He worked on edgy films
Baird Bryant, 80, a documentary filmmaker and cinematographer who made
his name on edgy films such as "Easy Rider" and the Rolling Stones'
"Gimme Shelter," died Thursday [Nov. 13, 2008] from complications after
surgery at
Hemet Valley Medical Center in Hemet, his family announced.
During the Stones' performance of "Under My
Thumb," Baird turned his camera toward a scuffle at the foot of the
stage at Altamont Speedway in Livermore, Calif. Only later did the
filmmakers realize that he had captured a stabbing on film, and the
inclusion of the violent scene in the 1970 documentary was
controversial.
The filming of 1969's "Easy Rider" was chaotic,
and many crew members had quit by the time the scene showing the Dennis
Hopper and Peter Fonda characters on an acid trip was filmed in a New
Orleans graveyard, Bryant later recalled.
"I showed up with my camera, and nobody else was there," Bryant told
the New York Post in 1998.
"The whole crew had just had it," he said.