---
name: "Alan Caso"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/alan-caso"
fi1m_id: "alan-caso"
imdb_id: "nm0143780"
tmdb_id: 22057
roles: ["Cinematographer","Director"]
born: "6 December 1951"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 82
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-24T00:06:00.173340+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Alan Caso

## Identity

Alan Caso

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/alan-caso
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** alan-caso
- **IMDb ID:** nm0143780
- **TMDB ID:** 22057
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0143780/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/22057

Cinematographer and director. Born 6 December 1951 in Marblehead, Massachusetts, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Cinematographer, Director
- **Born:** 6 December 1951, Marblehead, Massachusetts, USA
- **Active:** 2001–2018
- **Also known as:** Alan Otino Caso, Allan Caso, Alan Casco
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 3: 1 directing, 2 crew
- **Frequently works with:** [Adam Davidson](https://film.one/person/adam-davidson.md), [Alik Sakharov](https://film.one/person/alik-sakharov.md), [Bill Johnson](https://film.one/person/bill-johnson.md), [Dan Attias](https://film.one/person/dan-attias.md), [Holly Dale](https://film.one/person/holly-dale.md), [Jeremy Podeswa](https://film.one/person/jeremy-podeswa.md), [John Dahl](https://film.one/person/john-dahl.md), [Michael C. Hall](https://film.one/person/michael-c-hall.md)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 80 (2), 2010s 91 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0143780/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/22057

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*The Americans*](https://film.one/tv/the-americans.md) (91)
- **HBO Max:** [*Six Feet Under*](https://film.one/tv/six-feet-under.md) (86)
- **Apple TV:** [*Dexter*](https://film.one/tv/dexter.md) (74)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Alan Caso

> Alan Caso’s value is clearest in the photography of *Six Feet Under*, where ordinary rooms help the domestic comedy work. We rate that restraint, though the programme sometimes gives its family too much time to brood.

The funeral parlour in *Six Feet Under* (2001) is most convincing when it looks like somewhere people turn up for work. Alan Caso’s cinematography favours wide-angle, deep-focus compositions, desaturated colour and light that appears to come from natural sources. Those choices keep the rooms legible without making the family business look like a haunted house. We were relieved by that ordinariness, because it allowed us to enjoy the domestic comedy without the setting continually insisting on dread. This is the work we rate him for: careful photography that gives actors room to be funny.

Although Caso directed ‘Grinding the Corn’, a 2004 episode of *Six Feet Under*, his substantial contribution to the programme was as a director of photography. It would be a mistake to credit him alone with what works. Frederick Iannone and other cinematographers also contributed. Production designers Suzuki Ingerslev, Daniel Ross and Marcia Hinds helped make the parlour credible as somewhere a family could spend its days. The series sometimes indulges its brooding, but the rooms are at their most useful when they do not encourage it.

Before *Six Feet Under*, he worked as a camera and Steadicam operator, then as a director of photography on *Tour of Duty* in the late 1980s. His first feature as director of photography, *84 Charlie MoPic* (1989), used a handheld style. On John Frankenheimer’s *George Wallace* (1997), his photography blended dramatic footage with archival material. Their collaboration continued with *Reindeer Games* (2000); his later television work included *Into the West* (2005). These changes of format and task matter more to our understanding of his work than the occasional directing credit.

His preference for simple light sources and a clear key light on an actor’s face is worth taking seriously. On *Six Feet Under*, that restraint helps the funeral parlour remain convincing through both grief and domestic comedy. We recommend starting there, allowing for the exhausting family company and the stretches when everyone has been given rather too long to brood.

## Biography

Alan Caso is an American cinematographer and member of the American Society of Cinematographers. He served as director of photography on the HBO series *Six Feet Under* (2001–2005) and directed one episode of the series.

Caso’s other television credits as director of photography include *Dexter* (2006), *The Americans* (2013), *Lie to Me* (2009), *The Rookie* (2018) and *Hawaii Five-0* (2010–2015). His feature work encompasses *Reindeer Games* (2000) and *The Librarian: Quest for the Spear* (2004). He received two Emmy nominations for his work on *Six Feet Under* and an ASC Outstanding Achievement Award for the miniseries *George Wallace* (1997). In 2018 he was awarded the ASC Career Achievement in Television Award.

