Q & A With Cinematographer Joan Churchill, ASC

Q&A WITH CINEMATOGRAPHER JOAN CHURCHILL, ASC

byBrian Hallett

Legendary Documentary Cinematographer Joan Chruchill, ASC, is known for her work on Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer, Shut Up & Sing , and Kurt & Courtney. She has pioneered a path for women through the male-dominated enclaves of cinematography and documentary becoming the first female member of the British film union in the seventies and, more recently, the first documentary cameraperson to be made an ASC in the US.

BRIAN HALLETT (BH): How do you define experiential filmmaking?

JOAN CHURCHILL, ASC (JC): Filmmaking has become much more participatory for me. Audiences are too sophisticated now to accept the ”fly on the wall” kind of filmmaking I started out with. Since the advent of the smaller cameras, I have never looked back. I am left eyed so when using the shoulder mounted cameras, no one could see my face. I was just a big glass eye to people. This new generation of cameras allows me to have a relationship with the people I point my camera at. They can see my face & my reactions to what is happening and understand that I am not a threat to them. I want to be accepted into the circle of interactions, so I am physically very close to people when I shoot. This means they often acknowledge me & I often inter

act with them. Our students in Cuba came up with the term ‘experiential’ for this style of filmmaking. That was years ago. Now we see the word everywhere.

Photo by Alan Barker

BH: Do you have certain criteria for you to move forward on the next film?

JC: What’s the film about? Who are the people involved? Is there a budget? Will I like myself if I get involved?

BH: If so, what do you look for in a project?

JC: I am a people person, interested in character driven documentaries. I prefer long-term projects where things evolve and change; where there is no hidden agenda. If you are open to following a subject wherever it might take you, you will certainly end up in a very different place from the one you anticipated. I have been working on a film about a psychiatric emergency room in Los Angeles for almost five years now. We’ve been at it for so long the success stories are becoming harder to see & the people who

were in a very bad state initially are doing rather well. Go figure!

BH: What is your process? Do you shape a script then shoot or do you shoot first and shape later? Why?

JC: My interest is in shooting real life. That can’t be scripted. The film then gets shaped in the editing.

BH: I saw you worked on a film for ten years. How do you schedule a project that goes on for ten years?

JC: Still working on it! It’s a film about the great activist filmmaker & cinematographer, Haskell Wexler. My partner, Alan Barker, & I were good friends with Haskell & lived quite close to him, so it was easy to hang out with him. We followed him in his life, onto sets, all sorts of protests, but primarily the film consists of conversations with our friends (including DA Pennebaker, Al Maysles, Hubert Sauper, Susan Meiselas) about ethical issues facing filmmakers/ journalists. While working on this film, we also carried on making a living, so there were long periods when we didn’t shoot with Haskell.

From the Documentary Kurt & Courtney

BH: How do you manage a work/life balance while continuing to be so prolific?

JC: I work with a family of friends. We are partners in life, work well together, and have continuing relations outside of work. After being on the road, we get to go home & pat the cat... sometimes the son, if he’s around, although he does exactly what we do so often we’re ships passing in the night. It is good to go home again.

BH: Emotion, how do you capture or find the emotion in your films?

JC: People who agree to be in documentaries almost always have a message for the world. They are often passionate about an issue. My job is to fit in to their world, be sensitive to what is happening so I can follow their process & recreate it on the screen for others to partake in. This means they have to trust you. That is something you have to earn... sometimes every day. So your people skills are as important as your technical chops.

BH: When do you hit record? As in, what needs to be in front of your lens for your heart to sing and you are compelled to shoot in that moment?

JC: If you have been following a story, you know what you have already shot & what the various story lines are & what is needed to flesh it out. The best camera people are good listeners. They anticipate what is going to happen & are in a position to capture what is unfolding in front of their camera. There is a lot of sitting around waiting for that moment to roll camera. You have to be in sync with your sound person, both in tune to what is about to happen. (No thumbing of phones!) There is no need to say, ‘let’s roll,’ you both know.

BH: What lessons have you learned along the way that you use every day?

JC: Everyone has an interesting story. Everyone (well, almost!) has humanity. Be

BH: What would you tell your nine-year-old self if you could?

JC: Pick up a camera & shoot what interests you. If you’ve documented your family, think how valuable that will be 30 years down the line when you’re making your first person narrative film! Or how interesting it will be to look back on how people dressed, what the cars looked like....

Brian Hallett, is the senior promotions producer at the NBC affiliate in Nashville, TN, and an award winning cameraman, editor, and producer. He has shot everything from broadcast television news, promotional image campaigns, music videos, short films, and documentaries. First and foremost, Brian is a cameraman and since 1999 his skills have allowed him to work for Spike TV, NBC, Fox, and CBS. n

From the Documentary Dixie Chicks: Shut Up & Sing