I have been an American Cinematographer subscriber for a while now, and though I do enjoy many of the articles, I have a complaint. Here it is.

Enough with the puff pieces.

Sometimes the cinematography is not perfect, even in the big-budget blockbusters. Sometimes, it’s bad. I would love it if just once, an article acknowledged this simple fact.

An example. Last night I saw Get Smart. It was funny and enjoyable but there were a number of shots that looked like really crappy video. Today, I open my mailbox to find a new issue of AC and inside is a lame piece about how much Dean Semler, ASC loves the Panasonic Genesis, and how add +1 (can I get a unit here?) gain and opening the shutter to 360 degrees allows him to shoot in the dark.

The problem with hiding the flaws is that it cuts out 90% of the learning. Tell us about the 10% of the time when you took a risk and it worked, but don’t forget to mention the crashing failures.

Any good complaint should come with some constructive suggestions so here is a list of some questions that might liven up the sometimes monotonous recital of ungodly wattages and film stock codes.

1. What piece of equipment was a total waste of money?
2. What piece of equipment caused the most stress?
3. What was the biggest risk you took on the set that failed?
4. Which shots did you lose the most sleep over before the shoot?
5. Which shots did you lose the most sleep over after the shoot?
6. Where did your reliance on a digital intermediate come back to haunt you?
7. What computer debacle cost the most time and money to fix?
8. What critical shots still look bad to you?
9. What were the biggest ego clashes on set? That is, among the technical crew (who needs more celebrity gossip?).
10. Who did you have to fire?

These are just a couple ideas I had of things that I, personally, would like to see in a future issue of American Cinematographer. Feel free to post more suggestions in the comments.