Butler earned his first narrative credit in Chicago in 1967 for
Fearless Frank, a low-budget feature directed by
Philip Kaufman. who was introduced to him by Friedkin. as well as
Capricorn One (1977),
Stripes (1981),
Biloxi Blues (1988), ''
Child's Play (1988), Graffiti Bridge (1990), Flipper (1996), Anaconda (1997) and Deceiver (1997). Bill Paxton, the director of the former film, said, "I was excited when Bill Butler who was the cinematographer on such classic films as Jaws
and The Conversation
came aboard as my director of photography for Frailty''. And I really picked his brain, always asking 'how did you do this shot?' and 'how did you figure that out?'" Bill Butler recounted his initial conversations with Paxton about the script: "I liked the direction he wanted to take, and he inspired me to share his vision. It was a great collaboration." Butler is also notable for being a replacement to
Haskell Wexler on two occasions:
The Conversation (1974; also directed by Coppola) and ''
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (1975).
Jaws Butler had heard that Spielberg was preparing to shoot
Jaws (1975), mainly on
Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. "I said, 'I hear you're making a movie about a fish,'" Butler recalled. After they joked for a few minutes, Spielberg asked Butler if he was interested. Butler's crew included
Michael Chapman as camera operator. When they arrived on Martha's Vineyard, Butler showed Spielberg how he could brace a handheld Panaflex camera and take the roll out of the boat rocking on the waves with his knees instead of using a 400-lb gimbal. Spielberg embraced the idea. "About 90% of the shots on the boat were handheld," Butler says. "Michael was intrigued by the idea and was very good at it. We did things that we probably wouldn't have tried without the lightweight camera. Michael even climbed the mast and shot from the top straight down. We also put him in a small boat." Butler also created a pontoon camera raft with a waterproof housing that achieved those trademark water level shots that gave a point of view from the shark fin. To stop water drops hitting the lens, Butler used the Panavision Spray Deflector that saw an optical glass spin at high speed to deflect the drops except for the 4th of July beach stampede where the water-lens interface adds to the panic. Butler originally envisioned the look of
Jaws to start in bright, summer sunshine and then become more ominous as the shark hunt goes on. The first half remains a riot of vibrant primary colors. In filming Amity, Butler was inspired by the work of painters such as
Edward Hopper and
Andrew Wyeth in their view of the United States untainted by urban life. ==Personal life==