It was over the top. Seems like he has a temper, and he takes his job seriously. I think I'd have more of a problem with it if he was yelling at a fan or something, but this guy is a union worker getting paid and probably getting paid fairly well.
The response to this is kinda funny. I have a feeling it would be different if Tom Cruise had done this. And not necessarily just this sight.
"I know a lot about the law and various other lawyerings."
Hitters who avoid outs are the funnest.
I really dislike the opinion many have about acting- that its child's play, easy, "isn't curing cancer". Actors/musicians/writers/people who create art and entertainment for a living spend more hours at their job than a lot of us. They don't check in at 9am and clock out at 5pm and go home and have a beer. Many actors spend 15-18 hours a day on set working. Whenever I hear the same cliche arguments it just sounds like people behind a desk or stuck in a crappy job cutting another profession down to rationalize their own situation.
When you're at the top of any profession you are more likely to see "explosions" like this. The stakes are higher, the people are the best in the world at what they do, their expectations of others are higher. It isn't amateur hour, you're expected to behave like the best. It's the same as if a Reds player were batting in the last inning of the world series and an opposing player started pointing a laser pen in their line of vision from the dugout (and it was the 2nd or 3rd time it had happened). It takes a rare one-in-a-million person not to get very frustrated in that situation. I can't think of anyone on the Reds 25 man roster who, in that situation, would call time out and say, "Mr. Umpire, let's have a closed door meeting so I can discuss with you the unprofessional actions of the opposing team". 99.99% of people would flip and I think they have a right to do so.
The only thing Bale said that I thought crossed the line was when he threatened to fight him. But everything else he said was on the mark ("do I come over to you and trash your lights?" "this isn't the first time") and some of his comments ("no, let's not wait. let's film this now") showed that his goal was to get the work done and not waste the time of all the people there. I think a lot of it was prolonged by the fact that the DP kept wise cracking back at him and also that the director McG let the recurring situation escalate to this and didn't take control of the situation.
A lot of people look at the situation through their own frame of reference as an outsider who knows little about the rules/etiquette of being on-set, so they think the DP was this poor innocent guy who just made a mistake and didn't know better. What's the big deal, right? The big deal is this guy is getting paid a ton of money to be a professional and he keeps messing with the lights and distracting the actors even though he had been asked not to previously. IMO, some people deserve to be yelled at and I'm sure there were people on set who were glad Bale did the "dirty job" of telling him off so they didn't have to (I'm looking at you, McG).
Last edited by Larry Schuler; 02-04-2009 at 04:10 AM.
I'm in outside sales so I'm not "stuck behind a desk" and am rather happy in my chosen profession, thank you very much.Originally Posted by The Baumer
You can spend 25 hours a day on the set and be dog tired at the end of the day. Doesn't change the fact these are people pretending to be other people. Their big "skill" is memorizing lines and emoting in a particular way.
Meanwhile you have god knows how many people on the set busting their humps doing real work to support the 15 to 20 cast members. But the actor is the one doing the "important" work? Please.
And in contrast to writers and musicians, actors typically are repeating the lines they were given (not that they don't give occasional input, but the real leg work of script writing and screen plays is done by other folks). Whoopie doo.
I appreciate what actors do. I appreciate the entertainment they provide. But seriously folks. They are standing in front of a camera and pretending to be other people. Pardon me when I'm not impressed when one of them takes themselves way too seriously.
I have to agree with the Baumer.
I don't like the method Bale used to express his anger, but I can't blame him for dealing with the situation.
And I have the utmost respect for all artists, and actors are artists.
Thing is, so are many of the other professionals there, certainly the guy being yelled at is one.
He handled it badly, but we don't know what kind of scene it was, what emotional state Bale had to work himself into for the scene, and a myriad of other factors.
Yes, that behavior was over the top. But in such a highly charged creative situation, with so much at stake to all involved, it doesn't surprise me that this kind of thing can happen.
