INTERVIEW: The Craft of Cinematography

Tommy Maddox-Upshaw is a cinematographer who is on the brink of becoming a key figure in the discussion about African people in film. He had to travel across the world to Africa to shoot Kalushi (2016) for him to be anointed as a world-class cinematographer back home in the United States where he now films some of the biggest series in the world, such as Season 3 of Snowfall produced by the late John Singleton. He recently sat down with bfm to share his experiences working in cinematography.

Part of the Melanin Cinematography Interview Series

bfm: What made you choose cinematography over directing as a craft?

Tommy Maddox-Upshaw: I truly love the teamwork behind working with a Camera team and creating the magic of the images.

bfm: How did you come up the ranks? And what has changed over the years.

Tommy Maddox-Upshaw: I started off as a Production Assistant and then interned with the Lighting Dept in Grip and Electric on music videos in the 1990s in NYC for Hype Williams. After getting into Lighting I worked in Boston and NYC as a Grip/Electric then went on to AFI in Hollywood to study under Bill Dill ASC. After which I gaffed commercials for Ford and Allstate, then Spike Lee transitioned me to camera operator on “When Levees Broke” for HBO.

bfm: Can you tell us about the days of shooting on celluloid film stock.

Tommy Maddox-Upshaw: In my opinion about Film versus Digital and having been trained on film, I choose Digital Cameras like film stock, each camera has its shortcomings and characteristics. And I make a choice of what is going to give me the best dynamic range and help the visual arc for the story that is on the page. Shortcomings of a Digital camera is like a limited film stock pending brand and speed.

bfm: How do you communicate with a director to be able to know how they want to have the skin tones treated on a motion picture or commercial?

Tommy Maddox-Upshaw: I always talk emotional standpoint first then after the first interview, I’ll bring references. Be they still photographs or fine art paintings.

bfm: Is it the director or the cinematographer that dictates the skin tone look?

Tommy Maddox-Upshaw: I, as the Cinematographer, dictate the skin tones and it’s not the same for every show because of the emotional story beats

bfm: Please walk us through the process of determining exposure for different skins that are African black at 10%, 8% and 18% and perhaps even 22 percent reflectance in the same frame?

Tommy Maddox-Upshaw: I use soft light with a mixture of different color temperatures, I always personally will set the darkest skin-tone to my desired look and try to balance the others close enough to it and know in post there’s more room.

bfm: Can we talk about the tools you use to arrive at your mood and look depending on what the script requires?

Tommy Maddox-Upshaw: I have many different tools, I always try and have three approaches to my desired look and feel of everything, be it hard or soft light or Black. Multiple ways but (on) the side of broad soft light is where I usually start on my approach.

bfm: What do you think is making the sudden upsurge of needing to see black skins look great now on cinema and television?

Tommy Maddox-Upshaw: We have many stories that reflect the diversity of brown and black people across the planet, and this diversity has translated into Box office and online dollars.

bfm: Does Black Panther have anything to do with it? If so why, because you along with Ernest Dickerson, Malik Sayeed and others have been doing it before?

Tommy Maddox-Upshaw: Still comes down to how big of a net Marvel has as viewers, hopefully, one day I myself will lens a Marvel feature film dealing with Black skin tones in that Universe that will reflect how we see ourselves optically and color-wise that hasn’t been seen yet.

bfm: And has the technology helped to realize looks you envisaged years back?

Tommy Maddox-Upshaw: Yes, I’ve embraced the technology and have gravitated to the Sony Venice in how it is true to Brown Skin tones, and how I can push it to the limit in under and overexposure without shifting our color representation. Plus I can manipulate much further than other camera systems, especially in low light.

bfm: Why has Kodak died off and Fuji still around by making a transition to digital easier?

Tommy Maddox-Upshaw: Kodak is still around Fuji doesn’t make motion picture film but they put their film into digital interpretations in their cameras. I love the Kodak standard and look, but Fuji has some stocks in digital and celluloid that I love and shoot in medium format camera.

bfm: Digital Cameras to this day still see black skin tones as film stocks did?

Tommy Maddox-Upshaw: I believe some Digital cameras see Black skin tone better than others, I think the Red Camera system in its new Color Space does something interesting to Black skin but not necessarily perfectly accurate even Alexa has a gorgeous interpretation that feels Kodak like and Sony is super neutral in the new Venice Color Space, so I apply LUTS to the Venice to take it elsewhere while having the RAW color space.

bfm: What would you like to see happen from the side of the manufactures to change this anomaly?

Tommy Maddox Upshaw: White skin tone just cannot be the standard when there are more people of color on the earth than Caucasian.

bfm: Lastly how do you communicate with a colorist for an intended look desired. What can emerging cinematographers take to the discussions?

Tommy Maddox-Upshaw: The same language used to talk to a Director is also the same voice and PDF I use with a colorist. If the colorist has done work on a project you loved then reference that. Also just shooting a test in neutral lighting than color lighting and coloring it in prep or creating LUTS in prep will help leaps and bounds in the end result. Get communication going as early as possible with the colorist. Send your PDF example or stills, or ask how much information they need to manipulate the image to the desired look of the story. Get started early.

Tommy Maddox-Upshaw is a cinematographer who enjoys drawing on inspiration from his own experiences to inform his perspective and his work. He is currently lensing the sixth season of Fox's hit series Empire for creators Lee Daniels and Danny Strong. He recently wrapped shooting the third season of FX's Snowfall, chronicling the crack cocaine epidemic in 1980s Los Angeles. Previously, Maddox-Upshaw shot the second season of Netflix's breakout hit On My Block and the first season of Huge in France, also for Netflix, Prior to his run of Netflix shows, he lensed BET's The Comedy Get Down for director Stan Lathan and the first season of Tales for creator Irv Gotti. For features, Maddox shot Kalushi: The Story of Solomon Mahlangu for director Mandla Dube, an official selection at the 2017 Camerimage Festival. See more of his work at www.maddoxdp.com