IEC
#1: From interview [DP/30, 2011]
JOHN BAILEY ASC
Born: 10 August 1942, Moberly, Missouri, USA, as John Ira Bailey.
Education: University of Santa Clara, Calif.; Loyola University, Chicago; University of Vienna; Graduate School of Cinema [2 years] of the University of Southern California [USC].
Career: During his junior year [1962-63] at Loyola University he traveled to Innsbruck and Vienna to study German language and culture. Here he became influenced by the Nouvelle Vague [New Wave] films of the 60's. 'What I sensed in the French New Wave was a sense of freedom and spontaneity that caught me totally off-guard. I found a sort of crazed new spirit happening - everywhere really, but especially in the French New Wave - and somehow it just spoke to me in terms of its energy and its sense of breaking loose. And yet the themes it was dealing with were the same themes most novelists were trying to deal with. It was the beginning of a lot of experimentation in the literary form. Given my bent toward literature, I just saw it as a new kind of writing. When I entered film school at USC, I thought I would get into an area of criticism or writing or film aesthetics and history. When I took a beginning camera course, that changed my whole perspective: I really saw the camera primarily as the writing instrument.' At USC [his teachers were Sherwood Omens & Gene Peterson] he ph some student films. After graduation his initial jobs were in post production, e.g. filling lab orders for stock shots for the American Airlines library. He joined the camera union in 1969 and spent 11 years apprenticing as a crewmember [assistant for 7 years and operator for 4 years] with David Shore, Gregory Sandor, Don Peterman, Ric Waite, Vilmos Zsigmond, Nestor Almendros, Charles 'Chuck' Rosher Jr., a.o.
Ph commercials dir by Jeff Gorman, a.o. Ph music videos.
Member of the ASC since 1985.
Member of the jury of the Venice FF [1987] and the Aspen shortsfest [2006].
Was elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences [AMPAS] in August 2017.
Married film editor Carol Littleton in March 1972.
Appeared in the doc 'Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography' [1991] and the PBS-tv series 'American Film'.
Awards: Cannes FF 'Best Artistic Contribution' [1985; shared] for 'Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters'; Independent Spirit Award nom [1988] for 'Tough Guys Don’t Dance'; Camerimage 'Golden Frog' nom [1999] for 'Forever Mine'; Santa Fe FF 'Luminaria Award for Lifetime Achievement in Film' [2007]; ASC Lifetime Achievement Award [2014].
About scripts: 'There are several issues that I've spent most of my career with
and one is gratuitous violence or incendiary violence that's only meant to
inflame people and doesn't have a dramatic or sociologically responsible
context. That's always bothered me and has been the strongest determining
characteristic when I read a script. A kind of parallel to that, of course, is
violence oriented toward women or misogynistic, violent material. I've always
had trouble with that and I try to avoid it as much as I can. The thing that I
am always looking for - the thing that attracts me the most and will make me say
'yes' more than anything else - is at least one intensely focused relationship,
where there's something that stays between two people. It doesn’t matter the
genre, although I'm highly attracted to films that deal with nuclear families in
crisis like 'Ordinary People' or 'The Accidental Tourist' and, in
an off way, even 'As Good As It Gets'. But any film that has a relationship
of that kind jumps out at me and says 'this has importance or urgency.' [From
'MovieMaker', Vol. 2, Issue #8.]
