WEBVTT - Autumn Durand Arkapaw 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:10.959 Quest Loft Show is a production of iHeartRadio. We's Up, y'all. 0:00:11.080 --> 0:00:13.480 Welcome to the Quest Love Show, new era and format 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:14.160 for QLs. 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:16.520 After close to a decade. 0:00:16.160 --> 0:00:18.880 Of award winning podcast that you Know and Love, I'm 0:00:18.880 --> 0:00:21.840 back from a lengthy hiatus to have conversations with people 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:24.239 I always wanted to get to know on a deeper level. 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:28.520 Earlier this week, I spoke to Autumn Derout Archipele. If 0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:32.520 you've seen Sinners or Black Panther or Condu Forever, you've 0:00:32.600 --> 0:00:34.960 experienced Autumn's incredible. 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:35.960 Work as a cinematographer. 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:40.000 She also shot Beasty Boys Story and The Last Show 0:00:40.040 --> 0:00:42.680 Girl and As He's and Sorry It's Right Now Special. 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:45.879 She collaborates on a higher level with Brian Coogler and 0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:46.640 Spike Jones. 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:48.760 Autumn is a maverick. 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:52.400 And I love how she was open about setting boundaries 0:00:52.400 --> 0:00:56.040 and a work, her influences, and how she finds joy 0:00:56.120 --> 0:00:59.600 and family and tennis, Yes, tennis. As you're hear in 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:04.520 this comment, Autumn is soulful, innovative, and deeply passionate about 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:07.160 her craft. I told her at the end of our 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:10.320 top at I want to work with her someday, and 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:13.600 I meant that to the fullest. That feeling only deepened 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:18.080 after learning how she builds a vision, welcomes improvisation, and 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:21.880 captures a wider perspective on life and art. 0:01:22.680 --> 0:01:24.200 My vision for this new chapter of. 0:01:24.440 --> 0:01:27.240 LS is to get to know people I already do 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:30.600 on a different plane. And you know, we get to 0:01:30.640 --> 0:01:34.320 meet new voices who inspired me and Autumn Deroud Archapyle 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:38.440 inspires me first with a work and men with this conversation. 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:40.880 So please enjoy. Make sure you've. 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:44.640 Seen Sinners as Award Seasons is approaching. I highly recommend 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:48.720 it and look out for her upcoming collaboration with Ryan Coogler, which. 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:49.560 Is The X Files. 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:52.400 All right, thank you for joining us today. 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:53.040 How are you? 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:55.560 Thank you? No, your voice is so familiar to me. 0:01:56.000 --> 0:01:58.320 It's like, you know, when you don't know somebody but 0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:01.720 you've seen them you and listen to them. Wow, it 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:03.559 makes you feel like you know them, but you don't 0:02:03.600 --> 0:02:06.200 know them. So it's nice to meet you. 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:09.399 It's not false modesty, but I'm always under the impression 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:12.000 that no one knows me, so I'm approaching this is 0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:13.720 if you never heard of me, or don't know who 0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:17.280 I am, or you know, but yeah, we're meeting we've 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:18.480 never met before. 0:02:18.600 --> 0:02:22.040 Correct, I don't think, No, we actually haven't met before. No. 0:02:22.280 --> 0:02:25.640 The appreciation is ditto, So thank you for all of that. 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:26.560 I appreciate that. 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:28.480 Thank you, Thank you. All right. 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:32.480 My first question to you is, can you describe to 0:02:32.520 --> 0:02:37.000 me the first twenty minutes of your morning This. 0:02:37.000 --> 0:02:40.120 Morning, I have a son. He is nine years old, 0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:44.080 but my husband's also DP. When we're both in town, 0:02:44.840 --> 0:02:47.600 it is my job to get up and do all 0:02:47.639 --> 0:02:49.840 the things that you would to get a child ready. 