Christian Bale as Bill O'Reilly

[Guest]

I seriously doubt that. If they did, that crew member could file a lawsuit and win.

 

Then under what conditions can you fire a crew member Brad? They have to intentionally set fire to the set and kill the director?

 

All this talk of filing lawsuits is really not practical, how many people have the money to hire lawyers to fight a lawsuit that could drag on for years against a giant company?

 

I had to do it once, and it took over a year and many thousands of dollars to win my suit. Plus there is never any guarantee of victory no matter how unjustly you where treated.

 

R,

[Guest Tim Partridge]

To think James Cameron initiated this film series. Could you imagine anyone taking that tone on his set (assuming this is real)? Somehow I doubt he'd be cowering behind a video village and a three initial gimmick name.

 

Have you seen the trailer? This film looks like a corporate wet dream, as though Brett Rattner made a Michael Bay Transformers sequel. All of those name actors must be ashamed of themselves, or at least be in an awkward contractual situation that forces them to commit to this junk. Bonham Carter? Ron Howard's daughter? Bale, even?

 

Some guy on the imdb board has not very kind words to say about Hulburt, apparently from experience.

Planet sized grains of salt all round, chaps.

 

 

The only thing we do know for certain is that Bale sounds like Phil Collins in South Park with that cringeworthy accent.

 

 

PS a few non-film friends have approached me since this story broke out to ask "what's a DP"? :lol:

[Dan Salzmann]

Wow! I'm really surprised at the amount of people here defending Bale. And I'm just as surprised at the amount of people making assumptions about what Shane Hurlbut did or didn't do. We don't know the context of what happened, so I don't think assumptions are in order. Bale was very obviously out of line. I don't care if Hurlbut ran through the set naked and screaming, Bale's reaction was WAY too much. He threatened physical violence to a co-worker. I don't see how anyone could think that this behavior is acceptable. Being an "artist" is no excuse.

 

"assault:

 

A crime that occurs when one person tries to physically harm another in a way that makes the person under attack feel immediately threatened. Actual physical contact is not necessary; threatening gestures that would alarm any reasonable person can constitute an assault. Compare battery."

 

Judging by the sound only, this situation may fit the definition of assault. I'm not saying the police should be sent to pick up Bale, I'm just making a point.

 

PRECISELY!

I do not know how it could be possible to continue working on a set after being belittled like that!

Maybe the whole thing was a set-up publicity campaign.

Lots of hype on this!

[Andy_Alderslade]

He threatened physical violence to a co-worker. I don't see how anyone could think that this behavior is acceptable. Being an "artist" is no excuse.

 

Exactly, those who use threatening behaviour or have a history of violence be it with a criminal record or not, find it extremely hard to gain employment in all other sectors.

[Phil Rhodes]

All this talk of filing lawsuits is really not practical, how many people have the money to hire lawyers to fight a lawsuit that could drag on for years against a giant company?

 

Well, Bale presumably does - but in general, quite. I've been advised, by lawyers, to sue someone, and it was never going to happen because I didn't have 10k to spend preparing the ground.

 

P

[Brad Grimmett]

Then under what conditions can you fire a crew member Brad?

If you're unhappy with their work or they're not doing their job. You really think Hurlbut should be fired because Bale had a ridiculous tantrum? Wow.

They have to intentionally set fire to the set and kill the director?

So you're equating what Hurlbut did (adjusting a light) with being almost as bad as setting fire to the set or killing the director? You certainly have a skewed view on what bad behavior is.

All this talk of filing lawsuits is really not practical, how many people have the money to hire lawyers to fight a lawsuit that could drag on for years against a giant company?

All this talk? You mean the ONE mention of it?

If someone actually was fired for getting berated by an actor, I think the studio lawyers are smart enough to know that they have no case.

I guess don't understand that you can't fire someone because their co-worker threatened them and went nuts.

I had to do it once, and it took over a year and many thousands of dollars to win my suit. Plus there is never any guarantee of victory no matter how unjustly you where treated.

 

R,

Oh, so YOU did it, but no one else can. I see. That makes perfect sense.

[Brian Dzyak]

To think James Cameron initiated this film series. Could you imagine anyone taking that tone on his set (assuming this is real)? Somehow I doubt he'd be cowering behind a video village and a three initial gimmick name.

