Feature Story: Behind the Lens

"When the time comes for growth and change 

we must have the courage and faith to let go." ~ Ilyanla Vanzant 

I've recently come to the conclusion that everyone's story is epic. We each are living enormous lives, whether you're a writer, producer, dancer, singer, equestrian or the mother of three - we are all living complex lives. What I'm just now grasping is the concept that life truly is about loving yourself, loving yourself allows you to be your true self and its this authenticity that allows you to remain present and open to everything the universe is making available to you.

PARTS OF THE WHOLE

You can not create a Film or TV show by yourself, it takes a team effort to bring a project to life.  There are innumerable departments and positions on a Film or TV set - ever watch the credits roll at the end of a movie or TV show?

The lion share of the accolades and notoriety is bestowed upon my fellow actresses and actors so it becomes easy to disregard the fact that there would be nothing on screen to enjoy without the hard work and dedication of the many working behind the camera.

MANY ROADS 

I am thrilled to introduce you to this month's feature story subject, Kirk Gardner. I met Kirk through mutual friends, he is one of those people who lights up a room with their energy.  He's a writer, director and has made a name for himself as a Camera Operator on 90+ TV shows and films.

Kirk was shooting super 8 shorts from when he was a teenager and at 17 he wrote, directed, and edited his first film - this was back in 1978-79 before Youtube and iMovie - he was way ahead of his time.

After High school Kirk wanted to follow his love of film and so he looked into the film programs at USC and UCLA. Unfortunately Kirk's family fell into a financial loophole, they didn't make enough money to pay for his college tuition but they made too much money to receive any financial aid; so Kirk had to look into other options. A friend of his grandmother suggested he look into the military and after finding out that the Navy has the top photographic schools in the world Kirk enlisted.

Photo Credit: jai Mansson Photography

"Its not what you think, its what you believe... 
its called FAITH."  

Kirk has worked alongside many prestigious directors: Steven Spielberg, John Singleton, Antoine Fuqua, Neil LaBute and Spike Jonze to name a few and it is my pleasure to share his story with you...


WHERE WERE YOU BORN AND RAISED?

I was Born in Detroit Michigan to Kenneth and Leonia Gardner (married before my birth, my mom would be upset if I didn’t say that). Raised in Detroit till 18 yrs, Joined the Navy out of High School to become a Photographers Mate. Then my growing up was done around the world. Spain, Sicily, Scotland, Cypress. Did some time in Beirut Lebanon during the Syrian Conflict. Missed the destruction of the Marine BLT military base of Beirut 1983 by a few days. Was shipped out back to Sicily just before it was blown up by a terrorist attack. If not traveling around the world I was at home in Norfolk Virginia. Great place to live if you're a simple person. But it can be a party town. Great clubs. It was the city I came out in. But that's an entirely different story. Spent 5 years total in the US Navy.

YOU HAVE AN EXTENSIVE RESUME - YOU HAVE WORKED AS A CAMERA OPERATOR ON 90+ films and TV shows (some include the TV show Grimm, Community and films like Training Day, Pursuit of Happiness and Being John Malkovich) CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE ROLE OF A CAMERA OPERATOR?

Camera operators do the same job with various intensities from job to job. Be it commercial, Feature film, large cast and budget or small budget and big stars. Sitcom TV, movies of the week, live concerts, NBA playoffs, Dance and singing shows, The Oscars, The Grammy's, Music Videos. Camera operators used to have a saying, “We See It First”. That really can’t be said anymore. Fifteen some odd people are now able to watch monitors of the shot your operating. But what are each of them looking for? Maybe a script supervisor is watching for which hand the actor picks up the glass with, maybe the gaffer is looking for any lights in the shot, maybe the key grip is looking for any stands or flags in the shot. Maybe the director is watching the actors and the DP is looking at the light and or contrast in the shot. Where as the Camera operator you are looking at all of that at the same time and the framing, balance, camera move. Reflections in glasses and mirrors, unusual shadows, sometimes critical focus.

Sometimes your running with the camera. Sometimes your watching a monitor while the camera flies on a crane with a remote head 150 feet away from you. Maybe your riding on the back of a high speed camera car preceding a picture car as it swerves on a dangerous mountain road. Maybe your shooting underwater with live sharks around you, or at the top of the Eiffel Tower shooting a close up of a kiss between two people. Our job is to capture the moment(s) on film, or HD now. After all the sets are built, costumes are made, stunts are ready, special effects is hot, actors in makeup, lights are burning, the camera operator comes in to put it on the chip ( this may be the new saying because unfortunately HD is filling the space that film once inhabited.) Things are always changing when your shooting, you just have to able to change with it.

