Evil Instincts are filmic and funny. What triggered your idea for the series and how did it evolve?
GQ USA asked me to photograph the villains of the acting world and they also wanted some moving imagery for their web site. I thought of these ideas in collaboration first with Zoe Tomlinson who I work closely with and then we discussed the scenarios with the magazine.
At first I thought that it would be best to slowly draw away from each actor while they acted out their nasty deeds to reveal that they were simply doing every day activities but then I thought it more questioning and elegant to simply turn the actor around and fade. Introducing the Hangman game idea for the end-type was to encourage the viewer to guess the action.
How did directing video performance differ from shooting photographs?
It wasn’t that different because I always see a session or sitting with an actor a bit like a performance.
You must know your stills cameras as if they’re extensions of yourself. What was it like changing to film cameras – is it the same instinctive creative process – and is this a medium that you’ll be working much more with?
I am interested in making images that intrigue and cause the viewer to question. Often this is by showing less rather than more. If it is a moving image then I hand the camera over after I’ve checked that my all important weight of composition is how I want it, and I concentrate on the performance and feel of the piece.
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