Backstage: "An Oscar-winning special effects expert was cleared Monday of health and safety breaches after a cameraman died during the making of the last Batman movie in 2007.
Conway Wickliffe, 41, was killed when the vehicle from which he was filming struck a tree during a test run for an action scene in 'The Dark Knight,' starring Christian Bale and the late Heath Ledger.
3 comments:
I'd be interested to know exactly what the circumstances of the accident were, and why they brought the supervisor to trial. Was he sued, or was he charged with a crime or violation? The article is not clear, but it makes a huge difference. If he was charged, there would need to be significant evidence of wrongdoing, but the article does not mention any of that. If he was sued, then it is not surprising that he was taken to court, and it seems that other people involved would have been sued as well. It would be helpful to know more detail so we can understand the consequences of these situations.
one of the things that for many years was swept under the rug by many of the major film and media distribution companies (namely the big six) was the amount of deaths especially to technicians which occurred during poorly performed shootings.throughout much of the first fifty or so years of films existence many fatal accidents went unheard of and many major people at fault were not held accountable. Now not saying we should play the blame game which hollywood likes to do with many of their "un-prized" workers" but to me it is a shame that it took the twilight zone accident in the mid eighties where a major well known actor (Vic Morro) perished do to unprepared steps in safety that many of these situations would come to light and not just be payed off. Landis and his crew were some of the first film makers to ever be held accountable and as much as it is not good to have to do it is important that people are made aware.
While I am glad that no one had to be taken to jail in association with this tragic accident, I shuddered when I read this because it reminded me that these accidents do actually happen. It seems like making a good movie isn't worth losing a life for. I know that not all accidents can be prevented, but it seems to often that deaths such as this one probably could have been prevented. Safety should be the main focus when it comes to situations like this. If the camera-man gets hurt or killed, he can't do his job...shouldn't he be more protected because of this obvious fact? Again, I'm glad that no one was at fault for this, because accidents are accidents and it's bad enough that one life had to be ruined as it is. I hope that this serves as a reminder to current film-makers. No man should ever have to risk his life for the sake of a job.
Post a Comment