*Sources: alancaso.com, imdb.com, theasc.com.*

## On Fi1m (3)

### Directed (1)

- *Six Feet Under* (2001), Fi1m 86, Director, Cinematography, Director of Photography — [page](https://film.one/tv/six-feet-under.md)

### Crew (2) — the average rests on these

- *The Americans* (2013), Fi1m 91, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-americans.md)
- *Dexter* (2006), Fi1m 74, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/tv/dexter.md)

## Complete filmography (67)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Rookie* (2018), series, Director of Photography
- *The Americans* (2013), series, Director of Photography — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-americans.md)
- *Bent* (2012), series, Director of Photography
- *16-love* (2012), Director of Photography
- *Love Hurts* (2009), Director of Photography
- *Lie to Me* (2009), series, Director of Photography
- *S.I.S.* (2008), Director of Photography
- *Comanche Moon* (2008), series, Director of Photography
- *First Sunday* (2008), Director of Photography
- *Tell Me You Love Me* (2007), series, Director of Photography
- *Dexter* (2006), series, Director of Photography — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/dexter.md)
- *Blackbeard* (2006), series, Director of Photography
- *Hollis & Rae* (2006), Director of Photography
- *Into the West* (2005), series, Director of Photography
- *Frankenstein* (2004), series, Director of Photography
- *The Librarian: Quest for the Spear* (2004), Director of Photography
- *Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story* (2002), Director of Photography
- *Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story* (2002), series, Director of Photography
- *Widows* (2002), series, Director of Photography
- *Repli-Kate* (2002), Director of Photography
- *Three Blind Mice* (2001), Director of Photography
- *Six Feet Under* (2001), series, Director, Director of Photography — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/tv/six-feet-under.md)
- *Running Mates* (2000), Director of Photography
- *Another Woman's Husband* (2000), Director of Photography
- *Reindeer Games* (2000), Director of Photography
- *The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland* (1999), Director of Photography
- *Muppets from Space* (1999), Director of Photography
- *Hit and Run* (1999), Director of Photography
- *Blackout Effect* (1998), Director of Photography
- *Rag and Bone* (1998), Director of Photography
- *Final Descent* (1997), Director of Photography
- *George Wallace* (1997), Director of Photography
- *George Wallace* (1997), series, Director of Photography
- *Top of the World* (1997), Director of Photography
- *A Deadly Vision* (1997), Director of Photography
- *Lying Eyes* (1996), Director of Photography
- *Thrill* (1996), Director of Photography
- *All She Ever Wanted* (1996), Director of Photography
- *Summer of Fear* (1996), Director of Photography
- *Ed* (1996), Director of Photography
- *Saved By The Light* (1995), Director of Photography
- *Sliders* (1995), series, Director of Photography
- *The Good Old Boys* (1995), Director of Photography
- *A Father for Charlie* (1995), Director of Photography
- *Tonya & Nancy: The Inside Story* (1994), Director of Photography
- *In the Best of Families: Marriage, Pride & Madness* (1994), Director of Photography
- *Midnight Kiss* (1993), Director of Photography
- *The Presence* (1992), Director of Photography
- *Stepfather 3* (1992), Director of Photography, Camera Operator
- *Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story* (1991), series, Director of Photography
- *Alligator 2: The Mutation* (1991), Steadicam Operator
- *Caged Fear* (1991), Director of Photography
- *The Immortalizer* (1990), Director of Photography
- *A Show of Force* (1990), Camera Operator
- *The First Power* (1990), Steadicam Operator
- *Shag* (1989), Camera Operator
- *84 Charlie Mopic* (1989), Director of Photography
- *Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers* (1988), Steadicam Operator
- *The Serpent and the Rainbow* (1988), Steadicam Operator
- *Tour of Duty* (1987), series, Director of Photography
- *Down Twisted* (1987), Camera Operator
- *52 Pick-Up* (1986), Camera Operator
- *House* (1985), Camera Operator
- *Friday the 13th: A New Beginning* (1985), Steadicam Operator, Camera Operator
- *Savage Streets* (1984), Steadicam Operator
- *Fear City* (1984), Camera Operator
- *Roar* (1981), Camera Operator

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/alan-caso