Chris Paul Thompson 6/16/22 Chris Paul Thompson 6/16/22

Set Stills, the making of Andscape’s Starkeisha

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

Chris Paul Thompson 6/16/22 Chris Paul Thompson 6/16/22

Harpist Madison Calley Press Photos

Madison Calley was a wonderful subject to work with. She had a natural ease and grace. This was the first time I’d ever had to load and unload a harp, it’s quite a task, that Madison does for every performance. Fortunately there’s a roll up garage access at my studio. While we shot, I got to hear some of her beautiful music and learned about some of her recent musical releases. I lit the shots to look like an old Hollywood glamorous headshot. Photos from this shoot appeared in a feature about her on the Grammy’s website after her recent performance with Beyoncé.

Chris Paul Thompson 6/15/22 Chris Paul Thompson 6/15/22

Steph in red for Love & Lust.

I think this was my first shoot with Stephanie. During the shoot my flash trigger stopped working so I used the modeling light as my key light. The warm glow from the profoto modeling light captured on daylight film really adds some mood. We were shooting for my Love & Lust photo series, these pages are frequently mentioned as favorites by collectors who purchased the book.

Chris Paul Thompson 6/15/22 Chris Paul Thompson 6/15/22

Babes by Ciera Rogers in NYC

Took a walk in New York with Lili Ann to capture editorial images for Babes by Ciera Rogers. Some

Chris Paul Thompson 6/15/22 Chris Paul Thompson 6/15/22

LABeautyologist Cozirobe Campaign

Film shots from LABeautyologist Cozirobe Campaign with Nakisa, Siena, Nai, and Rainy. The goal was a high end, luxury, aesthetic featuring her newly released Cozirobes. It’s one of the most comfortable robes in the world.

Cozirobe campaign

Chris Paul Thompson 6/15/22 Chris Paul Thompson 6/15/22

Dom at Chrisp.Studio

Wanted to test the CineStill XX black and white film so I asked Dom, who is also a great photographer, to do some test shots with me at Chrisp.studio. I had just opened the studio and wanted to try out the Leko’s I had been using for video work. After a few quick shots of her in a Karl Kani set and gloves from Dbleudazzled, I developed and scanned the film. Love how the xx rendered the tones I may be converting from ilford Hp5 .

Here’s a few of my favorites.

Chris Paul Thompson 6/15/22 Chris Paul Thompson 6/15/22

Stephanie Angelo at El Mirage

One of my favorite models in one of my favorite locations

Steph aka Dadddylonglegs and I went on a road trip to of if my favorite photo destinations, El Mirage. I’ve always loved El Mirage, since I saw photos taken by Herb Ritts there in the 1990s as a kid. Happy that I’ve been able to add my own images to the list of iconic photos taken in this beautiful and enchanting pieces of Southern California.