I had the pleasure of capturing the process of creating the Hulu/Andscape film for writer and Director Mo Mcrae. Over the 7 days of shooting we went from the desert, to a office park, to a huge warehouse studio where they created another world, and finished in a mirrored box. The lead actress Dom Chanel was able to channel so many emotions in her acting debut. She’s an experienced performer which she shows in every dance scene. We also got to work with legendary actress Vanessa Bell Calloway.
The days were long and super busy. I was doing video and photos, so it was difficult toting things around but I was getting really great footage and photos because the locations and lighting were amazing. The hardest day was the dance scene near the building with the crane a lot of moving parts and coordination. Seeing playback from the first day had everyone excited.
The last scene on the first day was one of the most intense scenes to shoot. The wind was picking up and whiping everything on set around as they rolled the final take. Dom dropped to her knees with a single tear that rolled down her cheek. It was a powerful and impactful way to finish her first day as a star in a film.
I learned a lot about what needs to be done to prepare a fight scene and how much detail goes into preparing for visual effects. I spent a lot of time talking to Nick who did the effects we discussed their process and I got to have a one on one with the fight coordinator. We didn’t fight I just interviewed him about what the camera sees and how to make fights feel real.
We shot the final portion a few months after shooting the first pieces, which gave them time to build an amazing set piece. The mirrored room really created a striking mind bending moment.
Here’s the bts video I filmed.
If you haven’t seen it go watch
