Disclosure in AC
- Jul 24
- 3 min read
Updated: 1 hour ago
American Cinematographer’s new August 2026 issue contains my story on Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day, and brings me full circle with the magazine.
The first copy of American Cinematographer I bought was the January 1978 issue onClose Encounters of the Third Kind. It was a couple of years old on the shelf at Forbidden Planet 2, the film and television bookshop at 58 St. Giles Street, London. That’s also where I bought my first copies of Cinefex and CFQ magazines, usually the ones that covered Spielberg films.
I distinctly remember being thrilled to see, in AC's CE3K coverage, Spielberg was credited as author of an article about the making of the film. It was so personal to him, I thought: of course! There was also coverage of Douglas Trumbull's visual effects, and a terrific location set report by AC editor Herb Lightman, who had his photo taken standing like a cowboy with Devils Tower behind him.
Later issues had fantastic stories that went into detail, I recall, with Allen Daviau, ASC, describing the lighting of E.T. The Extra-terrestrial where he used aluminum foil to model light on E.T. and Henry Thomas, which made their eyes so expressive. That made a big impression and, after reading, made me put more thought into my amateur films. Raiders, The Color Purple, Empire of the Sun — I learned a lot from those stories.
So, it was with great anticipation that I dove into American Cinematographer’s Disclosure Day story. My first viewing, a private press screening in the Spielberg Theatre on the Universal lot, left me buzzing with excitement. I was sworn to secrecy. They then scheduled me for an interview with cinematographer Janusz Kamiński. It was to be the first time the magazine had spoken to the man since Saving Private Ryan. No pressure.
I did my homework and got an hour with Janusz who spoke to me from his home in Malibu, handheld on his phone. He was passionate and engaged, and although I was aware (from research) he was not always keen to discuss technical minutiae, he was generous and funny. We touched on Close Encounters, his memories of meeting Vilmos Zsigmond, and the delicate touches he brought to lighting and filtration (he no longer uses the Dior silk stockings that visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren told me about in my Cinefex coverage of A.I. Artificial Intelligence 25 years earlier).
Janusz did throw me one curve ball. Normally, as a general editorial principle from Cinefex, I like to send my writer’s draft text to my interviewee to fact-check, as stories can be technically demanding. But as we were wrapping up Janusz said, “Oh, no, I trust you.” Gulp. So, that required some very careful behind the scenes detective work to verify details in any areas where I was unclear. What Janusz gave me, I felt, was gold; but I had five other sources. Thanks to Jen at Universal, Michael the film’s genius digital colorist, Dexter the drone wizard, Matthew the visual effects maestro, and friends at Panavision who all contributed their backup, I delivered the bomb (quoting Robert Shaw in Jaws).
It was also touch and go, working with Universal and Amblin, to add one final voice. For the first time in my career, after chasing him ten times for Cinefex, I got Spielberg. That ended up as an email exchange during the international press junkets, but he replied to three out of ten questions I sent him––thank you, sir.
The story ended up on the cover of American Cinematographer’s August 2026 issue with a closeup of young Tyler Maxwell Renaud with extra-terrestrial technology descending around his face (visual effects by Norway’s Storm Studios, blended with Janusz’s luminous lighting). AC also ran an online sidebar on drone technology used in the film. For the main article, you’ll have to pony up and maybe take a trek to Forbidden Planet .
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