Richard Walden(I)

Richard Walden is a Director of Photography and Camera Operator with experience working in Canada, the United States, Hungary, South Africa, and Japan. His career includes credits in feature films, commercials, industrial films, military combat photography, and television. Walden’s early interest in art and photography led him to work as a still photographer for his high school newspaper. He received his motion picture photography training at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, through the U.S. Marine Corps and served as a combat cameraman in Vietnam from May to December 1968. After his service, he moved to Los Angeles and entered the freelance world, initially working on industrial and low-budget films in a variety of roles, including carpenter, property master, electrician, grip, location scout, and painter. Eventually finding the right opportunity, Walden was mentored by Director of Photography John Bailey, ASC, who helped him enter the studio system, where he worked as a focus puller on films such as *American Gigolo*, *Cat People*, *Continental Divide*, *Heaven Can Wait*, *1941*, and *48 Hours*. As a Camera Operator, he worked on *Phone Booth*, *Human Cargo*, *The Collector*, *Lethal Weapon*, *Footloose*, *Silverado*, and *Top Gun*, as well as the television series *thirtysomething*. As a Director of Photography, Walden worked on *Dream On*, which was nominated for a Cable ACE Award for Outstanding Achievement in Photography in a Comedy or Music Special or Series, and the TV series *The Big Easy*. He also served as a second unit photographer on *The Grinch Who Stole Christmas*, *Antitrust*, *Felicity*, and *Phone Booth*. Walden is a former commissioner of the Arts and Culture Commission of North Vancouver, British Columbia, where he resides with his wife, Patricia. He has also been an instructor at the Centre for Arts & Technology in Okanagan, British Columbia, where he spoke on the relationship between the Director of Photography, the Director, and other department heads, with hands-on classes in lighting, composition, blocking, and set protocol. He has taught at Creative Woman’s Workshops / Women in the Directors Chair in Banff, Alberta, discussing the relationship between the Director and the Director of Photography and the creative process, as well as lighting and composition, including instruction on how to use the camera and other filmmaking gear to tell a story, with hands-on classes in lighting, cameras, blocking, and set protocol. Walden has also taught at the British Columbia Institute of Technology in Vancouver, British Columbia, with hands-on classes in lighting, cameras, blocking, and set protocol. He has conducted workshops at Screen Training Ireland in Dublin, Ireland, in association with UCLA, covering the duties of the camera assistant and how they interact with the director of photography and camera operator, as well as lighting instruction and how to use camera and other filmmaking gear to tell a story, with hands-on classes in lighting, cameras, blocking, and set protocol. Walden has also taught at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, California, with several speaking engagements and hands-on classes in lighting, lighting for women, cameras, blocking, and set protocol. He has also taught at Long Beach State University in Long Beach, California, speaking on the duties of the director of photography with examples from contemporary films, and at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California, speaking on the relationship between the Director and the Director of Photography.