Mark Irwin

Mark Irwin spent a great deal of his career as sci-fi/action director David Cronenberg's regular cinematographer until the late 1980s, at which time Irwin made a gradual shift into working primarily in comedies. Two notable films in which Irwin worked with Cronenberg include "The Fly" and "Videodrome." "The Fly" was a remake of a 1950s film that Cronenberg gave a more gory and spectacular twist, and can be considered the height of Cronenberg's career. The film served as a cultural metaphor for the AIDS epidemic which was enhanced by the elaborate costumes, makeup, and sets so skillfully and artfully captured by Irwin. "Videodrome" was another film with elaborate sets and costumes featuring grotesque body transformations and highly charged sexual imagery. It was unique, however, as it was the first to use a flicker-eliminating technology when filming television screen images, as well as using Betamax video cassettes instead of VHS tapes. Two quintessential Farrelly brothers (Peter and Bobby Farrelly) films of the 1990s that Irwin worked on after his collaborations with Cronenberg were "Dumb and Dumber" and "There's Something About Mary." The success of both films, heavily relying on physical and visual humor, were substantially indebted to Irwin's cinematographic skills and experience with Cronenberg. Irwin did not give up on the horror genre altogether after the 1980s, as he worked on the post-modern slasher film "Scream." This film again presented an opportunity for Irwin's sense of detail and comic timing to enhance its most dynamic and innovative aspects.