Michael Crawford Chapman was an American cinematographer and film director well known for his work on many films of the American New Wave of the 1970s and in the 1980s with directors such as Martin Scorsese and Ivan Reitman.
Chapman began his film career as a camera operator, distinguished himself on Francis Ford Coppola`s The Godfather (1972) and Steven Spielberg`s Jaws (1975). As a cinematographer, he became known for his two collaborations with Martin Scorsese:
Taxi Driver (1976) and
Raging Bull (1980). His other notable works include Ghostbusters II (1989),
Primal Fear (1996),
The Story of Us (1999) and The Watcher (2000).
Chapman was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography: for Raging Bull and The Fugitive. He was the winner of the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography in 1981 for his work on Raging Bull.