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David A. Armstrong is an American cinematographer, film producer and director, who was involved in a number of short films and low budget horror films. Although best known for his work on the first six installments of the Saw franchise, Armstrong has also directed two films, the crime thrillers Pawn and The Assassin's Code.
David A. Armstrong | |
|---|---|
| Born | David A. Armstrong 1962 |
| Alma mater | California Institute of the Arts and American Film Institute |
| Occupation(s) | Cinematographer, producer, Film director |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Website | davidaarmstrong |
Life and career
editHaving a Master of Fine Arts in cinematography from the American Film Institute, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from California Institute of the Arts,[1][2] Armstrong began his career as the cinematographer of an unreleased 1986 film, Norman and God. Shortly after, he shot a series of independent B-movies and short films.[3] In 2004, Armstrong was hired by James Wan and Leigh Whannell to film the first installment of the Saw franchise. He also served as cinematographer for the next five films, namely Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV, Saw V, and Saw VI.[4] Armstrong went on to shoot other low budget independent horror films including Sam's Lake, Skinwalkers, and The Gravedancers (all 2006). In 2009, Armstrong served as director of photography for the crime thrillers The Lodger and 2:13, as well the action-comedy Next Day Air. Armstrong's latest efforts as cinematographer are Dead Awake (2010), Hellraiser: Revelations, and On the Inside (both 2011).
Armstrong made his directorial debut with the action film Pawn (2013), starring Michael Chiklis, Ray Liotta, Common, Stephen Lang and Forest Whitaker.[5] The independent film was shot in only 15 days and was released straight-to-DVD.[6][7]
Armstrong directed his second feature, the crime thriller The Assassin's Code (2018), starring Justin Chatwin, Peter Stormare, and Mark Thompson.[8] Having its world premiere at the 42nd Cleveland International Film Festival,[9] the film was released through video on demand platforms by Gravitas Ventures.[10]
Filmography
editAs cinematographer
edit| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Norman and God | Unknown | Unreleased |
| 1987 | Significant Other | Unknown | Unreleased |
| 1995 | Friday Night Blues | Unknown | Unreleased |
| 1997 | Two in the Morning | Michelle Remsen | Short film |
| My Dinner with Andre the Giant | Tim Ryan | Short film | |
| Burningman: Inside the Kaleidoscope | Unknown | Unreleased | |
| 1998 | The Way to Santiago | Jack Swanstrom | Short film |
| John | Marni Banack | Short film | |
| 2000 | New Suits | Regina Don | Short film |
| 2002 | P.S. Your Cat Is Dead! | Steve Guttenberg | |
| Ritual | Avi Nesher | Crypt Keeper sequences | |
| Footprints | E. Marshall | Unreleased | |
| Judge is God | James Allen | Short film | |
| sIDney | Malik Vitthal | Short film | |
| Lyric Cafe | Unknown | Unknown episodes | |
| 2003 | Fear of Feathers | Chad McCord | Short film |
| Seventh Veil | Amin Q. Chaudhri | ||
| 2004 | Saw | James Wan | |
| Ride with Funkmaster Flex | Unknown | 2 episodes | |
| 2005 | Cotillion '65 | Judy Chaikin | Short film |
| Saw II | Darren Lynn Bousman | ||
| 2006 | Jam | Mark Woollen | Documentary |
| Saw III | Darren Lynn Bousman | ||
| Sam's Lake | Andrew C. Erin | ||
| Skinwalkers | James Isaac | ||
| The Gravedancers | Mike Mendez | ||
| 2007 | Sibling Rivalry | Joanne Rubino Liza Seneca |
Short film |
| Saw IV | Darren Lynn Bousman | ||
| 2008 | Saw V | David Hackl | |
| 2008-
2009 |
Heroes: The Recruit | Rob Hardy | 5 episodes |
| 2009 | Kill Theory | Chris Moore | |
| The Lodger | David Ondaatje | ||
| 2:13 | Charles Adelman | ||
| Next Day Air | Benny Boom | ||
| Saw VI | Kevin Greutert | ||
| Two Spirits | Lydia Nibley | Documentary | |
| 2010 | Dead Awake | Omar Naim | |
| 2011 | Hellraiser: Revelations | Víctor Garcia | |
| On the Inside | D.W. Brown | ||
| Independent Lens | Lydia Nibley | 1 episode | |
| 2014 | It's Worth More Than You Think | Mohammed Mamdouh | Short film |
As producer
edit| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | New Suits | Short film; associate producer |
| 2002 | sIDney | Short film; associate producer |
| 2009 | 2:13 | |
| 2017 | Midnight Clear | Short film; executive producer |
| 2018 | The Assassin's Code |
As director
edit| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Pawn | Directorial debut |
| 2018 | The Assassin's Code |
References
edit- ^ "The Assassin's Code". Clevelandfilm.org. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ^ "Cinematography Department". Nyfa.edu. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ^ London Williams, Mark (July 1, 2004). "DP David Armstrong Shoots Saw". Btlnews.com. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ^ King, Danny (January 10, 2012). "'Saw' Cinematographer David A. Armstrong to Direct Adaptation of Comic Book Series 'Crawl to Me'". The Film Stage. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (November 28, 2011). "'Shield' Cohorts Michael Chiklis And Forest Whitaker Team For Indie Feature 'Pawn'". Deadline. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ^ Modell, Josh (September 16, 2013). "Not even Michael Chiklis' accent and Forest Whitaker's growl can save Pawn". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ^ Sharkey, Betsy (April 18, 2013). "Movie review: 'Pawn's' cops and robbers game is a mild thrill". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ^ Ford, Rebecca (October 20, 2016). "'Shameless,' 'Fargo' Actors to Star in Indie 'Legacy' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ^ "Cleveland International Film Festival: Inside "Assassin's Code," a Cleveland-centric crime thriller". Cleveland.com. April 12, 2018. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ^ Murray, Noel (May 9, 2018). "Review: Crime drama 'The Assassin's Code' is strictly by the book". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 24, 2021.