0:02:50.240 --> 0:02:52.600 So I woke up, and I did set an alarm 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:55.919 because I just got back from Scad Film Festival where 0:02:55.960 --> 0:02:58.040 we got to screen Sinners and talk about it. So 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:01.480 I woke up, I woke him up, I got his 0:03:01.560 --> 0:03:05.760 lunch ready, I got it, his breakfast ready, his long hair, 0:03:05.840 --> 0:03:08.400 so I brushed his hair and I chased him out 0:03:08.440 --> 0:03:10.680 the door and his father took him to school. Then 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:14.280 I rushed to get ready for the zoom. And that's 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:14.800 what it was. 0:03:15.200 --> 0:03:15.519 Okay. 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:20.120 So, as a child who grew up with parents that 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:23.760 did the same thing for a living, I got tricked 0:03:24.080 --> 0:03:28.240 into the family business. Both my parents were singers. By 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:29.080 the time I was born. 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:33.560 They were nightclub loungejacks. So yeah, in the seventies. 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:37.480 I was there from like five until you're really when 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:41.200 the roots started, so like from age five till eighteen. 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:44.920 I got tricked into the family business, mostly because they 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:48.080 didn't trust The idea of a babysitter wasn't a thing 0:03:48.160 --> 0:03:53.040 until the late eighties. So in the seventies, you it's 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:55.760 like farm work. You just and I'm in the nightclub 0:03:55.920 --> 0:04:00.480 at one in the morning, like operating lights, cutting gels, monitors, 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:04.839 all those things. If both of you do the same thing, 0:04:05.240 --> 0:04:10.240 is there a hope that there's a creative epigenetic passing 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:15.760 of the torch? Are you leaving camera equipment? His version 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:19.040 of my first sony like you know, no. 0:04:19.400 --> 0:04:23.839 I mean, I think for me, the allure is if 0:04:23.839 --> 0:04:26.960 he does have an interest when he say, thirteen fourteen 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:30.000 in operating a camera, then I get to be close 0:04:30.040 --> 0:04:32.200 to him because we only have one child, and then 0:04:32.240 --> 0:04:34.200 I could bring in with me on all my jobs. Right, 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:36.880 So if he's really into it, it just allows me 0:04:37.240 --> 0:04:39.279 to spend time with him because you know, when we 0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:41.719 make these films, as you know, when you do music, 0:04:42.040 --> 0:04:44.440 you're away for long periods of time. You have to 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:49.400 juggle life and you know, schedules, so he is interested. 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:51.840 I wouldn't say it's like his top thing. You know, 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:54.360 he's he's kind of a builder. He likes building stuff. 0:04:54.400 --> 0:04:56.560 But he did bring his camera because he has a 0:04:56.640 --> 0:04:59.960 nice camera to his camping trip recently and made a 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:02.520 bunch of videos and he was the only kid doing it. 0:05:02.560 --> 0:05:05.880 So it's there. I'm just not, you know, on the cusp. 0:05:06.000 --> 0:05:08.320 It's just like maybe it'll take off. Maybe. 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:13.920 What was your first creative project in life? 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:17.360 What I can remember the most, I think is being 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:20.040 in high school and you know they have the labs, 0:05:20.080 --> 0:05:23.479 the photography labs. Yeah, the first time I felt like 0:05:23.720 --> 0:05:27.360 ownership of something that I made was the black and 0:05:27.400 --> 0:05:31.120 white photography class I took and having to go out there, 0:05:31.120 --> 0:05:33.240 you know, the assignment like go take some pictures whatever 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:35.400 you like, like go talk to some people. And I 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:37.440 remember taking a bunch of pictures and I still have 0:05:37.560 --> 0:05:40.440 them printed in a book. They're black and white. And 0:05:40.480 --> 0:05:42.839 I felt like a sense of power because I had 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:45.080 made something. But also it was my own right, it 0:05:45.120 --> 0:05:47.520 was my perspective. I've never been asked that, but it 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:50.720 immediately came to mind. So I feel like it had 0:05:50.760 --> 0:05:52.280 to be that class because that was the first time 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:55.960 I think I did anything like I never I wasn't 0:05:55.960 --> 0:05:59.239 a painter, I wasn't good at drawing. So that photography class, 0:05:59.240 --> 0:06:02.280 I think was important. And like I guess that would 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:03.159 be like ninth grade. 