The Cinematography Podcast Episode 342: Amy Vincent, ASC
Cinematographer Amy Vincent, ASC feels like she’s reached the place where she wants to be, working on the kinds of films she likes. Vincent and director Craig Brewer have collaborated on several music-forward films, including Hustle & Flow, Black Snake Moan, and a Footloose remake in 2011. Throughout the years, Vincent and Brewer have created a shared cinematic language built on deep trust. “The real goal and gold in this filmmaking journey, for me, really has been to find the people that want to tell a similar kind of story that I do,” she says. “To have a collaborator in a director like Craig, for me, is the epitome of reaching the place where I want to work now for the continuum.”
Their latest collaboration, Song Sung Blue, is a biopic about a Neil Diamond tribute band. Craig Brewer had seen the original documentary Song Sung Blue at a film festival, and knew that he wanted to adapt the story of Mike and Claire Sardina, who formed a Neil Diamond tribute band called Lightning and Thunder. To bring their world to life, Vincent’s primary mission was to protect Brewer’s instinctual, writer-driven process. “Craig has developed an improvisational confidence,” Vincent says. “I protect that instinctual improvisational way that his writer’s mind works, that his director’s mind works.” Key to their collaboration is spending time together, riding to set each day in order to discuss logistics and ideas or changes Brewer may have made to the script the night before.
While many modern productions retreat to the controlled environment of a soundstage, Song Sung Blue leaned into the grit of reality. The film was shot entirely on practical locations in New Jersey, doubling for Milwaukee. Vincent admits she was initially reluctant to embrace the cramped quarters of real homes, but the shot design was quickly informed by the limited space. Pre-production tests on location with period light fixtures and wood paneling on the actors’ hair and makeup also gave the entire production team a chance to see the film’s vision come to life.
For the film’s musical sequences in bars and on stage, Vincent made a deliberate technical choice to embrace the performance lighting. By choosing a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the lighting fixtures themselves could be part of the composition. “The ability to photograph the lights that are lighting the subject is luxurious as a cinematographer,” Vincent says. Rather than hiding the sources, she embraced lens flares and visible fixtures, treating the lighting as a character in the performance spaces. This added an authentic “stage” texture to the Lightning and Thunder shows.
The visual language of the film was born long before the first day of principal photography. Vincent was present during the actors’ vocal recordings and rehearsals, watching how leads Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson interacted. She points to “Play Me,” a scene where the characters sit back-to-back on a piano bench after they first meet, as a product of this observation. “That all started for me by watching the actors physically moving and singing in those initial rehearsals.” By the time they reached the set, the camera movement was already a natural extension of their physical performances.
For Vincent, Song Sung Blue is a project where the technical execution perfectly aligns with a narrative she believes in. “Craig is aligned with the idea of telling stories about people who dream beyond their means,” she says. “I always love that. It’s something I hope I get to continue doing.”
See Song Sung Blue in theaters and streaming on VOD.
Find Amy Vincent: Instagram @amyvvincent
Hear our previous interview with Amy Vincent
CAMERAS: Sony Venice 2, Sony DVW-700ws, Sony DCR-TRV120 Hi8 tape
LENSES: Leitz Hugo, Prime, and Fujinon Premista
Close focus: The ASC Awards nominations.
Illya’s short end: The Fuji Instax mini Evo Cinema camera has a dial on the side which allows the user to select what decade they’d like their footage to look like, among other features.
Ben’s short end: A documentary called Chain Reactions directed by Alexandre O. Philipe about the impact that The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has had on our culture.
Help raise money for The Ultimate Breakup, a zombie short film Ben will be directing in March! Contribute to the Kickstarter campaign!
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SHOW RUNDOWN:
01:45 Close Focus
08:30-58:38 Amy Vincent Interview
59:45 Short ends
01:09:15 Wrap up/Credits
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Podcast Credits:
Producer: Alana Kode
All web and social media content written by Alana Kode
Host and editor in Chief: Illya Friedman
Instagram: @illyafriedman @hotrodcameras
Host: Ben Rock
Blue Sky: @benrock.com
Instagram: @bejamin_rock
Composer: Kays Al-Atrakchi
Check out Kays’ new YouTube Channel, Kays Labs, where he repairs old synthesizers.
Editor: Alana Kode
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