MVWire: How was the experience going from making music videos to movies?
Joseph Kahn: The world I live in, which is big budget pop filmmaking, it is not any different. I actually went to a lower stature because I have been doing music videos for 13 years and this is my first feature film. There was a lot more questioning as to whether I could actually pull it off. There were people who wanted me and there were people who thought I had no business doing filmmaking in the first place. Going into this was more of a political challenge than anything else. On the other hand in music video, it’s not all peachy keen either. If the record company wants the edit to be a certain way, even if I completely bitch and moan about it, they are going to have it the way they want it.
MVWire: Were you able to use any of the crew that you would normally work with on your music videos?
JK: I didn’t get to use my normal crew. |
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So as much as people think the movie has a beautiful look, it just scratched the surface of what we can do. I would have taken it further. I was able to have my editor, David Blackburn in conjunction with a studio approved editor and my normal DP, who did most of the 2nd unit and who does all the hard stunts for my music video crew.
MVWire: What was the process like working with actors with scripts versus working with an artist in a music video?
JK: In general when you work with a music artist, like a rapper, they don’t ask you, “What’s my motivation?” “Why should I move over here? “My character wouldn’t do that.” I love actors! After being with them for so long and getting into their heads, I learned that they are very unique and interesting people. They get lost in their characters and the ones who really believe in their characters are the ones that are the most fun to work with. |
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