| FILMS | |
|---|---|
|
1970 |
[Joe Cocker:] Mad Dogs & Englishmen [Robert Abel, Pierre Adidge & Sid Levin] MegaScope/c; concert film/117m; co-addph; ph: David Myers; filmed 27 & 28 March (New York) |
|
1970 |
Premonition/The Impure/Head [Alan Rudolph] c; sfx ph (+ co-c.asst): Jan Kiesser |
|
1972 |
Open Window [Richard Patterson] c; short/12m |
|
1973 |
End of August [Gary Young] cs/b&w |
|
1975 |
Legacy [Karen Arthur] 16mm-35bu/b&w |
|
1976 |
Winter Kills [William Richert] p/c; addph (+ c.op): ph: Vilmos Zsigmond; production halted, but resumed in December 1978 |
|
1978 |
Boulevard Nights [Michael Pressman] c |
|
1979 |
American Gigolo [Paul Schrader] c |
|
1979 |
Ordinary People [Robert Redford] c |
|
1980 |
Honky Tonk Freeway [John Schlesinger] c; 2uc: Jim Lucas |
|
1980 |
Continental Divide [Michael Apted] c; 2uc: Rick Anderson, Joe Valentine & Steve Yaconelli |
|
1981 |
Cat People [Paul Schrader] c; New Orleans ph: Paul Vom Brack; 2uc: Jeffrey Kimball |
|
1982 |
Without a Trace [Stanley R. Jaffe] c |
|
1982 |
That Championship Season [Jason Miller] c |
|
1982 |
The Big Chill [Lawrence Kasdan] c |
|
1983 |
Racing with the Moon [Richard Benjamin] c; uncred addph: Allen Daviau |
|
1983 |
The Pope of Greenwich Village/Village Dreams [Stuart Rosenberg] c |
|
1984 |
Mishima - A Life in Four Chapters [Paul Schrader] p/b&w-c; 4 chapters: 1. beauty - "Temple of the Golden Pavilion", 2. art - "Kyoko's House", 3. action - "Runaway Horses" & 4. harmony of pen and sword |
|
1984 |
Silverado [Lawrence Kasdan] sts/c |
|
1985 |
Crossroads [Walter Hill] c |
|
1985 |
Brighton Beach Memoirs [Gene Saks] c |
|
1986 |
Light of Day [Paul Schrader] c; 2uc: Gregory Lundsgaard |
|
1986 |
Swimming to Cambodia [Jonathan Demme] p/c; perf (by Spalding Gray) + doc footage/85m; filmed 6-8 November (The Performing Garage, New York City) |
|
1987 |
Vibes [Ken Kwapis] c; ph New York: Daniel Ducovny; vfx ph: Neil Krepela |
|
1988 |
The Accidental Tourist [Lawrence Kasdan] p/c |
|
1989 |
Hollywood Mavericks [Todd McCarthy & Michael Henry Wilson] 16mm/c; doc/90m; cph: Frederick Elmes, Steven Wacks, Steve Baum, Mead Hunt, a.o. |
|
1989 |
My Blue Heaven [Herbert Ross] c |
|
1990 |
A Brief History of Time [Errol Morris] b&w-c; doc/84m; addph: Stefan Czapsky |
|
1990 |
The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe [John Bailey] c; one-woman (Lily Tomlin) show/114m |
|
1992 |
Groundhog Day [Harold Ramis] c; 2uc: James Blanford & George Kohut |
|
1992 |
In the Line of Fire [Wolfgang Petersen] p/c; campaign unit ph (+ 2uc): Mark Vargo |
|
1993 |
Desert Passion [Carlo C. Gustaff] c; 2uc; ph: Mark Melville |
|
1993 |
Nobody's Fool [Robert Benton] c; 2uc: Gábor Kövér |
|
1994 |
Below 30 - Above 10,000 [P. James Keitel] c; cph: Duane Manwiller & Brad Rushing |
|
1996 |
Extreme Measures [Michael Apted] p/c; aph: Philip Pastuhov |
|
1996 |
As Good As It Gets/Old Friends [James L. Brooks] c; 2uc: Alex Nepomniaschy |
|
1997 |
Living Out Loud/The Kiss [Richard LaGravenese] p/c; 2uc: Phil Abraham |
|
1997 |
Ringside [Norman Mailer] announced with actress Halle Berry and actor Brendan Fraser; status unknown |
|
1998 |
The Out-of-Towners [Sam Weisman] c |
|
1998 |
For Love of the Game [Sam Raimi] p/c; 2uc: Phil Abraham & Gábor Kövér |
