American Cinematographer - November 1988 - 49

Opposite

made," said Bailey.

ly

the

over

a

team

unhappy

Hurt's wife,

writer/director Lawrence Kasdan

same name.

Kathleen Turner
and Geena Davis

as

as
as

equal¬

as
shown in this dra¬

Bailey as cine¬
matographer and Carol Littleton as
editor, as he did on The Big Chill and
Silverado (his last effort). Kasdan
wrote the screenplay from Tyler's
stars William Hurt

Left:

ly unhappy

chose to work with

novel of the

man.

Kathleen Turner,

For this film

years.

page:

Hurt, portrait of an

of
filmmakers that have become fami¬
"We" refers to

matically back lit
setting.

The film

Macon

Sarah

Leary,
Leary,

Muriel.

The

adaptation of a novel
to film is certainly nothing new, but
it gave Bailey a chance to reflect on
the relationship between the writ¬
ten word and film. "What has been

amazing in these recent screenings
is to

what lives and breathes

see

and what's

gasping. There isn't nec¬
essarily a connection between what
works in the novel and what works
on

film. You

can

read how

thing is rendered in

a

some¬

novel and it

works. Then you see an

accurate

interpretation of it

on film and it
doesn't work. Film is inherently
different. So you go back and

change things and manipulate
things. And yet the new interpreta¬
tion is equally valid. It's an honest
way of presenting the material.
"You would think that
there is
in

a

a

clearly defined structure

novel:

a

skeleton that reveals

itself and you flesh it out. But if you
take those same bones, you can

completely

them into a
nothing new. We all

rearrange

film. This is

know it, and we talk about it in film
school. But to confront this princi¬

ple in a piece where you don't nec¬
essarily expect to, is a revelation
of just how magical making a

choices

were

made. I then have the

opportunity to reflect back on why
those choices seemed to be right
when I made them and why they
don't work now," Bailey explained.
"It's also very interesting
to see the effect of shifting se¬
quences in the film, of changing the
chronology. As a cinematographer,
you have imprinted on the film your
lighting and visual ideas to reflect a
certain rhythm. When those are
changed it's like taking movements
or

themes out of

a

sonata and shift¬

ing them around. It can be discon¬
certing. It can also be revealing of
just how flexible the medium is,
because often a new chronological
arrangement makes a better film.
"Finally, observing the
film through editing acts as a warn¬
ing to a cinematographer not to be
too arrogant. It's very popular for
cinematographers to speak about
putting some sort of artistic signa¬
their work. But

film

that's

odd

an

occurence.

Any film

ever involved with gets re¬
structured to some extent."

you're

The Accidental Tourist is

difficult

a

story to capsulize. Macon

Leary is a travel writer whose compulsivity has taken all the mystery
and fun out of his life and his trav¬
els. Sarah, his wife, is

quite the free
spirit, but the murder of their son
has caused a fundamental change
in her attitudes about life. Some¬

how, Muriel,

a

ditzy dog trainer,

gets thrown into this precariously
balanced arrangement. The result
is sometimes

funny and sometimes

sad and often
is

no

a

little of both. This

action/ad venture, nor is it a

romantic

comedy. It's more like
Big Chill - finding out
are and learning to live

Kasdan's The

who you
with that person.

Bailey likened the inti¬
film to another film
his career, Ordinary
People, and he saw an opportunity
macy of this
from early in

movie is."

ture on

Bailey believes that it is
important for the cinematographer

is shot, the real work begins. What¬
ever the cinematographer planned

to test himself

of the

very easily go right out the
window. If that signature is written

isn't the

boldly, and with too much em¬
phasis, it can be detrimental to the
film. A cinematographer has to re¬
alize that he is part of the filmmak¬
ing team. He has to consider very
carefully the on-set choices that he
makes and what effect they will

of the

things that I have experi¬
couple of years,
and especially on The Accidental
Tourist, is a change in my own ap¬
proach to work. I find myself trying
to operate more and more on an
emotional, spontaneous level on

the film if it is restructured.

the set. No matter how much reflec¬

to be able to see the evolution

film

during the editing process. By
staying close and observing all the
changes, he feels he learns much
about his cinematography and the
role it plays in the making of the
film. "I learn

on

several levels. As

a

cinematographer I learn whether
my ideas have some sort of organic

can

too

life to them. I also learn where

have

things don't work

We're not

-

where

wrong

once a

on

talking about something

November 1988

as

he faced

some

similar cinematic
was

same

problems. He
cinematographer he

in 1980. The difference: "One

enced in the last

tion I do upon

American

reading the

Cinematographer

screen-

47
American Cinematographer - November 1988

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