David A. Armstrong

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David A. Armstrong
Born
David A. Armstrong

1961
Alma materCalifornia Institute of the Arts
Occupation(s)Cinematographer, producer, Film director
Years active1986–present
Websitedavidaarmstrong.com

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.

Life and career[edit]

Having 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[edit]

As 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]

  1. ^ "The Assassin's Code". Clevelandfilm.org. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  2. ^ "Cinematography Department". Nyfa.edu. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  3. ^ London Williams, Mark (July 1, 2004). "DP David Armstrong Shoots Saw". Btlnews.com. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (November 28, 2011). "'Shield' Cohorts Michael Chiklis And Forest Whitaker Team For Indie Feature 'Pawn'". Deadline. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ Sharkey, Betsy (April 18, 2013). "Movie review: 'Pawn's' cops and robbers game is a mild thrill". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  8. ^ Ford, Rebecca (October 20, 2016). "'Shameless,' 'Fargo' Actors to Star in Indie 'Legacy' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  9. ^ "Cleveland International Film Festival: Inside "Assassin's Code," a Cleveland-centric crime thriller". Cleveland.com. April 12, 2018. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  10. ^ Murray, Noel (May 9, 2018). "Review: Crime drama 'The Assassin's Code' is strictly by the book". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 24, 2021.

External links[edit]