Christian Blackwood was an American film director and cinematographer He was initially a child actor then a cinematographer acclaimed for his work in Charlotte Zwerins Thelonious Monk Straight No Chaser But his major work was as the director of over 80 films mostly documentaries over a 25year career His most famous films are Observations Under The Volcano and On the Set of Death of a Salesman behindthescenes looks at the creation of movies by John Huston and Volker Schlöndorff from the famous novel and play The latter film won him the grand prize at the Sundance Film Festival Christian Blackwood died in 1992 of lung cancer He was married to film writer producer and fine art photographer Carolyn Marks Blackwood His film archives are stored in the Museum of Modern Art