|
1999 |
Forever Mine [Paul Schrader] p/c |
|
1999 |
Michael Jordan to the Max [Don Kempf & James D. Stern] IMAX-70mm/c; sports doc/46m; ph Jordan shoot; ph (+ co-Steadicam op): James Neihouse; addph: David Kessler & Rodney Taylor |
|
2000 |
AntiTrust/Conspiracy.com [Peter Howitt] p/c; 2uc (+ c.op 'b' cam): Richard Walden; aph: Hans Bjerno; VistaVision ph: Patrick Loungway |
|
2000 |
The Anniversary Party [Alan Cumming & Jennifer Jason Leigh] DVcam-to-35mm/c |
|
2000 |
Digital Babylon [Shari Roman] dv/c; doc/?m |
|
2001 |
The Cinematographers' Test [Laura Anne Edwards & Kevin Stofer Smith] 35mm+HD-to-35mm; cph: Aaron Schneider & James Chressanthis; this test film (22m) compares 35mm and HD 24p |
|
2001 |
The Kid Stays in the Picture [Nanette Burstein & Brett Morgen] c; doc/94m |
|
2001 |
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood [Callie Khouri] p/c; aph: Brian Heller |
|
2001 |
Naqoyqatsi [- Life as War] [Godfrey Reggio] 35mm+HD-to-35mm/b&w-c; doc/89m; guest ph; ph: Russell Lee Fine |
|
2001 |
Auto Focus [Paul Schrader] declined Schrader's offer to be the doph; ph by Fred Murphy |
|
2002 |
The Fig Rig [Shari Roman] dv/c; doc/8m |
|
2002 |
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days [Donald Petrie] c; 2uc: David M. Dunlap & Will Arnot |
|
2003 |
ADM: DOP (Anthony Dod Mantle - Director of Photography) [Shari Roman] dv/c; doc/12m |
|
2003 |
Cursed [Wes Craven] started filming in March, but put on hold; resumed in November with ph Robert McLachlan |
|
2003 |
Incident at Loch Ness [Zak Penn] dv+16mm-to-35mm/c; mockumentary/94m; 2uc: Tanja Koop; + small part; this mockumentary shows the making (by J. Bailey as dir/ph) of the doc 'Herzog in Wonderland' which follows dir Werner Herzog (and ph Gabriel Beristáin, prod Zak Penn, a.o.) preparing and shooting the (unfinished) doc 'Enigma of Loch Ness' (a film-within-a-film-within-a-film) |
|
2004 |
The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing [Wendy Apple] b&w-c; doc/98m; ph London: Chris Morphet; addph: Philip D. Schwartz |
|
2004 |
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants [Ken Kwapis] p/c; uwph: Ian Seabrook |
|
2004 |
Must Love Dogs [Gary David Goldberg] p/c |
|
2004 |
The Director's Cut - What Happened to Michael Cimino [Lucy Walker] c; doc/24m; addph: Jim Denault & Ben Weinstein |
|
2005 |
10 Tricks [Rick Pagano] c |
|
2005 |
The Producers [Susan Stroman] p/c; cph: Charles Minsky (replaced J. Bailey after 2 months filming) |
|
2005 |
The Architect [Matt Tauber] HD (Sony F900)-to-35mm/c; 2uc: Manuel Billeter |
|
2005 |
The Death and Life of Bobby Z [John Herzfeld] s35/c/V; uncred |
|
2006 |
License to Wed [Ken Kwapis] p/c |
|
2006 |
Over Her Dead Body/How I Met My Boyfriend's Dead Fiancée [Jeff Lowell] p/c |
|
2006 |
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men [John Krasinski] p/c; released in 2009 |
|
2007 |
Mad Money [Callie Khouri] s35/c; 2uc: Robert Foster |
|
2007 |
He's Just Not That Into You [Ken Kwapis] p (+ D-Cinema)/c |
|
2008 |
When in Rome [Mark Steven Johnson] p (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Manuel Billeter, Patrick Capone & Chuck Cohen |
|
2008 |
The Greatest [Shana Feste] p (+ digital)/c; 2uc: Mauel Billeter & Petr Hlinomaz |