0:06:03.520 --> 0:06:05.960 Okay, what year was that? Do you remember who? 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:11.280 Let's call it ninety four, nineteen ninety four, ninety five. 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:15.520 Before then, was there a passion for photography? Were you 0:06:16.200 --> 0:06:20.039 reading magazines and seeing like her Brits or any Leewoods 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:20.960 or any like? 0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:24.720 Did you have a north star for photography? 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:29.400 It's interesting because I don't have anyone. Like my mom 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:32.880 works in business. She always traveled a lot. She raised me. 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:35.640 It was just me and my mom. I'm just myself 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:38.599 and she was a single mom until she remarried and 0:06:38.680 --> 0:06:41.000 when I was in eighth grade. But you know, as 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:43.200 far as like she would take me to films, we 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:45.640 would go to museums. I always had art around me. 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:50.400 But my grandparents my mother's side is Filipino and she 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:52.520 was born in England and he was in the service, 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:55.479 and they traveled the world for his job, Like he 0:06:55.480 --> 0:06:57.680 would be stationed in London and then he would go 0:06:57.800 --> 0:07:00.839 to the Americas in New York and they my grandmother 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:03.360 always took photographs. I can't show you right now. It's 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:05.720 on a wall, but a lot of the photographs are 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:09.159 black and white photographs where they're center punched, and it's 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:12.200 just like single shots of like my grandmother in New 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:15.440 York or my grandmother in London, and they were always around, 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:17.640 Like my mom always had him around, And that must 0:07:17.640 --> 0:07:21.440 have had an impact because till this day, like the 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:24.120 way that I frame, I find that there's similarities. But 0:07:24.160 --> 0:07:27.560 that's like the first relationship I had with photography before 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:32.720 doing art history in LMU undergrad where you're learning about 0:07:32.800 --> 0:07:36.080 you know, roth Cooe, where you're learning about Eggleston and 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:39.200 then you're more versed in it. But they always had 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:41.360 photos around our house growing up. 0:07:41.880 --> 0:07:43.520 You went to LMU, I did. 0:07:43.560 --> 0:07:44.920 I went to ELMU for undergrad. 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:50.640 Yeah, okay, despite my quest loveness, I have a major 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:55.520 fear of public speaking, kind of a therapeutic challenge. This 0:07:55.640 --> 0:07:59.960 was like December of the year before in twenty twenty five, 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:03.560 or my therapist was like she knew that Noah was 0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:06.880 my favorite word. When it came to hey, quest, come 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:09.120 speak to the kids, Hey chus, you want to talk 0:08:09.120 --> 0:08:12.080 to these you know, like and so it just so 0:08:12.240 --> 0:08:16.440 happened that LMU had given me an offer to speak 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:23.280 to the graduating class, and I begrudgingly did it. Weird enough, 0:08:23.400 --> 0:08:26.680 I've made it about me by just telling that class 0:08:26.680 --> 0:08:28.920 how scared I was to do this, And somehow it 0:08:28.960 --> 0:08:29.480 became like. 0:08:29.600 --> 0:08:35.160 Yeah, when was that obviously before the podcast, like before 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:37.800 this year? 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:42.079 Yeah, well, okay, you know previously with the podcast. Uh, 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:46.440 you know, I had four other co hosts with me, Like, 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:49.760 I like community work, but when it's like one on one, 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:52.079 that's like there's too much intimacy. 0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:53.400 So even this is. 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:57.960 More or less like a somewhat cathartic therapeutic exercise. 0:08:58.320 --> 0:09:00.880 I was going to say, yeah, I like that, no thing. 