Oliver Wood

Oliver Wood, one of Hollywood's premier action cinematographers, is best known for his collaboration with director Paul Greengrass on the three "Bourne" films. It is apparent in the evolution of the visuals throughout the action-packed trilogy, from "The Bourne Identity" (2002) to "The Bourne Supremacy" (2004) to "The Bourne Ultimatum" (2007), that the look of the films improved as Greengrass gave Wood increasing freedom with his lens. Wood and his crew traveled all over the world to shoot incredibly dense, hectic set-pieces for Matt Damon to plow through as the dogged Jason Bourne, an amnesiac spy desperate to discover his past and determine his own future. Oliver Wood has shown equal adeptness with large-scale outdoor action scenes (e.g., "The Bourne Ultimatum"'s adrenaline-pounding rooftop chase in Morocco) and close-quarters, indoor action scenes (e.g., "The Bourne Identity"'s climactic stairwell shoot-out). His ability to fashion crowded but comprehensible action in tight, even claustrophobic spaces is also on display in the submarine thriller "U-571." Wood worked with director Jonathan Mostow on "U-571," and again on "Surrogates," in which Wood was able to lend his gritty realism to a science fiction yarn. "The Surrogates" also gave Wood the opportunity to work again with action star Bruce Willis. Wood shot Willis in "Die Hard 2" as John McClane, the heroic under-dog who, as the title suggests, just won't die no matter what Wood and director Renny Harlin throw at him. Oliver Wood died at the age of 80 on February 13, 2023.