Shooting The Western With Dean Semler. By Jonah Rice.
Among the more decorated figures his craft has to offer, Australian cinematographer Dean Semler debuted in the 1970s with a film called Moving On (1974). He proceeded to shoot several thrillers and a couple of horror movies throughout the 1980s, along with Mad Max 2 (1981). Famous film there, but a turning point was marked a few years down the line, as Dean Semler started shooting westerns toward the decade’s end. This would prove to be his go-to genre for several years to come, and since, Semler has solidified himself in cinema history as a whole.
Debuting in the Genre
The first relevant title is a movie known as Bullseye (1987), which remains the most obscure western among Semler’s filmography. One year thereafter, he helped to rejuvenate the genre thanks to a film called Young Guns (1988), which sits on the opposite end of the popularity spectrum. It’s much more popular than Bullseye, with the first Young Guns—directed by Christopher Cain from John Fusco’s original script—standing tall among the highest-grossing movies the genre’s ever seen. It also holds up as a hilarious, action-packed affair, one that set the stage for Semler the cinematographer to assuredly take over the genre.
Zooms with the camera harken back to the movies of Spaghetti Western past, and for as much that could be made about Semler’s other shots, also worth noting are aspects of cinematography like color and composition. He was completely on point in both of those respects, and that would continue to be the case as he honed his western prowess. He was at the peak of his powers throughout the following decade, credited as cinematographer on four total westerns, with the 1990s being when Semler’s work was met with critical acclaim.
Accruing Praise in the Nineties
Against all his other westerns, Dances With Wolves (1990) remains the most revered of Dean Semler’s filmography. It was directed by Kevin Costner from a script by Michael Blake, the latter having also written the novel on which Dances With Wolves was based. his source material first being published in 1988 after initially being written as a spec script. Starring in the adaptation was the other co-writer in Kevin Costner, who led a talented cast of Native American performers. Everyone performs to perfection whenever in front of the camera, but what makes Dances With Wolves so special in cinema history is that’s it’s also a technical triumph.
Brimming with brilliant shot value and methodical camera movements, Dances With Wolves is perhaps the magnum opus of Semler the cinematographer. Awards from various ceremonies are a testament to that claim, and fans still hold his work on Dances With Wolves in seriously high regard. Its enormity in the genre’s landscape proved valuable to Semler’s career, but at the same time, a couple of his other westerns thus flew under the radar.
Released just two years after its predecessor, Young Guns II marked the second western from 1990 for which Dean Semler was credited as the director photography. First was Dances With Wolves, and while it’s true that Young Guns II pales a bit in comparison, it’s still a fun western with Semler holding the camera. Next up in the nineties was the acclaimed comedy City Slickers (1991), which is commonly known among the genre’s funniest films. It features a star-studded cast, one that’s comprised of Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, Bruno Kirby, and Jack Palance. There’s also a debuting Jake Gyllenhaal and a supporting Noble Willingham, with each of these names performing to perfection in a famous, uproarious western.
Last worth noting for Semler’s westerns throughout the 1990s is a lesser-known Neo-Western that’s called The Cowboy Way (1994). Not too notable from a qualitative perspective, but for what it’s worth, The Cowboy Way has its fair share of fans even three decades down the line. It marked his fourth western from the 1990s, and the sixth entry in the genre as a whole for which Dean Semler was credited as cinematographer. Impressive resume, and while he took a bit of a hiatus before returning to the genre, Semler would continue shooting westerns throughout the twenty-first century.
His Work in the Twenty-First Century
Twenty-first century examples of westerns that were shot by Dean Semler include Appaloosa (2008) and The Ridiculous Six (2016), with the former marking his return to the genre after a fourteen-year hiatus. It stars the talented Ed Harris, who teamed up with Robert Knott to adapt the script for Appaloosa from a Robert B. Parker novel of the same name. The source material came out in 2005, and it tells the tale of two lawmen who ride into the titular town and attempt to restore order. Second among the cast of Appaloosa is the talented Viggo Mortensen—whom Semler had previously shot in a western thanks to the second Young Guns film—as he plays Everett Hitch to a valiant degree.
On the movie’s DVD and Blu-ray release, special features including featurettes on how they brought the characters and setting to life, along with a piece on the movie’s historical accuracy. What’s more for the special features section is that there’s a “Dean Semler’s Return to the Western” featurette that focuses on the famous cinematographer. This renders Appaloosa an essential movie from throughout his whole career, and while the same can’t be said for the other one of his westerns that came out in the twenty-first century, not even The Ridiculous Six could stain the Semler legacy.