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:04.880 I specifically wanted to talk to people like one that 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:06.840 I didn't know, like the back of my hand, and 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:10.040 you know, kind of two strangers meetings. So that's what 0:09:10.080 --> 0:09:15.319 I'm doing. What is your favorite childhood memory from your home. 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:17.880 It doesn't have to be in a major event like 0:09:17.880 --> 0:09:19.760 oh that time we went to Disneyland or whatever, but 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:22.640 just like, what's your version of a happy moment from 0:09:22.679 --> 0:09:23.280 your childhood? 0:09:24.040 --> 0:09:28.600 Give me all emotional and shit. I think it's mostly 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:31.720 like my it was always me and my mom, you 0:09:31.720 --> 0:09:32.760 know together. 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:36.800 Yeah, what traits of yours do you think that you've 0:09:36.840 --> 0:09:39.680 gotten from your parents, either creative or personal. 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:46.560 I think she's pretty resilient and very determined person. I 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:49.880 think being raised by someone and always listening to her 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:53.000 on the phone and doing her business work because she 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:56.959 does international trade business and interacting with people. I was 0:09:57.000 --> 0:10:00.360 always worried about her, I think early on, you know, 0:10:00.800 --> 0:10:05.080 going out by herself, because you've become kind of the caretaker, 0:10:05.160 --> 0:10:08.079 you know, if it's just you and her. She's pretty tough. 0:10:08.800 --> 0:10:13.680 So I always tried to follow in those footsteps. And yeah, 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:15.800 I mean we spent a lot of time together, you know, 0:10:15.840 --> 0:10:20.200 it's just us too. Like I grew up in northern California. 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:23.200 Which city specifically, well. 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:25.800 We first started out in San Leandro. I lived in 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:29.319 Hayward as well, Bay area, you know, near Oakland, and 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:32.079 we had a little apartment, you know, so I shared 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:34.840 a room with her early on, and then she moved 0:10:34.880 --> 0:10:38.640 me to Danville, which is a less diverse community, to 0:10:38.760 --> 0:10:41.040 go to a better school because it had a really 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:43.880 good public school program. So you kind of moved from 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:47.440 like a diverse area into you know, most you know, 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:50.720 I was probably the only mixed race kid. Maybe there 0:10:50.720 --> 0:10:53.080 were a couple of black people and a couple of Asians, 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:55.920 but it was way, you know, nicer environment for her 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:59.439 to be okay with, like single parenting and having good education. 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:02.040 But that's my favorite. Yeah, I think just spending time 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:04.800 with her because I'm that quality time kind of person. 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:08.400 You know that that fills me up. 0:11:09.120 --> 0:11:11.040 You said that you were a parent. 0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:13.360 Is there a trade of yours that you feel like 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:17.200 you've passed onward to your child? Yeah. 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:19.560 I think my husband and I are always telling him 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:22.840 like and I believe it because I think, you know, 0:11:22.880 --> 0:11:24.760 my mom told me, but you can do anything you 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:28.080 want to do, you know, you really anything that inspire you, 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:32.880 anything that you feel in your bones. Make sure you 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:35.000 know we're there to help you with that, but also 0:11:35.120 --> 0:11:37.480 that like you, you have the ability to do that. 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:40.760 And I think I was told that. My husband grew 0:11:40.840 --> 0:11:43.160 up in a very supportive He's Australian, but he has 0:11:43.160 --> 0:11:46.520 a big family, a very loving family, and I do 0:11:46.559 --> 0:11:48.960 feel like I reiterate that to my son a lot. 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:51.640 So is it true that a friend of yours gifted 0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:55.719 you or purchased you a cinematography class at UCLA. 0:11:56.679 --> 0:12:00.560 Yeah, isn't that crazy. I haven't emailed him for a while. 