# Alexander Witt

Alexander B. Witt (born 1952) is a Chilean-American filmmaker and cinematographer mostly known for his work as a camera operator and second unit director, including regular collaborations with director Ridley Scott.

## Life and career

From a 2004 interview on IGN, he says this about his history:
   "I was born in Chile, the third generation of Germans there. And, we moved to Mexico, from Mexico in '73 I moved to Europe, where I started working in film. I started with Arriflex, the company that makes the cameras. I was there for a year and I did kind of a trainee type of year where I was in the sound department, in the lab, in the studio working with the actual productions and also assembling cameras. And then I moved to Europe, where I lived three years, and then, back in '76, I did my first movie as a camera assistant, which was 21 Hours at Munich. And then, I kept on going, I moved up to focus puller or first AC, and then operating and then DP-ing. And then I was DP-ing commercials and then I started directing commercials in the late 80's and beginning of [the] 90's. I was working with Jan de Bont and doing his second unit as a DP while he was a DP. He is the one that really gave me the break on Speed to start directing second unit."
Witt works mostly as a second unit director and cinematographer and has worked on a plethora of films ranging from Gladiator to Cinderella. He is a frequent collaborator of director Ridley Scott, and served as the director of photography on his 2008 film Body of Lies. He made his directorial debut in 2004 with the video game adaptation Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Witt also served as the second unit director on the James Bond films Casino Royale (2006), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015) and No Time to Die (2020).

## Filmography
### Second unit

| Year | Title | 2nd unit director | 2nd unit DoP | Director | Notes |
| 1985 | The Jewel of the Nile | No | Yes | Lewis Teague | |
| 1990 | The Hunt for Red October | No | Yes | John McTiernan | |
| 1992 | Lethal Weapon 3 | No | Yes | Richard Donner | |
| 1992 | Chaplin | No | Yes | Richard Attenborough | As Alex Witt |
| 1994 | Speed | Yes | No | Jan De Bont | |
| 1995 | Money Train | Yes | Yes | Joseph Ruben | New York unit |
| 1996 | Twister | Yes | Yes | Jan De Bont | |
| 1997 | Speed 2: Cruise Control | Yes | Yes | Jan De Bont | |
| 1997 | The Postman | Yes | No | Kevin Costner | |
| 1998 | The X-Files | Yes | Yes | Rob Bowman | Creature unit |
| 1999 | Forces of Nature | Yes | Yes | Bronwen Hughes | |
| 1999 | Inspector Gadget | Yes | Yes | David Kellogg | Uncredited |
| 2000 | Gladiator | Yes | Yes | Ridley Scott | |
| 2000 | Remember the Titans | Yes | Yes | Boaz Yakin | |
| 2001 | Hannibal | Yes | Yes | Ridley Scott | |
| 2001 | Black Hawk Down | Yes | No | Ridley Scott | |
| 2002 | The Bourne Identity | Yes | Yes | Doug Liman | |
| 2002 | XXX | Yes | Yes | Rob Cohen | |
| 2003 | Daredevil | Yes | Yes | Mark Steven Johnson | |
| 2003 | The Italian Job | Yes | No | F. Gary Gray | |
| 2003 | Hollywood Homicide | Yes | Yes | Ron Shelton | Additional photography |
| 2003 | Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl | Yes | Yes | Gore Verbinski | |
| 2004 | Hidalgo | Yes | No | Joe Johnston | |
| 2005 | Æon Flux | Yes | No | Karyn Kusama | |
| 2006 | She's the Man | Yes | No | Andy Fickman | |
| 2006 | Casino Royale | Yes | Yes | Martin Campbell | |
| 2007 | American Gangster | Yes | Yes | Ridley Scott | |
| 2008 | Fool's Gold | Yes | No | Andy Tennant | |
| 2009 | The Taking of Pelham 123 | Yes | Yes | Tony Scott | |
| 2010 | Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time | Yes | Yes | Mike Newell | |
| 2010 | Robin Hood | Yes | Yes | Ridley Scott | |
| 2010 | The Town | Yes | Yes | Ben Affleck | |
| 2011 | Fast Five | Yes | Yes | Justin Lin | Train heist sequence |
| 2011 | X-Men: First Class | Yes | Yes | Matthew Vaughn | |
| 2012 | Safe House | Yes | Yes | Daniel Espinosa | |
| 2012 | Skyfall | Yes | Yes | Sam Mendes | |
| 2012 | Code Name Oracle | Yes | No | Max Bartoli | |
| 2014 | Hercules | Yes | Yes | Brett Ratner | |
| 2015 | Cinderella | Yes | Yes | Kenneth Branagh | |
| 2015 | Terminator Genisys | Yes | Yes | Alan Taylor | |
| 2015 | Spectre | Yes | Yes | Sam Mendes | |
| 2017 | First They Killed My Father | No | Yes | Angelina Jolie | |
| 2018 | Avengers: Infinity War | Yes | Yes | Anthony and Joe Russo | |
| 2018 | Bird Box | Yes | Yes | Susanne Bier | |
| 2021 | No Time to Die | Yes | Yes | Cary Joji Fukunaga | |
| 2021 | Jungle Cruise | Yes | Yes | Jaume Collet-Serra | |
| 2023 | Fast X | Yes | Yes | Louis Leterrier |
| 2023 | Ferrari | Yes | Yes | Michael Mann | |

### Other work

Director
* Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
* Sayen (2023)
* Sayen: Desert Road (2023)
* Sayen: The Huntress (2024)
Cinematographer
* Body of Lies (2008)