 

It's not a "gimmick" name. McG is his nickname from childhood, much like the way we all call my brother "PJ" even though those are just the initials for his first and middle name. Just thought I'd clear that up. :)

 

 

PS a few non-film friends have approached me since this story broke out to ask "what's a DP"? :lol:

 

Send 'em to www.whatireallywanttodo.com ;)

[Alan Lasky]

In my humble opinion tirades like this should NEVER be allowed to happen on a set and the responsibility for seeing that a fire like this is extinguished IMMEDIATELY is that of the 1st AD.

 

The best 1st AD's I have worked with would never have allowed this to blaze on like it did. Why do we put up with the 1st AD's endless BS if not for the fact that we cede control to him/her for MANAGING the set? I respect the authority of the 1st AD because it is exactly at times like these when the crew needs a sergeant to take control and enforce discipline, no matter how big the ego or the check.

 

Not that I do not feel for the AD, who I assume is "Bruce" (Bruce Franklin) in the portion of the tirade:

 

"NO! Shut the **(obscenity removed)** up Bruce! NO! NO! Don't shut me up!"

 

At that moment all control is lost: Mayan civilization collapses, dogs and cats live together in sin, frogs fall from the sky and they run out of gummi bears at craft service.

 

Alan Lasky

[Taggart A Lee]

Anyone know if Christian Bale is available for IA contract negotiations?

[Dave Green]

There are actors who have problems with people unnecessarily in their eyeline.

 

Crew really should make sure they're not in someone's eyeline unless there's absolutely no other option. And even then, they should make sure they can't make eye contact with any of the actors during a take.

 

I find it amazing how many people don't seem to understand this when they walk onto a set.

 

Judging by the sound only, this situation may fit the definition of assault. I'm not saying the police should be sent to pick up Bale, I'm just making a point.

 

A hissy fit isn't assault - unprofessional, bloody funny when made into a dance remix, one would hope absolutely embarassing to the person who threw the fit once they've calmed down, utterly childish, but let's have a little perspective ... it's not assault.

[Guest]

If you're unhappy with their work or they're not doing their job. You really think Hurlbut should be fired because Bale had a ridiculous tantrum? Wow.

 

So you're equating what Hurlbut did (adjusting a light) with being almost as bad as setting fire to the set or killing the director? You certainly have a skewed view on what bad behavior is.

 

All this talk? You mean the ONE mention of it?

If someone actually was fired for getting berated by an actor, I think the studio lawyers are smart enough to know that they have no case.

I guess don't understand that you can't fire someone because their co-worker threatened them and went nuts.

 

Oh, so YOU did it, but no one else can. I see. That makes perfect sense.

 

Brad I just love all of your responses to my posts, you always fly off the handle and blow things way out of context.

 

In brief......if you re-read what I was saying about suing some one because you where fired from a job is that it is not so easy as one might think. As I said, "it took me a year and many thousands of dollars."

 

Many people are under the impression that they will get their huge cheque from their former employers a week after their lawyer simply sends them a letter. This is not the case.

 

Yes it can be done, but it's a long tough slog.

 

As for the studio lawyers knowing that they can't fire some one because an actor went off on them....Bale didn't go off on the DOP for no reason at all, the DOP did "some thing" that provoked the outburst. Whether Bale's reaction was justified or not, if the guy on set that did the "some thing" was not the DOP and say the gaffer, they would have booted the gaffer off the set (most likely).

 

I have such a hard time believing that studios would place the financial interests of crew members above keeping a star like Bale happy on set.

 

R,

[Daniel Carruthers]

Crew really should make sure they're not in someone's eyeline unless there's absolutely no other option. And even then, they should make sure they can't make eye contact with any of the actors during a take.

 

I find it amazing how many people don't seem to understand this when they walk onto a set.

 

 

 

A hissy fit isn't assault - unprofessional, bloody funny when made into a dance remix, one would hope absolutely embarassing to the person who threw the fit once they've calmed down, utterly childish, but let's have a little perspective ... it's not assault.

 

 

I wouldnt call that a hissy fit, he verbally assulted the poor guy,you should listen to the audio clip again

no one deserves to be talked like that.

[Adam Frisch FSF]

I find it quite eye-opening to see many members saying stuff like: "Well, Shane should know better than to walk into a scene and ruin it".