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:05.480 But when I graduated LMU, I got a job for 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:07.680 AOL time warner. I was a temp you know, I 0:12:07.720 --> 0:12:10.600 had to like graduate get some money, and I got 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:14.080 a temp job through a friend and I had to input. 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:16.839 Like you remember when AOL had banners, Like it was 0:12:16.880 --> 0:12:19.280 the early stages, and the banners would pop up all 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:21.040 over the place, like on the side and the top, 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:23.959 and it would be like right, like buy this car, 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:27.360 buy this Honda. I used to put together spreadsheets for 0:12:27.480 --> 0:12:31.040 those banners and support someone who was doing auto sales online. 0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:33.199 So I had a cubicle at a desk and I 0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:35.000 would do that. I would input all the stuff in 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:39.160 you know, nice little paycheck. And I just started to 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:42.360 be interested in cinematography. And I remember telling him and 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:45.600 his father owned els, which is one of the biggest 0:12:45.679 --> 0:12:49.400 lighting companies that works with the premiers or big events 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:52.040 around Los Angeles. So there's like this weird through line. 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:54.120 And then on the side he's like, you know what, 0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:56.960 I'll help you buy that class. Like I looked into 0:12:57.000 --> 0:12:59.280 a night class. So when I would get off work, 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:03.080 go to UCLA for the cinematography class like a little 0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:06.520 semester class, and I would learn what being a DP meant. 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:10.040 I did the class, I loved it, and then I 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:13.040 decided to quit, and he got me a job working 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:16.960 at els to help lay the red carpet and put 0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:19.960 up the lights for the premieres. So I did, like 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:23.840 Mission Impossible, Devilwaar's product, you were on the night shift. 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:25.720 So I don't know if you've been to a premiere 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:28.040 a little early, but you see people crawling around taping 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:29.440 up the carpet, putting the lights up. 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:30.199 Totally. 0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:34.520 I'm the DJ that they'll hire sometimes for events. Oh yes, 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:36.720 So I have to be there early to set up 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:39.439 and like, I love how the sausage is made in 0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:43.480 any thing that I go to. So as a new director, 0:13:43.760 --> 0:13:48.680 speaking of myself, I'm learning fast that my you know, 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:52.920 team has to be intact. I initially thought that as 0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:57.880 a director that I'm part of the starting five players 0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:01.240 on the floor, and I learned quickly that I'm the 0:14:01.240 --> 0:14:07.320 coach and the cinematographer, the editor, the writer, the soundman, 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:10.839 the colorists, like all those people are the starting five, 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:15.400 and you're the coach. So because I came in backwards. 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:16.080 At the top of the pyramid. 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:20.720 Yeah, you know, for most people in film, I noticed that, yes, 0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:25.280 there's a pecking order for you. Was the desired destination 0:14:25.560 --> 0:14:27.040 always cinematography. 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:30.320 My comfort zone is definitely where I'm at. I mean, 0:14:30.360 --> 0:14:33.160 I get asked a lot, I think, being a female 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:36.160 DP at this level, because there aren't that many of us, 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:40.840 you know, shooting this level of film historically, so the 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:43.520 question comes up a lot, well are you interested in directing? 0:14:43.520 --> 0:14:45.960 And I think why that is is because you know, 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:48.680 you get to a point on set where you're very 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:51.200 versed in how a set's run. You're next to the 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:53.160 director all the time I work with, you know, I 0:14:53.240 --> 0:14:55.440 do the big budget films with a lot of the effects. 