{{Short description|Scottish cinematographer (b. 1952)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}} {{Use British English|date=January 2018}} {{Infobox person | image = | image_size = | name = Michael Coulter | other_names = Mike Coulter | birth_name = Michael Daley Coulter | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1952|08|29|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Glasgow]], Scotland, UK | death_date = | death_place = | years_active = 1972–present | spouse = | children = | relatives = [[Charles Gormley]] (brother-in-law) | website = {{URL|http://www.michael-coulter.com/}} }}
'''Michael Daley Coulter''' (born 29 August 1952<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=MICHAEL COULTER |url=https://www.cinematographers.nl/PaginasDoPh/coulter.htm |access-date=29 April 2020 |website=www.cinematographers.nl |archive-date=24 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200124175800/http://www.cinematographers.nl/PaginasDoPh/coulter.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>) is a Scottish [[cinematographer]].
He was nominated for an [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Academy Award]] and a [[BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography|BAFTA Award]] for his work on ''[[Sense and Sensibility (1995 film)|Sense and Sensibility]]''.<ref name="Oscars1996">{{Cite web |title=The 68th Academy Awards (1996) Nominees and Winners |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1996 |accessdate=25 March 2014 |work=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |publisher=AMPAS |archive-date=9 November 2014 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20141109195142/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1996 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Coulter is also member of the [[British Society of Cinematographers]], and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
== Early life == Coulter was born in [[Glasgow]] in 1952. He was introduced to the local film business by his director brother-in-law, the [[Charles Gormley]].<ref name=":0" />
He started as a gopher for local production companies making [[Sponsored film|industrial films]], before moving on to load the black and white film stock into camera magazines at football matches. He went freelance in 1975.
== Career == Coulter became acquainted with writer/director [[Bill Forsyth]], shooting in his 1972 documentary short ''Islands of the West''. He subsequently filmed Forsyth's first feature, ''[[That Sinking Feeling]]'' (1979). Coulter operated for [[Chris Menges]] on Forsyth's next pictures, ''[[Local Hero (film)|Local Hero]]'' (1983) and ''[[Comfort and Joy (1984 film)|Comfort and Joy]]'' (1984), which Coulter describes as "unmissable opportunities to work with a man I admired tremendously".
During the early 1980s he also worked on many documentaries. "Documentaries made you resourceful, inventive. You had to make things work somehow. Also the life-experience of 'travel broadening the mind' was important for me". He enjoyed a brief stint in France during the early 1980s, as an assistant to cinematographer [[Pierre-William Glenn]], but it was back in the UK that he passed a watershed.
He was just about to start work as the camera operator on ''[[No Surrender (1985 film)|No Surrender]]'' (1985), when the original director of photography had to pull out.
He has shot numerous commercials directed by [[Charles Sturridge]], [[Tom Hooper]], [[Mark Mylod]], [[David Ellison|David Jellison]] (for Kleenex), Gerard de Thame (for Nissan, Rolex, and KIA), among others.
Coulter is represented by [http://www.mckinneymacartney.com/directors-of-photography/michael-coulter-bsc/ McKinney Macartney Management] in the UK and [https://gersh.com/production/clients/michael-coulter-bsc/ Gersh] in the US.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael Coulter BSC - Cinematographer |url=http://michael-coulter.com/contact.html |access-date=2020-04-29 |website=michael-coulter.com}}</ref>
==Filmography== === Film === <!--- '''Short film''' {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Director ! Notes |- | 1972 | ''Islands of the West'' | [[Bill Forsyth]] | With David Lewis |- | 1989 | ''Geh Kinde Geh'' | Crispin Reece | |- | 2017 | ''The Escape'' | [[Paul Franklin (visual effects supervisor)|Paul Franklin]] | |}