Seems like I remember Juan Marichal taking a baseball bat to Johnny Roseboro's noggin once upon a time.
Bale may be a little tightly wrapped, but he is an artist. We don't know the whole story here, and I'm sure we'll never hear it all. The media loves the Jerry Springer aspects of all this, and it's going to play non-stop for a while before they're done grinding the bones.
We'll go down in history as the first society that wouldn't save itself because it wasn't cost effective ~ Kurt Vonnegut
So when people say there's "so much at stake" what does that mean?
Other than wasting other peoples money to re-shoot a scene what exactly is "at stake"?
You do realize you can take any profession and reduce it to a silly over-simplified description, don't you? Here is my try: A brain surgeon is someone who holds a tiny knife and cuts where the book tells him to. I'm not impressed.
Truth is most people panic and have trouble reading a one page speech to a small room of co-workers. Heck, there are people who stutter when ordering at a restaurant. People are extremely ignoring the difficulty of public speaking, let alone performing under demand with real time/money consequences for your co-workers who are all pissed/grumpy/human beings (who probably all also hate you for being paid more than they do). Actors don't 'stand in front of a camera and pretend to be other people' any less than a hitter 'stands in a little chalk square and waves his stick of wood'. There is extreme skill involved. Anyone who knows anything about baseball knows the hundreds of tiny processes involved in a hitter's swing and how difficult it is to keep them all aligned. Acting involves the same precision, every muscle in your body is being used, not just your voice saying words.
In the end we all have our ill-informed, sweeping generalizations/opinions about stuff we don't know much about (rap is all about sex and violence, country music is about losing your girl and your dog, hockey sucks) and usually we get away with them and all is well in our little worlds. But then sometimes someone with too much time on their hands comes alongs and tries to present pro-arguments we don't care about and have no bearing on our foregone conclusions.
There was a famous incident during the filming of "Days of Wine and Roses" in which Jack Lemmon put out one of the most incredible performances of his career in the scene where he was desperately searching for a bottle. I may have the details wrong, it's been a while since I heard the story. But by his account, it was his finest hour as an actor.
When it was done, a large part of the set was destroyed from his rampage looking for the bottle.
Then they discovered that the film was faulty, or loaded incorrectly, I can't remember the details. But the performance was lost, only witnessed by the cast and crew present that day.
They set it up again, he redid the scene, and it was a movie classic. Who knows if it was as inspired as his first attempt, which was lost?
The point is, some scenes are more complicated than others. Some actors use different methods to prepare.
And I think the Baumers discussion about the difficulties of public speaking is spot on. We like to make fun of these guys and act like we could do it. We can't. I'm certainly not suggesting that we stop making fun of Keanu Reeves, that would just be wrong. But everyone else, I'm willing to cut some slack.
We'll go down in history as the first society that wouldn't save itself because it wasn't cost effective ~ Kurt Vonnegut
The creative work environment can't be compared to an office or business work environment. No one goes to work at the firm and re-enacts sex scenes, violent murders, curses until the cows come home, nor do they spend 5 hours applying a prosthetic mask. Things get crazier/weird in the creative world and it's forgiven and accepted because it's conducive to the process and everyone is in that pot together. Honestly, I would guesstimate that a blowup like the one Bale had happens at least once on every film set whether it is between a director and producer in an office, two grips having a bad day, or Jack Nicholson in front of the entire crew and the caterers. The only difference is this one was recorded, Christian Bale is a jerkface, and actors should never complain about anything because they make $$ (that last one gets dangerous when you turn it around and apply it to yourself).