 

Listen, he's done 14 features, God knows how many commercials and MV's and is a member of the ASC. I've never done a feature, yet I've never "walked into a scene". This is day one stuff - of course Shane never walked into the scene and ruined it. He might have been somewhere in the background tweaking a lamp during a rehearsal or had his gaffer do so - but that's what rehearsals are for. Some actors want to "enter stage" and have all the lighting done by the time they come on, but that's then clearly been advertised earlier and the crew would adapt to that and light with stand-ins.

 

But besides all that, after Shane's gallant third apology then the man should know when to accept it. Instead he goes on for another 3 minutes in front of everyone. It's crystal clear who's in fault here.

[Bruce Greene]

As I understand it from talking to some people out here the release of the tape came through the insurance/completion bond company, not any crew member involved in TERMINATOR: SALVATION. The tape was delivered to the bonding company for two reasons, both of them related to the very real possibility that SALVATION would need to file a claim:

 

1. The actor walks off the set and they can't continue and have to file a stoppage claim.

2. 'Mental health issues' in one of the leads causes them to shut down and either:

A. Hold production until the issues are resolved. ($$, but not insurmountable)

B. If the issues can not be resolved, reboot with a new principal actor. (A mighty $$$ claim)

C. Shut down production. ($$$$$$$ and almost impossible)

 

The audio would be used as part of discovery in any litigation. I have worked on several films where specific actors required special 'riders' in the bond to cover drug and alcohol use, mental health issues, etc. I doubt very strongly any crew member would ever release a tape like this to the public.

 

Alan Lasky

 

This situation is what it is. What I can't understand is why the sound was rolling without the camera. Unless, maybe the producer asked it to be recorded as evidence?

 

When actors wear radio mikes, it's important to keep the actors conversation private when not rehearsing or shooting. It's not really fair to anyone to have their private conversations broadcast over every comtek on the set, and especially recorded and leaked.

 

Some actors can be difficult, I've heard. But it's a shame that the cinematographer's reputation has been dragged through the internet and such like this. I don't think it's really fair to him, even if he were somehow "guilty" in the incident which I'm not suggesting.

[Andrew Koch]

It always blows me away how little sensitivity a crew has for actors doing scenes. I see crew ALL the time just standing there out in the open staring at actors while the camera rolls. Noise is another major distraction to actors that I find crew not thinking about often enough. When you're literally surrounded by 30 or 40 people and you need to transport yourself to another place and time while being another person and crew are walking around the set, who could blame a guy for tweaking?

 

I'm sorry that you have had such a problem with crew members. I must be very lucky because most of the crews I work with are very respectful of actors and go to great lengths to help the actors. The grips I work with are usually very good about setting up courtesies for the actors. Also making sure the lighting works is serving the actor's performance. I'm not suggesting interrupting a performance, but some actors don't appreciate the hard work that the crew does to make them look good.

 

I understand that it is important to respect the actor's workspace, and it should be respected, but SOME (certainly not all) of these actors don't appreciate the fact that crewmembers may have been hauling heavy equipment for the last 16 hours. People might make the occassional mistake (I'm not sure if the DP even made a mistake or not, frankly it doesn't matter), there is no excuse to threaten someone like this.

[Jonathan Bowerbank]

Hey Jonathan...But is it right for Bale to throw a tantrum in front of everyone and call a true professional an amateur?

He could've pulled him to the side.

 

Bale crossed the line......BIG time!! :angry:

 

Pretty sure I communicated in my post that he overreacted and his behavior was inexcusable. But nobody can do anything about somebody's childlike behavior. I'm usually looking for solutions to avoid such situations.

[Chris Keth]

I feel for the guy. He may have made a mistake but that's pretty rough being berated in front of the whole crew like that.

[Brad Grimmett]

Brad I just love all of your responses to my posts, you always fly off the handle and blow things way out of context.

I'm no where near flying off the handle, nor have I ever been when responding to one of your posts. You obviously just have an active imagination.

In brief......if you re-read what I was saying about suing some one because you where fired from a job is that it is not so easy as one might think. As I said, "it took me a year and many thousands of dollars."

 

R,

Great, so like you said before.....YOU can do it, but no one else can. I'm glad you decided to re-iterate exactly what you said before. Very helpful.

[Brad Grimmett]

A hissy fit isn't assault

Then obviously this wasn't a a hissy fit, because it fits the description of assault.

 

I guess not everyone here thinks that threatening your co-worker with physical harm is a big deal. Or maybe they only think it's no big deal when a movie star is doing it....

