Director Yance Ford, DP Alan Jacobsen on Oscar-nominated documentary, Strong Island and the importance of breaking your own rules

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 79: Yance Ford and Alan Jacobsen
Yance Ford's powerful documentary, Strong Island, is about the
murder of his brother, William Ford Jr. in 1992. The man who killed
William, who is white, claimed self-defense when William, who was
black and unarmed, confronted the man over shady car repairs. The
decision by an all-white grand jury not to prosecute caused Yance's
family even more devastation. The film conveys the personal agony
and visceral grief in tight closeups on family, friends and Yance
himself. Interestingly, at first Yance had a set of rules for how
he wanted the documentary to be shot. Number one: he did not want
to be on camera. But cinematographer Alan Jacobsen broke the rules,
secretly shooting Yance from a corner one day while he was absorbed
in looking at old photographs. They both saw how powerful it was to
have Yance take a front-and-center role in the documentary. That
intimacy proved to be the most important aspect of Strong Island,
but the most difficult part for Yance. A first time director at the
time, Yance felt fortunate to have the luxury of working on Strong
Island for ten years as a two person team with Alan, and every
creative decision of what the film would look and feel like was
carefully and deliberately made. Alan used the camera as a tool to
maintain the intimacy of the film. He would never pan or tilt, and
he kept most shots tightly framed. Every shot was held for at least
60 seconds to hold the intensity and force the audience to watch,
even if it became uncomfortable. Strong Island was nominated for an
Academy Award in 2018 and also won a Creative Arts Emmy. You can
stream Strong Island right now on Netflix.
https://www.strongislandfilm.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h64qugj_iDg Yance Ford is a
transgender director, and he talks about his experience in
Hollywood in the documentary Disclosure, on Netflix June 19.
http://www.disclosurethemovie.com/about
https://www.facebook.com/netflixus/videos/disclosure-netflix/1566941396799781/
Find Yance Ford: Twitter @yford Strong Island: @strongislandfilm
Find Alan Jacobsen: https://www.alanjax.com/ Instagram @alanjax7
Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes
and links: http://camnoir.com/ep79/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras
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Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz