John Toll

Cinematographer
Camera and Electrical Department
Producer

Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.

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Tropic Thunder (2008)

John Toll is an American cinematographer. His filmography spans a wide variety of genres, including epic period drama, comedy, science fiction, and contemporary drama. He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography in both 1994 and 1995 for Legends of the Fall and Braveheart respectively.

He has collaborated with several noteworthy directors, including Francis Ford Coppola, Edward Zwick, Terrence Malick, Mel Gibson, John Madden, The Wachowskis, and Ang Lee. Outside of film, he has shot several commercials, the pilot episode of Golden Globe-winning drama series Breaking Bad, and has served as chief cinematographer on the Netflix original series Sense8.

Toll was also nominated for an Academy Award for his work on The Thin Red Line (1998).

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Won 2 Oscars
- 18 wins & 26 nominations total

Photos13

+ 8

Known for

Braveheart

8.3

Cinematographer

1995

The Last Samurai

7.8

Cinematographer

2003

The Thin Red Line

7.6

Cinematographer

1998

Legends of the Fall

7.5

Cinematographer

1994

Credits

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IMDbPro

Cinematographer

80 for Brady
5.9
- Cinematographer
- 2023
The Matrix Resurrections
5.6
- director of photography
- 2021
Harriet
6.7
- director of photography
- 2019
Sense8
8.2
TV Series
- director of photography
- 2015–2018
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk
6.2
- director of photography
- 2016
Jupiter Ascending
5.3
- director of photography
- 2015
Iron Man 3
7.1
- director of photography
- 2013
Cloud Atlas
7.4
- director of photography
- 2012
The Odd Life of Timothy Green
6.6
- director of photography
- 2012
The Adjustment Bureau
7.0
- director of photography
- 2011
It's Complicated
6.5
- director of photography
- 2009
Gimme Shelter
5.9
Video
- Cinematographer
- 2008
Tropic Thunder
7.1
- director of photography
- 2008
Breaking Bad
9.5
TV Series
- director of photography
- 2008
Gone Baby Gone
7.6
- director of photography
- 2007

Camera and Electrical Department

The Burning Plain
6.7
- additional photographer
- 2008
Wanted
6.7
- director of photography: New York
- 2008
Shine a Light
7.1
- camera operator
- 2008
Orange County
6.2
- cinematographer: end beach sequence (uncredited)
- 2002
Always
6.4
- additional photographer: Montana
- 1989
Blaze
6.0
- director of photography: second unit
- 1989
Tequila Sunrise
6.1
- director of photography: second unit
- 1988
The Milagro Beanfield War
6.8
- camera operator
- 1988
Black Widow
6.4
- camera operator
- 1987
Peggy Sue Got Married
6.4
- camera operator
- 1986
Just Between Friends
6.0
- camera operator
- 1986
Sweet Dreams
7.0
- camera operator
- 1985
The Falcon and the Snowman
6.8
- camera operator
- 1985
Scarface
8.3
- camera operator
- 1983
Twilight Zone: The Movie
6.4
- camera operator (segment "2-4")
- 1983

Born
- June 15, 1952
- Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Spouse
- Lois BurwellNovember 14, 1998 - present
Other works
Director of photography for Capital One TV commercial "Magnifying Glass" (2006).

Did you know

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Trivia
One of four cinematographers to win consecutive Oscars for Best Cinematography (for Legends of the Fall (1994) and Braveheart (1995)). The others are Emmanuel Lubezki, Leon Shamroy and Winton C. Hoch.

Quotes
[on the 'optimum' T-Stop he likes to work at] I don't normally like to work deeper than an 8, and I never work wider than 2.8 in anamorphic. I feel much more comfortable working at around 4. Shooting wider than 2.8 in anamorphic is pointless, I think, because at that stop there's just not enough information in focus.