MARTIN KENZIE BSC

Kenzie was born in Cambridge, England and started his career as a production runner for a London based TV Commercials Company named "Picture Palace Productions". Later he worked for the camera department at "Samuelson Film Services" preparing motion picture cameras for hire. His first feature film work was for Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980) where he worked as an assistant cameraman with film's cinematographer John Alcott BSC. Kenzie continued to work as a Second assistant camera on various films including Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983) directed by Richard Marquand and photographed by Alan Hume, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) directed by Steven Spielberg and photographed by Douglas Slocombe BSC and A Passage to India (1984) directed by David Lean and photographed by Ernest Day BSC.

Kenzie graduated to First assistant camera on movies such as Robert Zemeckis' Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) photographed by Dean Cundey ASC, Ron Howard's Willow (1988) photographed by Adrian Biddle BSC, Clint Eastwood's White Hunter Black Heart (1990) photographed by Jack N. Green ASC, Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather Part III (1990) photographed by Gordon Willis ASC and David Fincher's Alien 3 (1992) photographed by Adrian Bidle BSC.  The as camera operator on films such as: Hamlet [Dir: Kenneth Branagh; DP Alex Thomson, 65mm – won the GBCT Camera Operator Awards 1997], Tomorrow Never Dies [Dir: Roger Spottiswoode; DP Robert Elswit], and Band of Brothers [2001Series won the GBCT Operators award shared with Martin Hume]

Since the beginning of his career, Kenzie made significant contributions as a Second unit director. Alongside feature films, Kenzie also worked for Television. His first work as a main unit cinematographer came in 1998 with David L. Williams's short film Angels at My Bedside and for a feature film in 2007 with Chris Munro's comedy film Back in Business.

And contributed as cinematographer for various television series including Keen Eddie (2003–2004), Rome (2005), Game of Thrones (2012) and Playhouse Presents (2012). In 1998, Kenzie joined Associate Membership of the British Society of Cinematographers as a Camera Operator and with his progression as a Director of Photography, he was later elected a "Full Member of the Society" with BSC accreditation in 2012.

However, after a short illness, Martin Kenzie died aged only 56 years of age on Saturday 14th July 2012.

The television series Game of Thrones dedicated its season three premier episode, "Valar Dohaeris", aired on 31 March 2013, to the memory of Kenzie in the credits. Kenzie had worked as a cinematographer for the series for four of its episodes from second season; "Garden of Bones", "The Ghost of Harrenhal", "The Old Gods and the New", "A Man Without Honor"; and had done additional photography for two episodes; "Blackwater", "Valar Morghulis". Kenzie's work for the series was appreciated for its varied use of "subtle color palettes" based on the specific times and places of the story-line. After Kenzie's death, JustGiving started a fundraising campaign for him, which would provide support for Cancer Research UK for the betterment of treatments for further patients.

1997 GBCT Operators Award – Hamlet

2001 GBCT Operators Award – Band of Brothers (Shared with Martin Hume)

2012 Best Technical Accomplishment in a 2012 Science Fiction Film or Television Production – Game of Thrones – Nominated

Wikipedia/Nigel Seal/Frances Russell/ Phil Méheux