'''Documentary film''' {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Director ! Notes |- | 1978 | ''The Odd Man'' | [[Charles Gormley]] | With Edward McConnell and Jan Pester |- | 1983 | ''The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright'' | [[Murray Grigor]] | With [[David Peat]] |} ---> '''Feature film''' {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Director |- | 1979 | ''[[That Sinking Feeling]]'' |rowspan=2|[[Bill Forsyth]] |- | 1981 | ''[[Gregory's Girl]]'' |- |rowspan=2|1985 | ''[[No Surrender (1985 film)|No Surrender]]'' | Peter Smith |- | ''[[The Good Father]]'' | [[Mike Newell (director)|Mike Newell]] |- | 1986 | ''[[Heavenly Pursuits]]'' | [[Charles Gormley]] |- | 1987 | ''[[Housekeeping (film)|Housekeeping]]'' | Bill Forsyth |- | 1988 | ''[[The Dressmaker (1988 film)|The Dressmaker]]'' | [[Jim O'Brien (director)|Jim O'Brien]] |- |rowspan=3|1989 | ''[[Breaking In (1989 film)|Breaking In]]'' | Bill Forsyth |- | ''Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale'' | Ann Guedes<br>[[Eduardo Guedes]] |- | ''[[Diamond Skulls]]'' | [[Nick Broomfield]] |- | 1991 | ''[[Where Angels Fear to Tread (film)|Where Angels Fear to Tread]]'' | [[Charles Sturridge]] |- |rowspan=2|1992 | ''[[Monster in a Box]]'' | Nick Broomfield |- | ''[[The Long Day Closes (film)|The Long Day Closes]]'' | [[Terence Davies]] |- |rowspan=2|1994 | ''[[Four Weddings and a Funeral]]'' | Mike Newell |- | ''[[Being Human (1994 film)|Being Human]]'' | Bill Forsyth |- |rowspan=2|1995 | ''[[The Neon Bible (film)|The Neon Bible]]'' | Terence Davies |- | ''[[Sense and Sensibility (1995 film)|Sense and Sensibility]]'' | [[Ang Lee]] |- | 1997 | ''[[FairyTale: A True Story]]'' | Charles Sturridge |- | 1998 | ''[[My Giant]]'' | [[Michael Lehmann]] |- |rowspan=2|1999 | ''[[Notting Hill (film)|Notting Hill]]'' | [[Roger Michell]] |- | ''[[Mansfield Park (1999 film)|Mansfield Park]]'' | [[Patricia Rozema]] |- | 2002 | ''[[Killing Me Softly (film)|Killing Me Softly]]'' | [[Chen Kaige]] |- | 2003 | ''[[Love Actually]]'' | [[Richard Curtis]] |- | 2008 | ''[[The Bank Job]]'' | [[Roger Donaldson]] |- | 2013 | ''[[The Lovers (2013 film)|The Lovers]]''{{efn|Shared credit with Ben Nott}} | [[Roland Joffé]] |- | 2015 | ''[[:pl:Słaba płeć?|Slaba plec?]]'' | Krzysztof Lang |- | 2019 | ''[[The Hustle (film)|The Hustle]]'' | [[Chris Addison]] |- | 2021 | ''[[A Castle for Christmas]]'' | [[Mary Lambert (director)|Mary Lambert]] |} {{notelist}}
=== Television === {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Director ! Notes |- | 1990 | ''4 Play'' | [[Ross Devenish]] | Episode "Madly in Love" |- | 2018 | ''[[Shetland (TV series)|Shetland]]'' | Rebecca Gatward | 3 episodes |- | 2019 | ''[[Wild Bill (TV series)|Wild Bill]]'' | [[Annie Griffin]] | 2 episodes |- | 2020 | ''[[Breeders (TV series)|Breeders]]'' | [[Chris Addison]] | 5 episodes |- | 2022 | ''[[Outlander (TV series)|Outlander]]'' | Christiana Ebohon-Green<br>Justin Molotnikov | 3 episodes |}
'''TV movies''' {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Director |- | 1990 | ''[[The Widowmaker]]'' | [[John Madden (director)|John Madden]] |- | 1993 | ''Foreign Affairs'' | [[Jim O'Brien (director)|Jim O'Brien]] |- | 1995 | ''[[The Infiltrator (1995 film)|The Infiltrator]]'' | [[John Mackenzie (film director)|John Mackenzie]] |- | 1996 | ''[[Eskimo Day]]'' | [[Piers Haggard]] |- | 2024 | ''A Scottish Love Scheme'' | Heather Hawthorn Doyle |}
== Awards and nominations == {| class="wikitable" |- ! Institution ! Year ! Category ! Title ! Result |- |[[Academy Awards]] |[[68th Academy Awards|1996]] |[[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]] | rowspan="2" |''[[Sense and Sensibility (1995 film)|Sense and Sensibility]]'' |{{nom}} |- |[[BAFTA Award]]s |[[49th British Academy Film Awards|1996]] |[[BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]] |{{nom}} |- |[[British Academy Scotland Awards|BAFTA Scotland Awards]] |1997 |Craft Award for Outstanding<br>Contribution to Film or Television |{{N/A}} |{{won}} |- | rowspan="2" |[[British Society of Cinematographers]] |1994 | rowspan="2" |[[British Society of Cinematographers Award for Best Cinematography in a Theatrical Feature Film|Best Cinematography in a Theatrical Feature Film]] |''[[Four Weddings and a Funeral]]'' |{{nom}} |- |1995 |''Sense and Sensibility'' |{{nom}} |- |[[Chlotrudis Awards]] |1998 |Best Cinematography |''[[FairyTale: A True Story]]'' |{{nom}} |- |[[Valladolid International Film Festival]] |1995 |Best Director of Photography |''[[The Neon Bible (film)|The Neon Bible]]'' |{{won}} |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|id=0183533|name=Michael Coulter}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coulter, Michael}} [[Category:1952 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:British cinematographers]] [[Category:Film people from Glasgow]] [[Category:Scottish cinematographers]]
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