|
2008 |
Looking at Animals [Marc Turtletaub] HD (Genesis)/c; short/25m |
|
2009 |
Ramona and Beezus [Elizabeth Allen] s35 (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Karl Herrmann |
|
2010 |
Country Strong/Love Don't Let Me Down [Shana Feste] s35 (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Alex Nepomniaschy |
With Ken Kwapis - "Big Miracle" - photo by Darren Michaels
|
2010 |
Big Miracle/Everybody Loves Whales [Ken Kwapis] s35 (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc (+ 2ud): Peter Lyons Collister; uwph: Pete Romano |
|
2012 |
A.C.O.D./Adult Children of Divorce [Stuart Zicherman] HD (ARRI ALEXA)/c |
|
2012 |
Snake and Mongoose [Wayne Holloway] HD (ARRI ALEXA)/c |
|
2012 |
The Way Way Back [Nat Faxon & Jim Rash] HD (ARRI ALEXA)-to-35mm (+ D-Cinema)/c |
|
2012 |
The Angriest Man in Brooklyn [Phil Alden Robinson] HD (ARRI ALEXA)-to-digital/c; remake of 'Mar Baum' (1997, Assi Dayan; ph: Avi Koren) |
|
2013 |
The Forger [Philip Martin] HD/c; 2uc: Bill Trautvetter |
|
2014 |
A Walk in the Woods [Ken Kwapis] s35+HD (ARRI ALEXA + Panasonic Lumix G DMC-GH4)-to-D-Cinema (scope)/c |
| TELEVISION | |
|---|---|
|
1968 |
The New Cinema [Gary Young] doc/24m; co-addph; ph: G. Young |
|
1978 |
Battered [Peter Werner] tvm |
|
1979 |
City in Fear/Panic on Page One [Alan Smithee (= Jud Taylor)] tvm |
|
1989 |
Time Flies When You're Alive [Roger Spottiswoode] tvm |
|
1996 |
Passion [James Lapine] tvm (filmed stage prod); ep PBS-tv series 'American Playhouse' |
|
1996 |
Frankenstein and Me [Robert Tinnell] tvm; 2uc; ph: Roxanne di Santo |
|
1997 |
Always Outnumbered [Michael Apted] tvm |
|
1999 |
Via Dolorosa [John Bailey] tvm/dv-to-s16 |
| FILMS AS CAMERA ASSISTANT/OPERATOR | |
|---|---|
|
1971 |
Two-Lane Blacktop [Monte Hellman] c.asst; ph: Gregory Sandor |
|
1976 |
The Late Show [Robert Benton] c.op; ph: Chuck Rosher |
|
1976 |
3 Women [Robert Altman] c.op; ph: Chuck Rosher |
|
1976 |
Days of Heaven [Terrence Malick] co-c.op; ph: Nestor Almendros |
|
1976 |
Welcome to L.A. [Alan Rudolph] c.op; ph: Dave Myers |
|
1976 |
Winter Kills [William Richert] c.op (+ addph): ph: Vilmos Zsigmond; see Films |
|
1977 |
The Initiation of Sarah [Robert Day; tvm] c.op; ph: Ric Waite |
|
1977 |
Forever [John Korty; tvm] c.op; ph: David Myers |
|
1977 |
A Question of Guilt [Robert Butler] c.op; ph: Ric Waite |
| MISCELLANEOUS | |
|---|---|
|
1977 |
The Mafu Cage/Don't Ring the Doorbell/Deviation/My Sister, My Love [Karen Arthur] c; visual cons (+ co-ed); uncred ph: Willy Kurant |
|
1986 |
Tough Guys Don't Dance [Norman Mailer] c; visual cons; ph: Michael Moyer; addph: Danny Ducovny |
|
2000 |
*NSync - Bigger Than Live - The Concert Film [John Bailey] + camera dir; see Films as Director |
| FILMS AS DIRECTOR | |
|---|---|
|
1990 |
The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe [+ ph] see Films |
|
1990 |
China Moon [feature] ph: Willy Kurant; released in 1994 |
|
1995 |
Mariette in Ecstasy [feature] ph: Paul Sarossy |
|
1999 |
Via Dolorosa [tvm; + ph] see Television |
|
2000 |
*NSync - Bigger Than Live - The Concert Film [concert film] IMAX-70mm/c; concert film/48m; + camera dir; ph: Matthew Williams; filmed 18 July (Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan) |
