American Cinematographer magazine

Luc Allein · June 13, 2009

I just read the current issue (Star Trek on the cover), and it had a piece on Terminator Salvaltion. Does anyone else find it odd that they didnt even bother to ask Shane Hulrbut about the whole Christian Bale episode? I mean, isnt it kind of the responsibility of the magazine to at least get his perspective on it?

I know a lot of people might say "Oh, it's just sensationalism, its tabloid fodder, move on already..." But honestly, after it hit the fan, everyone got Bale's 2 cents about the incident. But did anyone really get Hurlbut's? Im not saying they should have based the entire article on it, but c'mon...it might be one of the most famous and most talked about blow ups between a lead actor and a dp in Hollywood history. I think it deserves to at least be touched upon. Whats the worst that could happen, Hurlbut would say "I dont wanna talk about it". God forbid they be honest and ask a ballsy question. I dont know, it kind of bugs me.

Luc Allein · June 13, 2009

*The "edit" features on this page are a pain in the ass; I accidentally hit "post" as I was in the middle of this thought, the sub topic of the post is even spelled wrong. I tried to delete & re post but I cant get it to. Here's the second half of my rant, sorry guys:

I have to give it to that magazine, because every time I would think "I should give up trying to be an AC, Im still non union, have LOST money (not made money), work for free most of the time, blah blah", I would read some article and see people I had worked with and could STILL potentially work with and say "**(obscenity removed)** that, Im gonna do it or die trying..."

But I think the format over the years has gotten a bit bland. My buddy handed me an old issue from when the Thin Red Line was out with John Toll, and the articles were so much better. It was an actual q&a interview instead of what they do now, which is just mostly a technical overview with some input from the dp and a bunch of other people involved. I dont find it as engaging or engrossing than when they had it purely from the dp's point of view. And furthermore they have less and less behind the scene photos of production, it's overwhelmingly stills from the movie. Like the Star Trek article this month has probably 9 pictures of the actual movie, and maybe 2 or 3 of actual production, and only ONE of the dp Dan Mindel. No pics of the operators or ac's or anything. Why not throw these guys a bone? Anyone else feel the same?

Dont get me wrong, I still love the magazine, I just have some issues with it. (No pun intended)

Tom Jensen · June 13, 2009

I think Shane probably feels that the issue was resolved with an apology from Christian was enough. If you want to work as a high profile DP you don't go around bashing actors, particularly in print. Taking the high is the thing to do. Although, I never do it. The media perpetuated the story that was over before they ever got a hold of it. :P

Edited June 13, 2009 by Tom Jensen

Luc Allein · June 14, 2009

I think Shane probably feels that the issue was resolved with an apology from Christian was enough. If you want to work as a high profile DP you don't go around bashing actors, particularly in print. Taking the high is the thing to do. Although, I never do it. The media perpetuated the story that was over before they ever got a hold of it. :P

Im not saying he had to bash him at all, and Id bet this months rent that he wouldnt say anything bad about Bale at all. I just think it was a perfect outlet for him to speak his mind about it, I NEVER heard Shane's side of it, all we heard was Mr Bale's take. But the sheer magnitude and publicity of the incident basically leaves a huge elephant in the room anyway. Why not at least mention it or pay it some kind of attention for crying out loud.

Tom Jensen · June 14, 2009

Im not saying he had to bash him at all, and Id bet this months rent that he wouldnt say anything bad about Bale at all. I just think it was a perfect outlet for him to speak his mind about it, I NEVER heard Shane's side of it, all we heard was Mr Bale's take. But the sheer magnitude and publicity of the incident basically leaves a huge elephant in the room anyway. Why not at least mention it or pay it some kind of attention for crying out loud.

Wouldn't you think the writer did ask? Maybe his response was that he didn't want to talk about it. It's not the first time a DP has been reamed by an actor and it won't be the last. It was just recorded on tape and played in public. American Cinematographer is a serious magazine, it's not the Enquirer.

Kevin Masuda · June 14, 2009

AC magazine is not a place for gossip or tabloid stuff, its there to provide information on the craft of cinematography. So like it has been said before, the incident between Shane and Bale has no place in this particular magazine.

Luc Allein · June 14, 2009

I had a feeling the post was gonna go this way, you guys are completely missing the point and keep passing it off as "tabloid" and "gossip". If someone on the camera crew was killed in an accident and it was a majorly publicized event, would it still be avoided in the interview? You guys dont think that a magazine dedicated to cinematographers should give the cinematographer who got the poop end of the stick basically (seeing how he was never given a chance to give his side) a means to explain his point of view??

