ERNEST DICKERSON - Director / Cinematographer

Team Deakins

James Ellis Deakins

Tv & Film, Filmlighting, Deakins, Movies, Filmmaking, Production, Film, Cinematography, Film Interviews

4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 11 October 2023

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Director and cinematographer Ernest Dickerson (BOSCH, JUICE, MALCOLM X) joins us in conversation on this episode of the Team Deakins Podcast. Having been exposed to photography as a young man by his uncle, Ernest first keyed into cinematography after watching David Lean’s OLIVER TWIST and later attended graduate film school at NYU. Ernest reflects on his professional relationship with Spike Lee and reveals how Spike generously delayed pre-production on MALCOM X to allow Ernest enough time to finish post on his directorial debut, JUICE. Finding himself frequently directing his directors, Ernest also shares how he saw his transition into directing as a natural progression of his career. We later discuss the value of doing your homework when brought on to direct television and the different professional expectations that are unique to the medium. At the end, we consider how creation is a patient search and the importance, joys, and benefits of studying film history.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi and welcome to season two of the Team Deacons podcast.
0:08.1	A collection of informal conversations between Roger and James Deacons and a guest.
0:14.0	We never know where the conversation will take us, so listen in and see where it goes.
0:21.8	Today we're speaking with someone who started as a cinematographer and moved into directing.
0:27.2	These credits are many and include, as a cinematographer, do the right thing, the brother
0:31.5	from another planet and Malcolm X.
0:34.1	He's directed film and TV, the more recent credits being the man in the high castle,
0:39.5	Bosch, Bosch legacy, and House of Cards.
0:42.7	We're pleased to welcome Ernest Dickerson today.
0:45.8	Thank you Ernest for doing this.
0:47.5	Thank you for having me.
0:49.0	We'd like to start with our normal question, which is, how did you get to where you are today?
0:53.8	Is this something that you knew as a kid that you wanted to get into the business?
0:58.6	Was it something you found later?
1:00.8	Is it something you regret now?
1:02.8	Tell us your story.
1:04.6	Well, as a kid, I was always fascinated by the craft of filmmaking.
1:10.8	Actually what really started getting me interested in was visual effects.
1:15.9	But I think when I was around 16 years old, there were certain movies that I always wondered
1:21.3	why the certain movies looked the way that they do.
1:24.5	And my uncle, who was probably responsible for a lot of the directions that I took of
1:29.8	my life, he also gave me my first camera.
	...

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