SYLVANIA is hitting the @floridafilmfest !!!
Hit the road with a 90s playlist inspired by the film, made by our friends at UCF 🚗💔😂 (link in bio)
📍 Screenings April 11th @ 9:45pm @ the Winter Park Regal & April 16th @ 3:15pm @ Enzian
Q&A with director / writer @smitty4657 and cinematographer @jpowers on the 16th!
#Sylvania #90’sMusic #FloridaFilmFestival #IndieFilm
#RoadTrip #ComedyDrama
Hey! Jeff Powers here. I am the cinematographer for the feature doc: The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Our Brother, Hillel. The film premiered at SXSW and is available on Netflix March 20th. We recount the story of RHCP founding guitarist Hillel Slovak from the early days of the band through his overdose in 1988.
As this story takes place decades in the past, my role was to film sit-down interviews with the band members and other notable characters from the LA music scene at that time.
I wanted to create an environment for Ben Feldman (director) to have free flowing and uninterrupted conversations with everyone, so I chose a pretty classic broad but controlled lighting plan. The locations and tools varied from setup to setup but our first interview with Flea set the template.
For the key light, we pushed a Nanlux 1200 through 8x8 grid cloth with an LCG and 250 intermediary. Next to that is a Vortex 8 with octabank as a key-side fill and we armed out a Litemat 4 for some backlight. Some cutters and negative fill add shape and contrast but ultimately it is a very straightforward three light interview setup. The simplicity is appealing and I love how flexible the approach is. We had three cameras running so this soft wrapping light allowed for multiple angles and everything was dimmable/ color controllable so last minute changes were easily done. You can spend as much time as you like preparing a setup but it’s always those last 90 seconds of adjustments when the actual subject sits down that make all the difference for me.
I have the utmost respect for anyone willing to tell their story on camera (rockstar or otherwise). I feel it’s our responsibility to create a calm environment and unobtrusive workflow to give our subject the time and space they need. The conversations ran from manic highs of the punk rock glory days to reflections on addiction and loss so the pleasing but honest and un-stylized quality of light felt appropriate.
- DCA Member @jpowers