[John Allen]

Lol, I think it's hilarious how Christian is telling the DP how unprofessional he is. Well Christian, hate to brake it to ya but if you think you're acting at all professional by screamin the DP's head off, then you are one crazy, self absorbed pig.

 

There is no excuse for him acting the way he did. If I was the DP then I would maybe walk off the set, well I might not do that, but I would certainly never work with him again.

 

What's funny is that the DP was just checking a light, and in essence, making sure that light is good will make Christian look good. I mean really, the actors don't do crap. Yeah sure they do their work, and get stressed out, but really their job is second nature to them. The DP on the other hand has to worry about all kinds of things, and they work hard just to please the actors public vanity. They shouldn't have to put up with this crap. The Director should have taken more responsibility too. He should've stepped in there and stopped it. Maybe even get some security in there.

 

I think this also proves why Cinematographers are the guys most easy to get along with on the set, just because they have to put up with all this crap and apologize a lot even though they didn't really do anything. They really have to learn to just bite their tongue and accept that these actors are just sorry little people. When people do stuff like that to me I almost pity them, because they aren't satisfied with their lives. Yeah of course they act like they are having the greatest life possible, but anyone that will lose their temper like that off of the drop of a hat, is just sad. They're not content with their life or something. Anyway, I think that it's just something that, as a profession, the Cinematographer will just have to put up with it, even if it makes you feel humiliated. It's just part of the job that you have to get used to.;)

[John Allen]

This situation is what it is. What I can't understand is why the sound was rolling without the camera. Unless, maybe the producer asked it to be recorded as evidence?

 

When actors wear radio mikes, it's important to keep the actors conversation private when not rehearsing or shooting. It's not really fair to anyone to have their private conversations broadcast over every comtek on the set, and especially recorded and leaked.

 

Some actors can be difficult, I've heard. But it's a shame that the cinematographer's reputation has been dragged through the internet and such like this. I don't think it's really fair to him, even if he were somehow "guilty" in the incident which I'm not suggesting.

 

Hey Bruce,

 

I'm guessing that they never meant to keep the audio rolling. What probably happened was that they were shooting the scene and then in the middle of the shot, this incident took place. The sound crew must have thought that it was going to finish and they were going to have a new take. Lol, or I guess they could have been so surprised about what just happened that they just forgot that the audio was running.:huh:

 

Yeah it is a shame, but it also could work in the opposite. I mean it could actually show how well manored DP's are, and what they have to put up with as a reward for their hard work. But I think most people have sided with the DP in that Christian Bale had no right to act the way he did.

 

Thanks for posting. :)

[A. Whitehouse]

I think this also proves why Cinematographers are the guys most easy to get along with on the set, just because they have to put up with all this crap and apologize a lot even though they didn't really do anything.

 

I'm sure this isn't a universal truth, I've seen a few tantys from DPs and other heads of department including screaming matches between HODs and Directors, Actors at crew, Actors at Directors, etc...

The easiest people to get along with are almost always the Makeup people. A lot of camera people have huge egos.

Who knows what the situation is here, probably not the way adults should talk to one another but the film got shot and maybe they're all good friends.

There's a statement out from the 1st AD trying to play down the tapes, I'm inclined to believe his version of events.

Nowhere near as good as the "I Heart Huckabees" tapes. I'm surprised more stuff like this doesn't leak.

[Brad Grimmett]

I'm guessing that they never meant to keep the audio rolling.

Actually, since the audio starts during the tirade and not before it, I would guess that they rolled with the specific intent to record it, very likely at the producers request. It was a rehearsal, not a take, otherwise they would have had video assist of the incident instead of just audio.

 

Here's the Aint It Cool News Story about this. Be warned, it's ridiculous.

aintitcool.com

[Delorme Jean-Marie]

as it was said earlyer, the direcctor didn't call "cut" so i assume it's even on the film.

 

on big show like this camera can keep rolling almost all day long!!!

crews are used to keep rolling when the director is making an adjustment.

the director knows that if he call "cut" everybody will take advantage of this moment to fix whatever problem he/she saw while focusing during the take.

often directors hates that.

[Joseph Zizzo]

He also replied to this one:

 

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0403397/board/nest/112683233

 

But now the board is full of Bale fans, trolls and such. So I doubt he'd be making any more replies.

 

 

Hurlbut's response about the look of the film was more interesting than anything else about this incident!