0:14:55.440 --> 0:14:59.280 So they always just imagine, okay, well, well you must 0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:01.800 be interested in direct now, you know. And I think 0:15:01.840 --> 0:15:04.160 it's an interesting thing because I've now gotten to the 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:07.120 point of my career where you work so hard as 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:09.880 a female DP to be able to do those things, 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:11.880 and then now they're already trying to like ask you 0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:14.560 to go this direction. So I hear that question a lot. 0:15:15.040 --> 0:15:18.480 But I'm so I think passionate about the way things 0:15:18.520 --> 0:15:22.040 are shot and lighting that I could never give that 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:25.280 up right, so it's easy for me to position myself. 0:15:25.320 --> 0:15:26.920 And Ryan's like, hey, do you want to do this 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:30.800 Rihana video that's up my alley Because it's music related, 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:33.120 it's beauty related. I get to work one on one 0:15:33.200 --> 0:15:36.640 with a star and make them look beautiful and make 0:15:36.680 --> 0:15:40.320 them feel comfortable. But no, I think I'm lucky to 0:15:40.400 --> 0:15:43.480 have found a partner in Ryan because we have similar 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:47.520 tastes and we like the same things, and I understand 0:15:47.640 --> 0:15:51.800 him really well. But to do his job like it 0:15:51.920 --> 0:15:54.600 is a very very difficult position to be. And as 0:15:54.600 --> 0:15:58.280 you know, I don't have a story that's like so 0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:01.000 in my bones that I have to tell and only 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:03.200 I'm the only one that can tell it. Not yet, 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:05.160 you know, maybe in the future there is something that 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:08.800 only I can tell as a director. But I really 0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:12.680 do enjoy supporting him and the other directors I work with, because, 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:15.440 as you know, it's just it's a very complex job 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:17.520 to do everything well. 0:16:17.600 --> 0:16:20.920 Number One, you mentioned Rihanna's Lifted Me Up video. What 0:16:21.120 --> 0:16:27.960 was the creative decision behind doing that handheld as opposed 0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:32.800 to you know, crane and you know this is Rihanna, Like, 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:38.200 I feel like every director has their uh, their Lawrence 0:16:38.240 --> 0:16:42.360 of Arabia, dream of like the or Citizen King, like 0:16:42.400 --> 0:16:43.800 the sprawling opening scene thing. 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:46.800 Uh, and you know handheld. 0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:49.040 Is more of a we're all personal intimate things. But 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:52.560 what was your decision behind shooting it that way? 0:16:53.560 --> 0:16:56.440 Yeah, we had a crane that we used. You know, 0:16:56.600 --> 0:16:59.000 the opening is a water shot. We shot some more 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:03.120 stuff that I didn't use with the wide shots of 0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:05.719 the water before we went into intimate stuff. So that 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:07.640 was done on a crane to kind of crawl over 0:17:07.680 --> 0:17:10.760 the sand. But I mean I came up in indies. 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:14.400 I came up shooting music videos, fashion films that didn't 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:16.960 have any money. So when you have a camera in 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:19.840 your hands and it is an extension of yourself and 0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:23.359 your point of view, that's how you learn to find 0:17:23.720 --> 0:17:28.400 where the camera needs to be right. And so I'm 0:17:28.480 --> 0:17:31.440 very much an operator. I've operated most of my films, 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:34.679 all the stuff that I do. So when I'm having 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:38.159 to be in a situation where light is falling quickly, 0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:40.679 I want to be with her. I want her to 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:43.040 move freely and do what she wants, but I also 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:46.399 want to capture and get the right shots. Then you 0:17:46.440 --> 0:17:49.080 want to take as much control as you can, right 0:17:49.119 --> 0:17:51.080 I don't want to worry about it being on a 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:52.880 dolly and moving the dolly. Then I have to worry 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:54.440 about the dolly grip. Then I have to worry about 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:56.520 all stuff. So I put it in my hands so 0:17:56.560 --> 0:17:59.800 I have the most control and I'm most intimate with her, 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:03.000 similar to Last Showgirl, you know, with Pamela, like being 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:05.520 close to the woman so you can move with her 0:18:05.760 --> 0:18:07.520 and find her beauty easily. 