I would agree with you if they were asking about an incident on the set, like if Christian Bale and Bryce Dallas fell in love a'la Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw and were married or something and it caused a huge stir. But this particular incident involved the way a cinematographer interacted and/or had a bad experience with an actor, I think it's absolutely pertinent to the conversation/article and is not out of line to at least ASK if he wanted to comment about it. Im sure plenty of dp's have had that happen or would like to see how he dealt with it or how he felt, people could learn from it. I think it would be very interesting to hear his point of view on it, that's all Im saying.

Mike Washlesky · June 15, 2009

I had a feeling the post was gonna go this way, you guys are completely missing the point and keep passing it off as "tabloid" and "gossip". If someone on the camera crew was killed in an accident and it was a majorly publicized event, would it still be avoided in the interview? You guys dont think that a magazine dedicated to cinematographers should give the cinematographer who got the poop end of the stick basically (seeing how he was never given a chance to give his side) a means to explain his point of view??

I would agree with you if they were asking about an incident on the set, like if Christian Bale and Bryce Dallas fell in love a'la Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw and were married or something and it caused a huge stir. But this particular incident involved the way a cinematographer interacted and/or had a bad experience with an actor, I think it's absolutely pertinent to the conversation/article and is not out of line to at least ASK if he wanted to comment about it. Im sure plenty of dp's have had that happen or would like to see how he dealt with it or how he felt, people could learn from it. I think it would be very interesting to hear his point of view on it, that's all Im saying.

Yeah man, but the only reason any of us know about it was because it was leaked. By your rationale, AC would be asking every DP about BS that happens on set every day. There are conflicts constantly. This one just happens to be in the public eye. what else could be gained from him commenting on it? What about the little argument between Carradine and Haskel Wexler a few months ago at the Bound for Glory screening?

Luc Allein · June 15, 2009

I dont see how the Wexler/Carradine fight has anything to with anything Im saying. What happened on Terminator Salvation was the OJ Simpson case of a monumental DP/actor fight. It was household news, it had people saying they didnt even know what a 'director of photography' was.

As a kid, my father once told me "Dont piss into the wind." I guess Im alone on this one, so I'll move on.

Brad Grimmett · June 16, 2009

I had a feeling the post was gonna go this way, you guys are completely missing the point

I don't think they are. That incident has nothing to do with the cinematography of the film and therefore isn't pertinent.

If someone on the camera crew was killed in an accident and it was a majorly publicized event, would it still be avoided in the interview?

Yes, and it has been in the past. There have been quite a few movies that had crew members die that had articles written about them in AC, and there was no mention of that crewmembers death.

You guys dont think that a magazine dedicated to cinematographers should give the cinematographer who got the poop end of the stick basically (seeing how he was never given a chance to give his side) a means to explain his point of view??

I'm sure he's had plenty of chances to speak out on the matter. I'm sure every media outlet in the country was trying to get a quote from him when this story broke. My guess is that he made the choice not to, knowing that it wouldn't do him, or anyone else, any good.

I think it's absolutely pertinent to the conversation/article and is not out of line to at least ASK if he wanted to comment about it.

They probably did ask.

Karel Bata · June 16, 2009

But I think the format over the years has gotten a bit bland.

True of magazines across the board. I bought a copy if Wired the other day to be disappointed to find two proper articles (not very well written) and pages of bite size fillers with lots of nice graphics. On the cover was a hint at an article about Shane Meadows shooting a film in five days (something to read on the train I thought) but was just two paragraphs and lots of photos. Blame the internet and consequent falling circulation. Same with newspapers - some are about to merge or go bust. :(

The problem with AC printing film set gossip is where would it stop? And AC is like an ongoing historical archive - I would expect that Shane would rather that spat not be part of it. Any way I agree with Tom - it's not good for your career to go around publicly bashing actors. It gets noticed. I was once given the advice "in this business never say anything bad about anybody. You never know when it will come back at you."

David Mullen ASC · June 16, 2009

I thought it was smart of AC to not explore that controversy in the article. It would have only led to bad things...

Mark Inducil · June 19, 2009

AC magazine is not a place for gossip or tabloid stuff, its there to provide information on the craft of cinematography. So like it has been said before, the incident between Shane and Bale has no place in this particular magazine.

This would be my answer as well