV monitor system in his garage. Joanna Cole becomes his latest victim, but when she discovers the camera by accident, she reverts back to her exhibitionist ways and begins putting on sex shows for his pleasure. Things gets ugly when Jim professes his love for her but is rebuffed.
Object Of Obsession
Director of Photography
A divorced woman seeks new sexual adventures in this erotic tale. What she doesn't count on is that her new lover will take her as a hostage and hold her against her will.
Mirror Images II
Director of Photography
Shannon Whirry stars as Carrie and Terrie, a pair of twins who were separated in youth when their father murdered their mother and was in turn killed by his own bad twin daughter. Now the sweet-natured "good" sister has grown up to marry an abusive louse. Trapped in a sexless relationship, she seeks solace with a therapist (Kristine Kelly), but her problems are about to be compounded when her wicked sister arrives in town, intent on avenging herself on her double for past wrongs. Even the help of a private detective on her side may not be enough when her sister becomes allied with her own husband.
Amityville: A New Generation
Director of Photography
Photographer Keyes is given an old mirror from an homeless person he photographs on the street, takes it home and gives it a friend. He doesn't know yet that people see horrible things happen to themselves in the mirror and later these things come true. Are these really suicides or is there a demonic force behind the mirror?
Stepmonster
Director of Photography
Todd Dougherty has an imagination driven by comic books. So when he accuses his soon-to-be stepmother of being a monster, no one believes him. When neighbors start turning up dead, it becomes a race against time for Todd to stop this hideous, carnivorous creature from marrying his dad and ruining his life.
Meals on Wheels
Director of Photography
Made for Playboy's "Inside Out" TV show, the short follows an eccentric dweeb who, after noticing an attractive woman sucking on a popsicle, tries following her. However tragedy keeps befalling him at every turn, leading to many wacky situations as he pursues the lady.
Animal Instincts
Director of Photography
A cop and his sexually frustrated wife are struggling to keep their failing marriage intact, when by chance she finds that he is at heart a voyeuristic peeping tom. To satisfy him and herself, his wife has numerous affairs, which her husband watches on closed-circuit televison. However, the pair soon learn that when you play with fire, you'll always get burned.
Night Rhythms
Director of Photography
Nick, a late night DJ, has sex with a listener that he's invited to the station. The session goes out over the air until something goes wrong. Nick wakes up to find a dead body and himself framed. Nick spends the rest of the movie having sex whilst trying to prove his innocence.
Sketch Artist
Director of Photography
A sketch artist for the police helps a witness recall who she saw leaving the scene of a murder, and discovers that the person is his wife. Not willing to believe she was responsible, he resketches the pictures so they don't look like her, and he begins his own investigation of the murder.
Leather Jackets
Second Unit Director of Photography
Claudia, a girl who gets around, finally lands her dream man in Mickey. However, Mickey's friend Dobbs spoils their nuptial plans when the thugs of a Vietnamese gangster that he has robbed, come looking for him. In order to save Dobbs, Mickey and Claudia, hide him in the boot of their car as they take off to LA. Things don't go as smoothly as planned, and Mickey finds out more about his fiancée than he ever needs to know.
Inside Out 2
Cinematography
Softcore anthology film containing stories: "Mis-apprehended"; "I've Got A Crush On You"; "The Freak"; "There's This Travelling Salesman, See"; "Double Vision"; "Busty Gusty and her Twin 50's"; "Some Guys Have All The Luck"; "The Hitchhiker"; and "The Right Number".
Secret Games
Director of Photography
A bored and neglected housewife joins a local escort service and soon sinks deeper into trouble when she finds that she's not permitted to quit when the work gets tough.
In the Heat of Passion
Director of Photography
A struggling actor lands the part of a rapist in a TV reenactment for a "Crimebusters" segment. He soon meets a beautiful rich woman whom he begins an affair with, even though she is married. Her husband soon finds out and is accidently killed. The two lovers cover up the crime, but the actor begins to wonder if there's more going on than he knows.
Lower Level
Director of Photography
A young female architect is left stranded in an empty highrise while her secret "admirer" stalks her.
Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire
Director of Photography
Actress Sally Field looks at the dramatic life and successful career of the superb actress Barbara Stanwyck (1907-90), a Hollywood legend.
Inside Out
Cinematography
Softcore anthology film containing stories: "Brush Strokes"; "Shrink Rap"; "Doubletalk"; "The Leda"; "My Secret Moments"; "Life Is For The Taking"; "The Diaries"; "Love The One You're With"; and "My Better Half".
Inside Out
Director of Photography
Softcore anthology film containing stories: "Brush Strokes"; "Shrink Rap"; "Doubletalk"; "The Leda"; "My Secret Moments"; "Life Is For The Taking"; "The Diaries"; "Love The One You're With"; and "My Better Half".
The Unborn
Director of Photography
A couple who cannot have children joins an in-vitro fertilization program. While she is with child, she finds strange occurrences happening within her body. The horror surrounding the child comes to light when the parents find that their child has been part of a mad experiment.
Prayer of the Rollerboys
Additional Camera
Griffin, a rollerblader in the not so distant future of an economically wrecked Los Angeles, races against time to save both his younger brother and the city from the fate dealt out by the fascist rollerblading street gang, the Rollerboys.
Naked Obsession
Additional Photography
City-council member Franklin Carlyle is mugged, knocked down and left on an alley. When he recovers, he is befriended by an alcoholic who introduces him to a local strip-bar.
Slumber Party Massacre III
Second Unit Director of Photography
After a hard day of volleyball at the beach, a teen whose parents are away decides to have a slumber party with her girlfriends. Their boyfriends predictably show up to scare them, but a stranger from the beach is also seen lurking around the house. Soon the group begins experiencing an attrition problem.
Body Chemistry
Second Unit Director of Photography
A research project on sexual response leads two doctors into an affair and their deepest passions and darkest fantasies are revealed.
Streets
Additional Director of Photography
Tough drama looks at the plight of a young L.A. prostitute, who shoots heroin to get through the day, sells sex just to survive, and eats roadkill sometimes when there isn't anything else available. Into this futile existence is thrown a psycho killer, who gets off on raping and slaughtering the girls he catches on the streets. Sy is a straight kid from Sanata Barbara, who gets drawn into this scuzzy underworld and tries to rescue the young prostitute from the killer and her existence.
After Midnight
Grip
A college professor teaching a course called "The Psychology of Fear" brings his students (including a psychic) to his home, one dark and stormy night to tell scary stories. The first involves a young couple whose car breaks down by an old, abandoned house. The second has four trendy teenage girls getting lost in a bad part of town and chased by a pack of vicious dogs. Last, a woman on crutches confronting a stalker at the answering service where she works the night shift.