Jesse Feldman, ASC Award-nominated DP of Interview with the Vampire

Interview with the Vampire on AMC+ is based on Anne Rice's novel of
the same name. The new series changes and updates the material so
that the main character, Louis, is now Black and a closeted gay man
who is turned into a vampire by the Frenchman Lestat. But in 1900's
New Orleans, even when he's “freed” as an immortal vampire, Louis
finds that his power is still limited by racism. Cinematographer
Jesse M. Feldman was nominated for an ASC Award for his work on
Interview with the Vampire. He found out about the series through
his friend and fellow DP Brandon Trost, (also a former guest on
Cinepod) and loved the strong visuals he got from the script. Jesse
split the series with DP David Tattersall and they each shot
alternating episodes. Each DP took creative control of their own
episodes, and they had a good collaboration and visual cohesion.
Interview with the Vampire is shot in a dark and moody style that
perfectly suits the Gothic horror genre. Jesse leaned in to the dim
and shadowy lighting, with pops of vibrant color used to highlight
key moments. The series deals with two different time periods-
1900's New Orleans and modern day Dubai. It involved a combination
of night shoots on location and shooting on sets, which allowed for
total control of the lighting. Jesse found that the schedule was
very tight but he was always open to ideas coming from the crew if
a different approach became necessary. He feels that creative
collaboration on set is important and one idea can lead to another,
often better, idea. Jesse wanted to become a cinematographer
beginning in high school, when he took photography. He learned that
you could tell a story through an image, and that just a still
image could communicate a great deal. After moving to L.A. and
enrolling at USC, Jesse got a job as a camera assistant on a music
video and learned how to load 35mm mags. After graduating, he
worked on several music videos and low budget films, became a
camera operator and has been a camera operator on shows such as The
Madalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and The Chi. As an artist, Jesse
finds that being a cinematographer has been more fulfilling. Being
a director of photography vs. being a camera operator are very
different jobs and involve using different skills. Lighting is a
huge part of cinematography, and operators don't have time to think
about lighting when they're just trying to do complex camera work
at the pace of most TV schedules today. For a DP, who has to make
so many decisions as you're rolling about lighting and camera
tweaks, it's hard to pay attention if you're operating a camera,
and you also can't watch multiple cameras. After working as a
camera operator for many years, Jesse had a lot of back issues. He
invented the ErgoRig, which transfers 100% of the camera weight
from the operator's shoulder and back to their hips, preventing
spinal compression. Interview with the Vampire is currently
available on AMC+ The ASC Awards are streaming on March 5, 2023
Find Jesse Feldman: https://www.jessefeldman.com/ Instagram
@jessemfeldman Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com
The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook:
@cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz