(Note: Strong language is used in today's blog)

It started out mundane enough, Mark Raymond, editor of the now-defunct Manteca (CA) News, was plowing through San Joaquin County burn permit applications in July, 1989, when he came across one for Lucasfilm's special effects unit, Industrial Light and Magic.

The application was for New Jerusalem Airport, really nothing more than a landing strip near Tracy, CA. Raymond called Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) public relations, and asked if a photographer (me) could be on site to document their work on a film. They agreed to give me access, so the next day I drove the 15 miles or so to the airstrip.

ILM was contracting second-unit photography for Steven Spielberg's film, "Always," starring Richard Dreyfuss and Holly Hunter. "Always" was a remake of a 1943 film called "A Guy Named Joe" starring Spencer Tracy in which he's a WWII bomber pilot. In the remake, Dreyfuss is a pilot flying fire supression aircraft in National Parks.

Being a second-unit, there were no actors on the site, and that day's shooting ended up representing about 3 seconds of screen time (no wonder films are so expensive).

The director was Joe Johnston, an ILM alumnus who made his feature film debut that same Summer with Disney's "Honey, I Shrunk The Kids."

On site were talents such as cinematographer Hiro Narita, special effects producer Jim Morris, special effects supervisor Edward Hirsch and camera operator Kim Marks.

There were no restrictions on my photography, so I shot filming, preparation by model makers on site (planes were 1/5th scale), grip work and video monitor scene reviews. So in essence, it was "a day in the life of a special effects film unit."

Everyone was very polite and didn't seem to mind the constant whir of the motordrive on my Canon T-90. They even invited me to join them for lunch.

So, when finished, I went back to The Manteca News, processed the b&w film, edited images, screened images on my enlarger with vacuum base, cut and waxed prints and layed them out on 2 full pages in our "C" section. It was a photo essay that I completely controlled (the advantage of working f or a small town newspaper) and even came up with a headline I thought was cute and appropriate: "Honey, I Shrunk the Airplanes."

As soon as they were printed, I got a bundle of 25 newspapers and drove the 15 miles to the site to drop them off. Several of them, including, Johnston, seemed to enjoy the documentation and even the headline itself. But someone - with a bit of dread in his voice - said, "We're going to have to send one of these to Spielberg." They all laughed nervously. After leaving and driving back to the newspaper, I had a message waiting for me - they'd called wanting another 50 copies of the newspaper. I was flattered. So I grabbed a bundle and drove back out.

The next morning, I received a phone call from Joe Johnston personally. "Honey, I Shrunk the Airplanes? I'll bet you think that's fucking funny!" he yelled. He went on for a while spouting obscenities at me for something that the day before they'd all enjoyed and finally just hung up on me.

I surmised that Spielberg had seen the edition and was not pleased, took it out on Johnston and he was passing it on to me. Perhaps it was thought that the photo-essay took the focus off of Universal Studios and Spielberg himself. After all, Johnston and ILM were just contracted for parts of the film and they made the inadvertant mistake of circumventing the studio publicity department. Not only that, but I had linked (by title) a Disney and a Universal film.

As they say, no good deed goes unpunished. But I wasn't angry about being berated by Joe Johnston. How many of YOU have had your work seen by Steven Spielberg?

The film itself was a commercial and critical flop. But Johnston has gone on as a solid director, churning out several films which have been - significantly - about flight: "The Rocketeer, October Sky" and "Jurassic Park 3" (remember the flying dinosaur "pteranodon?"). He also directed the film "Jumanji."

Johnston's latest film, Disney's "Hidalgo " (due for October 3, 2003 release) is "Based on the true story of the greatest long-distance horse race ever run, Hidalgo is an epic action-adventure and one man's journey of personal redemption. Held yearly for centuries, the Ocean of Fire -- a 3,000 mile survival race across the Arabian Desert -- was a challenge restricted to the finest Arabian horses ever bred, the purest and noblest lines, owned by the greatest royal families. In 1890, a wealthy Sheik invited an American and his horse to enter the race for the fi rst time" (source: http://www.startedbyamouse.com/happenings/Hidalgo.html).

One thing I can guarantee to you, though - Johnston will make that horse fly.

Posted by: Adrian / 12:39 PM
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