"A New York Treasure" --Village Voice

Innervisions

Black Umbrellas Adger Cowans

So, are we done with football? Got that out of our system have we? Bueno.

Onward. Pitchers and catchers report soon and that can only be a good thing, am I right?

Meanwhile, and completely unrelated, check out this interview I did with Adger Cowans over at The Daily Beast:

Faye Dunaway in The Puzzle of a Downfall Child, 1970 (1)

Taking pictures on a movie set is such a specialized kind of photography. How were you able to get crucial shots while staying out of everyone’s way?

When a shot is going down, the director is standing there, so you have to think of little games to get your picture. Because the director was always watching me to see where I was standing for a good vantage. And then he’d stand in front of me and I’d duck to the side, which is where I really wanted to shoot in the first place. Little games. Always positioning yourself. Dealing with the camera crew too, not bumping into them. You had to be stealth.

Did you approach the job by staying quiet or being more out-going?

Both. Depended. But it started with how you got along with the people on the set. The director, the camera people, the actors. You had to make friends. You had to put yourself out there in a way that people trusted you.

Actor and Director Bill Duke

Which directors did you liked working with most?

Alan Pakula was a hell of a nice man and a very good director. But my models for great directors would be Francis Ford Coppola (The Cotton Club), Sidney Lumet (Night Falls on Manhattan), and Bill Duke (The Cemetery Club). Lumet was the master. He knew what he wanted and never went past three takes. He did two weeks of rehearsals and then shot quickly. Duke and Lumet were so humble with the actors. They never yelled at an actor in front of the crew. They’d pull them aside and talk quietly but confidently to them. It was beautiful to watch.

[Pictures from: Personal Vision by Adger Cowans, copyright © 2017, published by Glitterati Incorporated www.GlitteratiIncorporated.com]

8 comments

1 Bronx Boy in NC   ~  Feb 7, 2017 11:04 am

Banter lives! :) Gonna be a good day.

2 rbj   ~  Feb 7, 2017 3:41 pm

One week until pitchers and catchers. Football is over and baseball has yet to begin, the worst week of the year.

Mercury Feul Oil company didn't get started until 1947, so I'm guessing it's late 40s/ early 1950s.

3 rbj   ~  Feb 7, 2017 4:04 pm

Chris Carter?

4 GaryfromChevyChase   ~  Feb 7, 2017 4:10 pm

Yeah Alex! Welcome back.
[3] For a one year, 3 million contract. He did have 40+ homers last year! Nice little addition

5 Bronx Boy in NC   ~  Feb 7, 2017 4:24 pm

[2] Yeah, down here in NC they have this weird affectation where they pronounce "spring training" as "March mad-something," but I look past it

6 thelarmis   ~  Feb 7, 2017 5:36 pm

Yay, Banter!

I check in every singe day, without fail, to see if there's a new post...

I'm good with Chris Carter slugging clutch homers and drawing key walks. He's arb eligible for '18 as well...

Go Banter! Go Baseball!

7 thelarmis   ~  Feb 7, 2017 5:40 pm

Tex is joining the 4-letter network as a baseball analyst. That's too bad. I was hoping he'd join MLB Network, as I only watch that channel...

8 rbj   ~  Feb 7, 2017 7:46 pm

Yeah, the 3 million is key. If it doesn't work out, cutting him won't hurt, and if he's good but the team is out of it, flip for a prospect or two

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"This ain't football. We do this every day."
--Earl Weaver