Cinematographer Mihai Mălaimare Jr. on shooting the stylized Western film, The Harder They Fall

Cinematographer Miahi Mălaimare Jr. understands the power of images
to communicate a feeling right away, and in a more straightforward
way than with spoken language. For The Harder They Fall, Mihai
discovered that as both a director and a singer-songwriter, Jeymes
Samuel communicates through music, and the two enjoyed working
together to find the visual language of the film. The Harder They
Fall is a mashup of blaxploitation, spaghetti Western and musical
in one sprawling and stylish package. Samuel had previously made a
shorter Western called They Die By Dawn, but Mihai had never shot a
Western before. They were prepping to shoot in March of 2020 in New
Mexico, then everything was halted due to the pandemic. Finally, in
July of 2020 Jeymes called up Mihai to see if he could be ready to
shoot within a few weeks. They headed out to New Mexico and shot
the film while under strict COVID protocols. Both Mihai and Samuel
took visual ideas for The Harder They Fall from The Wild Bunch and
several Sergio Leone movies. Finding the rhythm within a scene was
a huge part of the film. Samuel had a few songs written into the
script and would often play music on set. The script was very
challenging with several complicated shots, a large cast, dealing
with horses, guns, set pieces and period costumes, but Jeymes
Samuel and Mihai were able to achieve Samuel's vision with prep,
discussions every night, and many, many rehearsals. You can watch
The Harder They Fall on Netflix. Mihai recently wrapped the
currently untitled HBO drama series about the Lakers in the 1980's.
Find Mihai Mălaimare Jr. Instagram: @malaimarejr_photography
@malaimarejr_cinematography WIN an autographed copy of Directing
Great Television by our recent guest, director Dan Attias! Follow
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