Who’s Who in Sonoma: Cinematographer and Artist Christopher Butler

His great-grandfather worked on silent films with Charlie Chaplain. His grandfather worked on Casablanca and also received four academy awards for special effects. His father and uncle were cinematographers on movies including Smokey and the Bandit, Jaws, and Missouri Breaks.

Even as Christopher Butler is getting ready to shoot a movie in Los Angeles called Day's Full of Night, his heart is in Sonoma. And so is his artwork.

You can view a permanent exhibit of his work at and a recently installed painting at .

Chris is a multimedia artist who has developed a unique medium, “Artography”.  He combines his expertise in cinematography and lighting with creative painting revolving around historical themes.

His current series, “Prophets and Assassins”, was recently exhibited at art galleries in Beverly Hills and Montreal.

We met up at the e for coffee and conversation.

Sonoma Patch: How did you get from Hollywood to Sonoma?

Chris: Twelve years ago we brought a film to the called “Southie”, and fell in love with the town. Four years ago, I moved here.

SP: Do you live in town?

Chris: Right off Brazil Street. My neighbor is a horse.

SP: What was it like growing up in a Hollywood family?

Chris: I always say I’m a product of zero censorship. Hunter S. Thompson was my babysitter when I was 12.

SP:  Fear and loathing! Do you want to share a favorite family story?

Chris: Steven Spielberg was making Close Encounters of the First Kind and didn’t know how to shoot the last scene in terms of special effects and lighting. He called my grandfather, Larry, who was retired and living on his ranch just north of San Diego. Having been rained out and stranded, he asked Spielberg to helicopter in four cases of beer. Larry got the beer, and said, ‘Ok, now I’ll tell you how to do this’.

SP: Great story! What’s the key to being a cinematographer?

Chris: It’s a marriage of artistic and technical ability. You’re creating a mood- a feeling that helps promote the scene through camera angles and movements.

SP: How much creative freedom do you have?

Chris: It depends. If you’re doing independents, which I like to do, the director of photography holds the set together while the director focuses on the acting.

SP: You’re in charge of the camera and lighting crew?

Chris: Yes, but I’m also behind the camera. Language can only get you so far in describing what you need. It’s better to say, ‘Here, let me show you.’

SP:  I find your artwork fascinating.

Chris: It’s a marriage of different mediums. I like merging older technology with newer technology.

SP: How do you create your paintings?

Chris: I take a 35mm still of the subject and project the color image onto a semi-transparent 20'x20' screen. Under the glow of the image, I light it from the front and back with gelled movie lights. I slowly add in different layers of light and then paint realistic and abstract images.

SP: Your paintings revolve around historical themes.

Chris: And then I paint in images relevant to the subject. For example, I did a painting of John Lennon and added a revolver.

SP: What’s next?

Chris: A series from the silent film era to the present. It’s like putting little bits and pieces of my past together.

SP: Where does your creativity come from?

Chris: Give me emotional turmoil and you’ve got a painting.