That can mean a number of things. It could be immediate and literal, like there are some shots that require a certain lighting that may be restricted by sunrise or sunset so the actor has a limited time frame to "deliver". Or it cane be on a broader scope, such as the actors are being paid a big amount of money to carry a picture and if they don't perform, all the failure is pinned on them. They are also performing for a recorded document that will exist probably forever and their careers and livelihood will be judged by the performance they give right there on the set. Just imagine everything you do at work being recorded and able to be played back at any moment and your bosses using that as a tool to critique your proficiency. Also imagine instead of your bosses critiquing your speed or efficiency, they actually critiqued YOU. How your face looks, how they don't like the way you stand when you do your job, how you should try to not look so sad or angry. There are many meanings of "stakes" when it comes to acting.
The short answer is, if the movie flops, everyone involved realistically runs the risk of never working again.
Interesting story about Lemmon. You can definitely liken the actor's pursuit of that "great scene" as a pitcher throwing a perfect game. It's that strange, rare mental 'zone' and some people may never experience it but everyone strives for it. If a pitcher is throwing a perfect game and some bozo on the other team pulls a stunt to distract them from it, the pitcher is probably not going to be very happy. It's even worse in that Lemmon story, imagine if you DID throw a perfect game, then the umpire walks up and says "Oh sorry, that didn't count. We forgot to say all of the ground rules in the pre-game managers huddle so the game isn't official". I would break every piece of furniture in Yankee Stadium (I'd probably be down to do that anyway, even without the implied scenario, but that's a different 4AM post). So yeah, I apologize for dragging this out so much but sometimes you just have to be that guy to do it.
Last edited by Larry Schuler; 02-04-2009 at 07:26 AM.
This is so true. Every field, every hobby even, is far more intricate and layered than outsiders ever realize. There's very little (nothing?) in this world that is simple to do at an incredibly high level.
Just for some more perspective, this movie has a budget of $185,00,000+. I don't know what Christian Bale is getting paid for Terminator 4, but from what I've read he made $38million for The Dark Knight (mix of bonus and salary). There is absolutely a ton of money on the line, I'm guessing most people would be floored to find out how much a day of shooting costs for a movie like this.
Finally, Bale is one of the most intense actors working today, as anyone who has seen The Machinist would attest. He's a method actor, he has to get himself into a certain frame of mind, which isn't anywhere near as simple as it sounds. And then he has a guy who absolutely should know better (the Director of Photography is like a notch below the Director), ruining multiple takes.
I'm not defending the tirade, but I can see where it's coming from.
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
You just described my daily routine.
The problem here is that you don't talk to people this way, regardless.
There is no justification, he is responsible for his own actions, and to try and justify it fails the smell test.
We all can relate to why he did it. But just because we can relate to the behavior, doesn't mean it's okay if someone goes forward with it.
I want to smack somebody when they cut me off in traffic. They shouldn't do it, they are at fault, but if I walked up and smacked them for it, I would be wrong.
This lighting guy was at fault, but when you go overboard on the punishment, you're at fault now, too, and quite frankly the worse for it.
It is never okay to talk to someone like this. Ever.
This sort of "Gotcha" game that Bale plays here reveals much about who he thinks he is and how he thinks of others. I've worked with people like this jacka**, and the only thing that saves them from a beating is that I'm the better person.
Last edited by Dom Heffner; 02-04-2009 at 04:23 PM.
Bingo. Well put Dom.The problem here is that you don't talk to people this way, regardless
I have no sympathy for the DP. He was asked not to adjust lighting during takes, he ignored the actors and did it anyway. He disrupted and ruined the take, more than once, and his actions showed he had no intentions of stopping. If you go around treating your co-workers like that, someone is going to wise you up. Should have been the director but apparently Bale has more backbone and respect for the production.
Bale isn't justified in the sense that what he did wasn't very nice and I wouldn't want him to do it to me but the ends justify the means IMO. I'm assuming the DP stopped ruining shots after that nice talk. And regarding the traffic/road rage thing, the reason most of us don't follow through on such impulses are that we are afraid. Not because we are righteous.
Who needs actors?
“I don’t care,” Votto said of passing his friend and former teammate. “He’s in the past. Bye-bye, Jay.”
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