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:12.920 In general, I want to know how much lee way 0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:20.440 or access or preparation are you given to your subjects 0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:23.560 that you're going to film, Like how do you even 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:26.840 map out the choreography of how you're going to shoot that, 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:31.320 what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are, or is 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:36.080 this just taking direction from your director and you executing, 0:18:36.880 --> 0:18:41.200 Like how much leeway are you given to well? Actually, 0:18:41.440 --> 0:18:42.359 why don't we try this? 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:44.840 And da da da da da. Like specifically, I want 0:18:44.840 --> 0:18:46.560 to know for the Last. 0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:50.119 Show Girl, Okay, well I'll start with that saying I 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:53.720 think the best thing that you can do is work 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:58.439 with people that allow you to exercise your creativity and 0:18:58.560 --> 0:19:01.160 have trust in you. Right when I work with Gia, 0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:03.720 you know, we started out running around, we shot Paloouto. 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:05.879 We're running around with a bunch of kids with her friends. 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:09.000 She's my best friend, so we talk every day. But 0:19:09.040 --> 0:19:10.760 it's someone I know really well, and I know what 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:14.760 they like and I know where they want the camera. 0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:18.080 It's intuitive, like I choose people to collaborate with that 0:19:18.359 --> 0:19:21.280 we have that connection. So when it's with her, there's 0:19:21.280 --> 0:19:23.760 a lot of trust in camera that she gives me. 0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:27.800 And that's why that that kind of relationship works. Also 0:19:27.880 --> 0:19:30.399 with that scene, I remember, you have to be the 0:19:30.440 --> 0:19:32.760 best thing you can be as a DP is quick 0:19:32.800 --> 0:19:36.439 to make decisions and have solutions. So I remember I 0:19:36.440 --> 0:19:39.399 didn't have any prep there. I think Gia came up 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:42.320 and said, Jamie wants to dance on that thing in 0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:45.119 the middle of the casino, right like we have some time, 0:19:45.200 --> 0:19:48.000 you know, in between like some other senior shooting. She 0:19:48.040 --> 0:19:50.360 wants to dance. She's gonna dance to this song. We're 0:19:50.400 --> 0:19:52.760 gonna shoot it. I'm like, all right, cool. So then 0:19:53.240 --> 0:19:55.840 I tell my gaffer, like to position the light and 0:19:55.920 --> 0:19:58.520 a good spot. I just evaluate, you know, that kind 0:19:58.560 --> 0:20:00.840 of podium that she wanted. I picked direction. I said, 0:20:00.840 --> 0:20:02.240 I'm going to shoot it from here because it was 0:20:02.280 --> 0:20:04.720 the best direction for lighting, and I moved a little 0:20:04.720 --> 0:20:07.000 bit of a key light for and then we just 0:20:07.080 --> 0:20:09.159 let her do her thing and I captured it, you know, 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:13.360 while she was dancing and handhealth and that was it. 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:15.560 And I think there are a lot of those types 0:20:15.600 --> 0:20:19.119 of moments that in the film like that, because you 0:20:19.240 --> 0:20:22.080 want to be free and vulnerable to like what the 0:20:22.119 --> 0:20:24.199 actor may want to do, but you also want to 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:28.480 get those moments that the director wants, because Gia loves 0:20:28.520 --> 0:20:32.000 those non communication moments where it's just following women around 0:20:32.080 --> 0:20:34.639 and letting them. Like Pamela, we went on the parking 0:20:34.680 --> 0:20:38.520 lot on a weekend and Pamela just started dancing around 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:41.000 and being funny and cute and we just captured it. 0:20:41.320 --> 0:20:42.880 So there's a lot of that For. 0:20:42.880 --> 0:20:46.240 You, though, how do you decide the thin line of 0:20:47.240 --> 0:20:51.399 what would be deemed an unflattering shot but staying true 0:20:51.480 --> 0:20:56.359 to what's needed to really make that film come alive. 0:20:56.480 --> 0:20:58.520 Because of course, you know, a lot of us know 0:20:59.040 --> 0:21:01.840