Behind the camera: Gene Page, JM 1989, shot Paul Giamatti on the set of "The Hawk is Dying" (top). Page has taken stills for many movies, including "Basic" starring John Travolta, "Tigerland" starring Colin Farrell and Matthew Davis, and "Jeepers Creepers 2." (Top photo by David Zentz)
Turn the Page
Former journalist shoots stills for motion pictures
By Boaz Dvir
Gene Page, JM 1989, uses the skills he developed in the College’ s photojournalism program every time he steps onto a film set, including “Monster” and “Basic.” He shoots still pictures for movie posters, ads and press packages.
Page first snapped his Nikon on a film set while at UF, using his photojournalist credentials to gain access to “Parenthood,” which director Ron Howard partly filmed at Turlington Hall.
After graduation, the fifth-generation newspaperman shot for dailies such as Long Island’s Newsday . Although he only realized it later, everything changed Jan. 25, 1990, at 9:35 p.m. when his police scanner sent him rushing to the site of a plane crash in Cove Neck, N.Y. One of the first people on the scene, he stepped over bodies and live wires to secure “the shot.” As he documented the rescue effort, he heard desperate cries and spotted body parts hanging from trees like broken branches.
“I realized later I was too aggressive,” he said. “It was like a wake-up call. To this day, I can get teary-eyed thinking about it. In fact, last week I found one of my photos from this plane crash of a little girl, badly damaged, being worked on by someone. It really caught me off-guard, especially now that I have children.”
One of the grim images he captured that night ran on Newsday ’s front page the next morning and several of his shots ran on the wire. But he never cashed in his ticket to photojournalistic success. Instead, he started the challenging process of joining the cinematographers’ union (the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 644), a feat he finally accomplished in 1994. He’s been making a living in the world of make-believe ever since.
“I like the fake stuff much better,” he said.
Still, his conscience remains restless. “As I get older and I see the popular culture, I feel that the mass media often do a disservice to our country,” he said. “It bothers me that I’m a part of it.”
On the other hand, playing a supporting role – holding the secondary camera on a film set – rarely irks him, he said. “It bugs me when I see a good picture that I can’t get, but I remind myself that I’m not the main camera.”
Yet on the set of “The Hawk is Dying,” a movie based on one of former Prof. Harry Crews’ novels recently filmed in Gainesville, Page played a pivotal role. Producer Jeffrey Levy-Hinte often summoned him closer to the action, and lead actor actor Paul Giamatti hugged him after emerging from the chilly Rainbow Springs.
“We’re fortunate to have Gene,” said Levy-Hinte, who produced “Thirteen” and “High Art,” among other critically acclaimed independent films. “He’s experienced and gifted. What I’ve seen of his work is powerful and provocative. And from his side, I know he’s happy to be sleeping in his own bed and not in some hotel out of town.”
During most of his career, Page traveled for months at a time. But in recent years, he’s been working within driving distance of his 15-acre home in Micanopy. Among other assignments, he shot stills for John Travolta’s “Basic” in Jacksonville and Charlize Theron’s “Monster” in Orlando. As a result, he’s been spending about as much time with his wife Kim Bauldree, MAMC 2003, and two children as he would if he worked for a newspaper.
“In recent years, the most important thing in my life has become hanging out with my family in my house in the woods,” he said. “I can’t do any better than this.”
Page may be a family guy, but he hasn’t exactly kept his family tradition.
In the 19th century, his great-great-grandfather bought the daily Ledger in Columbus, Ga. In the 20th century, his great-grandfather took over the city’s Enquirer. Later, the Pulitzer Prize-winning newspapers merged. Meanwhile, his grandfather became publisher of the Bradenton Herald and in the 1970s, his family sold the newspapers to Knight-Ridder.
When Page switched careers, his father advised, “Whatever you do, don’t tell your grandfather.”
Page has no regrets. He’s loved film since childhood. He started shooting 8-mm film in the fourth grade. “I always watched all the credits at the end of the movies.” Besides, he said, he’s having “too much fun.”
“I have one of the best jobs in the world,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to do anything else, unless I was making the film myself.”
