American Cinematographer - October 2017 - 24

SHORT TAKES

I

Rap Fusion
By Jim Hemphill

The music video for Atlanta hip-hop artist Big Boi's "Kill Jill"
opens on the rapper dressed in regal military attire and posing for an
artist, then quickly moves to a theatrical presentation of geishas dancing for high-powered gangsters. The setting shifts to a mysterious
scene in which guest rapper Killer Mike performs in a darkroom with
dollar bills hanging from clotheslines, and Jeezy appears shortly after,
rapping in front of a stage featuring dancers in spiked masks. The
dizzying array of looks and settings - many influenced by Japanese
aesthetics - continues to multiply throughout the video, which is just
as cinematographer John Connor and director Bryan Barber intended.
"We wanted it to be big and full of grandeur," says Connor,
whose credits include serving as 1st AC on the Oscar-winning epic The
Revenant, shot by Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC (AC Jan. '16).
Connor adds that the music video's ambition appealed to him. "The
thing that always excites me most, whether I'm doing a feature or a
music video, is to help the director tell a story, and Bryan wanted to
tell a story. The challenge is telling that story with scale on a limited
budget."
Barber is known for his directorial work on such projects as the
feature Idlewild and the music videos for "The Way You Move" and
"Hey Ya!" - the latter of which was Grammy-nominated, and all of
which starred the rap duo Outkast, of which Big Boi was a member.
Barber agrees that the "Kill Jill" production's limited resources were
part of the challenge, but also part of the thrill of achieving his vision
24

October 2017

for the video. "'Kill Jill' was experimental," he says. "We wanted to
see how much we could do in a day, and the fun was in pulling it
off." For Barber, comprehensive prep, with a crew he knows, is key.
"John and I are tight and work really well with each other," he
explains. "He knows what I'm going for and we stick pretty closely
together. Sometimes we would shoot two scenes at the same time,
right next to each other - literally in the same room. One camera
was facing north and the other one was facing west; I'd grab one
camera and John would be operating the other."
Connor notes that calling in a lot of favors is a necessity on a
low-budget shoot, as is keeping up with the latest technology. "You
can get away with so much now if you choose the right tools," he
says. "The technology has leveled the playing field so that if you work
with a few choice lights, you can make things look much bigger."
To that end, Connor relied heavily on Source Fours for the "Kill
Jill" shoot. "They're very fast - you don't have to rig something up
in the ceiling," he says. "You can easily and quickly put it on the
ground, shoot it up into the ceiling, open it up, color it, move it
around, bring it around. You can shoot around 300 degrees - that's
a big thing."
Connor is also a fan of the speed and versatility that come
with using Quasar Science LEDs. "I work with a couple of guys who
build little rigs for these lights and put them in panels," he explains.
"I have one that's a 4-foot-by-4-foot with 24 lights in a frame, that
can mount on a stand. It's quick, it can run off of house power, and
it's switchable from 3,200 to 5,600K. You don't have to gel it and
lose exposure, you don't have to ND it, and you can dim it. It's so

American Cinematographer

Photos by Condido Verona and Nonja Mckenzie, courtesy of the filmmakers.

Big Boi performs in the music video for his track "Kill Jill." The video was directed by Bryan Barber and shot by John Connor.



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - October 2017

Contents
American Cinematographer - October 2017 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - October 2017 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - October 2017 - 1
American Cinematographer - October 2017 - 2
American Cinematographer - October 2017 - Contents
American Cinematographer - October 2017 - 4
American Cinematographer - October 2017 - 5
American Cinematographer - October 2017 - 6
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