- Born
- Died
- Birth nameDaniel Rufus Kneece
- Dan Kneece spent the first 18 years of life in Blackville, South Carolina, and attended public school there. In 7th grade, he won a medal at Edisto Conference in for playing Overture Eroica on the Oboe. Dan won the John Phillip Sousa Award in 1974 for being the best Senior musician at Blackville High School. He was awarded Associate of Arts (1976), Bachelor of Media Arts (1978), and Master of Media Arts (1980) degrees from the University of South Carolina, and a Certificate in Cinema from the University of Southern California (1976). His animated thesis film, Cera, 1980, received a regional nomination for a student Academy Award and a print was presented to Shanxi University in China as part of their permanent collection soon thereafter by the University of South Carolina. Cera was also shown at the first Internation Animation Celebration in Los Angeles. He began work as a professional Camera Operator in Columbia, South Carolina at WIS-TV in 1979. In 1982, Dan was taught Steadicam operation by the inventor, Garrett Brown, with the assistance of Randy Nolen and Toby Phillips. In 1988, Dan assisted Ted Churchill in teaching Steadicam for Cinema Products. From 1990 to 1994, Dan was the lead factory Steadicam Instructor for Cinema Products in the United States and abroad. During this time he taught many top operators in the business today.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
- Dan started filming motion pictures at age 13 when his mother bought him a Super 8 camera. In 1979, while finishing his Master's in Media Arts at the University of South Carolina, Dan began his professional career shooting news at WIS-TV in Columbia, South Carolina. Soon thereafter he was taught Steadicam by inventor Garrett Brown which lead to a 28 year career as a Steadicam Operator and an ongoing professional relationship with Director David Lynch on films such as Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart and Mulholland Drive. Dan's skills evolved into expertise as an "A" Camera Operator on major film, television, commercial and music video productions such as Jackie Brown and Phone Booth. He worked with the best in the business and learned from them all. Dan now uses his knowledge, extensive film making experience and incredible eye to excel in his work as Director of Photography.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
- Founded, with David Allen Grove, the Steadicam Guild in September 2002.
- First person to fly the Sony F23 camera on the Steadicam, 2007.
- Named 1st Vice President of the S.O.C. (Society of Camera Operators) 2005.
- Named to the Board of Governors of the S.O.C. (Society of Camera Operators) 2005.
- He was the first person to put the Thomson/Grass Valley Viper HD camera on the Steadicam and built the Lo-Mode bracket himself in his machine shop to allow low angle shots for the shoot. This footage was shot for NAB 2003 is still used by Thomson/Grass Valley to demonstrate the capabilities of the camera system.
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