John Bailey

Camera

John Bailey

Born 1942-08-10 · Moberly, Missouri, USA

John Ira Bailey (August 10, 1942 - November 10, 2023) was an American cinematographer and film director best known for his collaborations with directors Paul Schrader, Lawrence Kasdan, Michael Apted, and Ken Kwapis. In August 2017, Bailey was elected President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for a four-year term.

Acting credits

Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché poster
7.2

The epic life story of Alice Guy-Blaché (1873–1968), a French screenwriter, director and producer, true pioneer of cinema, the first person who made a narrative fiction film; author of hundreds of movies, but banished from history books. Ignored and forgotten. At last remembered.

Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché

2018

And the Oscar Goes To... poster
6.8

The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... traces the history of the Academy itself, which began in 1927 when Louis B. Mayer, then head of MGM, led other prominent members of the industry in forming this professional honorary organization. Two years later the Academy began bestowing awards, which were nicknamed "Oscar," and quickly came to represent the pinnacle of cinematic achievement.

And the Oscar Goes To...

2014

Visions of Light poster
7.0

Cameramen and women discuss the craft and art of cinematography and of the "DP" (the director of photography), illustrating their points with clips from 100 films, from Birth of a Nation to Do the Right Thing. Themes: the DP tells people where to look; changes in movies (the arrival of sound, color, and wide screens) required creative responses from DPs; and, these artisans constantly invent new equipment and try new things, with wonderful results. The narration takes us through the identifiable studio styles of the 30s, the emergence of noir, the New York look, and the impact of Europeans. Citizen Kane, The Conformist, and Gordon Willis get special attention.

Visions of Light

1992

Incident at Loch Ness poster
5.9

When renowned director Werner Herzog and fellow filmmaker Zak Penn set off to explore the legend of Scotland's Loch Ness monster, they uncover much more than they bargained for. Unexplained sightings of the creature and chaos among the crew create an uneasy feeling that things aren't what they seem.

Incident at Loch Ness

2004

Image Makers: The Adventures of America's Pioneer Cinematographers poster
8.4

Documentary following the history of America's first cinematographers.

Image Makers: The Adventures of America's Pioneer Cinematographers

2019

Midnight Men: A John Schlesinger and Michael Childers Story poster
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A documentary on John Schlesinger and Michael Childers.

Midnight Men: A John Schlesinger and Michael Childers Story

Making Mishima poster
NR

In this archival documentary, cinematographer John Bailey, production designer Eiko Ishioka, and composer Philip Glass discuss the conception of Paul Schrader's film, the image of Mishima that they had prior to committing to the project, the manner in which some of his ideas resonated with them, the unusual portrait of Mishima that the film offers, its form and visual style, etc.

Making Mishima

2008

No artwork available
NR

Cinematographer John Bailey and Matt Severson, director of the Margaret Herrick Library at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, examine the main reason why The Story of Temple Drake was once considered unfilmable as well as its cinematography.

Casting a Shadow

2019

Glamour and Tension: John Bailey on Notorious poster
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An analysis of Hitchcock's Notorious through Hitchcock's camera work, shots, camera angles, lens, and stylistic choices.

Glamour and Tension: John Bailey on Notorious

2019

No artwork available
NR

Cinematographer John Bailey discusses director of photography Freddie Francis's innovations for the 1961 film 'The Innocents', and how Francis and director Jack Clayton achieved the look of the film.

John Bailey on Freddie Francis

2014

Behind the camera

China Moon poster
6.1

Detective Kyle Bodine falls for Rachel Munro who is trapped in a violent marriage. After she shoots her husband, Kyle relucantly agrees to help hide the body, but his partner is showing an unusual flair for finding clues.

China Moon

1994

No artwork available
8.0

In this forceful study of religious passion an extraordinary spiritual experience is placed in the center of a deftly evoked natural world, namely, rural upstate New York just after the turn of the century. At summer's end, when she is 17, Mariette Baptiste, educated daughter of the local doctor, enters the cloistered convent of Our Lady of the Afflictions as a postulant. Her religious fervor, understated but determined, makes an impact on the small community of nuns whose days and nights are measured in a round of prayer and farm work changing only with the seasons. Their ordered life is disrupted, however, as Mariette begins to fall into a series of trances from which she awakens with stigmata, which heal as spontaneously as they appear. The feelings of skepticism, jealousy and adoration evoked in the nuns, Mariette's own response and that of the Mother Superior are delicately, indelibly presented.

Mariette in Ecstasy

1996

'N Sync: Bigger Than Live poster
9.0

The title isn't an exaggeration. " 'N Sync: Bigger Than Live," an IMAX concert pic showcasing the phenomenally successful boy band, offers an immense up-close look at heartthrobs Lance Bass, Joshua "J.C." Chasez, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick and Justin Timberlake.

'N Sync: Bigger Than Live

2001

The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe poster
8.2

The filmed version of the one-woman stage show written by Jane Wagner and starring Lily Tomlin, which won the Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience. The film stays true to the original stage performance. For her efforts on film and stage, Tomlin received a Tony Award, and Funniest Actress in a Motion Picture in the American Comedy Awards.

The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe

1991

Via Dolorosa poster
8.0

In this one-man Broadway production directed for the stage by Stephen Daldry, acclaimed screenwriter-playwright David Hare recounts his eye-opening journey to Israel and Palestine.

Via Dolorosa

2000