American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 55

In the Line of Fire photos by Bruce McBroom, courtesy of Castle Rock Entertainment. Carol Littleton and John Bailey portrait by Douglas Kirkland. Photos by Michael Gershman;
Peter Sorel, SMPSP; Frank Masi; Marsha Blackburn and unknown photographers, courtesy of Carol Littleton, John Bailey, Lawrence Kasdan and the AC archives.

I

n 35 years as a director of photography, John Bailey, ASC has
photographed nearly 70 features,
amassing an eclectic body of highly
regarded work that runs the gamut from
dramas and action to comedies and
Westerns. Perhaps because of that variety, his work doesn't show the stamp of
a single cinematic sensibility, but instead
reflects as many different approaches as
there are credits to his name. The recipient of this year's ASC Lifetime
Achievement Award, Bailey offers, "I've
never read a script to try to find photographic opportunities. I look at the
emotional value to see if I'm moved."
Bailey's path toward a career
behind the camera stemmed neither
from family connections in the industry
nor a youthful love of photography.
Rather, he arrived after a circuitous
voyage of discovery through fine art,
literature, classical music and, eventually,
the European cinema. Born in Moberly,
Mo. and raised in Norwalk, Calif., he
grew up enjoying science fiction and
Western movies just like any other kid.
"I remember High Noon," he says, "especially the crane shot when Gary Cooper
goes out to meet the bad guys. It starts
close on him and pulls back high, with
him standing all alone in the street. I got
a kind of shiver at that shot, but I had no
idea what it meant. I looked at the
movies as if everything on the screen
just sort of happened."
His background was very much
blue collar, but his parents had an abiding respect for education and did all they
could to ensure that their son would
have the opportunities they hadn't. "My
father was a machinist for Lockheed, a
man who worked with his hands,"
Bailey recalls. "He had these huge hands
with scarred fingers. I worked with him
in the summers in his machine shop. He
barely graduated the eighth grade. My
mother dropped out of high school at
the end of her freshman year. Education
was something that they had a secondhand understanding of, but they knew it
was important."
While attending Pius X High
School, the teenaged Bailey was encour-

Opposite: John
Bailey, ASC lines
up a handheld
shot on the set of
In the Line of Fire.
This page, top: A
portrait of Bailey
and his wife,
editor Carol
Littleton, taken by
photographer and
ASC associate
Douglas Kirkland
for Kodak's
On Film campaign.
Bottom: Jerry
Bruckheimer (far
right) chats with
Bailey's first agent,
JoAn Kincaid, on
the set of
American Gigolo
at the Bruin
Theatre.

www.theasc.com

February 2015

55



http://www.theasc.com

American Cinematographer - February 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - February 2015

Contents
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 1
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 2
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - Contents
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 4
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 5
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 6
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 7
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 8
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 9
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 10
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 11
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 12
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 13
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 14
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 14a
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 14b
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 15
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 16
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 17
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 18
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 19
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 20
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 21
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 22
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 23
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 24
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 25
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 26
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 27
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 28
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 29
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 30
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 31
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 32
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 33
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 34
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 35
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 36
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 37
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 38
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 39
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 40
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 41
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 42
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 43
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 44
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 45
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 46
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 47
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 48
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 49
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 50
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 51
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 52
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 53
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 54
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 55
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 56
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 57
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 58
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 59
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 60
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 61
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 62
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 63
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 64
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 65
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 66
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 67
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 68
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 69
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 70
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 71
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 72
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 73
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 74
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 75
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 76
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 77
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 78
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 79
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 80
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 81
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 82
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 83
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 84
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 85
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 86
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 87
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 88
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - Cover4
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