WHEN DID YOU START GETTING INTERESTED IN THE FILM INDUSTRY?

I was always interested in filmmaking. As a 14 year old kid back in 1976 I started making short films and music videos with my cousins. I was a train lover as a kid. I wanted to be a train Engineer, then one night my parents took me and my little sister to see The Towering Inferno, It was a double bill showing with The Chinese Connection a flying Martial Arts film. After seeing that movie I said I wanted to make up stuff like that and show it to people. I wanted to make a movie. I was really into it. So I sold my Lionel trains that my grandfather had bought for my birthday and invested in a Bell & Howell super 8 sound camera ( I really am going to miss Kodak). It was like a Panavision camera to me. Star Wars became my all time favorite film. I was the third person in Detroit to see the film when it came out. I skipped school and went out to the Americana Theater early in the morning and two white kids had beat me to it. I was a little pissed but made new friends that day. And I was the only black kid in that line. Catching the earliest bus out of the heart of the city of Detroit into the outskirts of Southfield - crossing 8 Mile road was a big deal back then.

The Americana Theater was the newest theater in Michigan, It was a huge movie theater, HUGE. Had the newest projector, was suppose to have best sound and picture. So of course that's where I went to see movies. Never really went into downtown Detroit to see films after the Americana opened up.

I think the thrill to me was people reacting to what I was showing them. The reaction of a group of people all sitting together laughing or screaming or being embarrassed is really cool to watch and be a part of.

WHAT WAS IT THAT MADE YOU WANT TO BECOME A CAMERA OPERATOR?

What a great question, because I never really wanted to be a Camera Operator in the film industry. I really didn’t know what a camera operator was in my early days of making my own films. I thought the DP was the camera operator. But while in the Navy I learned to do Steadicam. Another long story. After getting out of the Navy I pursued steadicam. Garrett Brown, the inventor of steadicam said to me at a steadicam workshop where he was teaching along with some of the great steadicam operators of that time Randy Nolen, Ted Churchill, Tobey “the crazy Australian” Phillips, Bob Crone. Garrett said to me “ Your going to be good at this”. So I just kept doing it. It got me into Hollywood. Right onto the set, right into the mix of things. Right next to the director. I was really making movies and that led to B Camera work, and finally led to “A” camera work by a DP named Gordon Lonsdale another great cameraman. He shoots Bones now. From there I’ve been learning from all the directors and DP’s I work with. The good ones and the bad ones. Yes there are bad ones. So I sort of grew into camera operating. What I really want to do is Direct. Not Produce, not DP, but direct. And I’m working on that as we speak. I did get an opportunity to direct 2nd unit on KING AUTHUR directed by Antoine Fuqua. It was inspiring. Getting behind Antoine and watching him work was a real learning experience. I had done two other films with Mr. Fuqua as his camera operator, but not having to worry about camera and just watch him work and see the logistics behind it all, made me fall even more in love with directing.

HOW DID YOU GET YOUR FIRST BREAK?

Actually my first film as a steadicam operator was a film shot in Flint, Michigan called Chameleon Street. Starred, directed, written and produced by Wendell B Harris Jr. I look at that steadicam work and I cringe.

I did one steadicam shot on the original Evil Dead II. But my first film in Hollywood was I’ma Get You Sucka! A friend I was staying with in North Hollywood named Rick Robinson actually turned down the job, because he didn’t have a steadicam, and turned me on to it. I had a reel of my work of me following some one around my car, I had some car chase footage for an in house Chrysler commercial I did in Detroit, and some footage of a Hovercraft going from the ocean to the beach, which I shot hanging from a Helicopter parallel to the earth being held by a rope by my best friend at the time. Great arial shots, STUPID way to get it. But I was young. A little bit dumb and very brave. On Ima Get You Sucka, Tom Richmond was the DP, I really liked Tommy his crew called him Whitie, I really don’t know why. He looked at my reel and said thats a great shot, how did you do that? It was a shot of someone getting in a car as seen from ground level, then the person gets in the car and camera rises to see him through the roof of the car. I told him I actually climbed up on top of the car, (which I did) Tommy thought it was great and he hired me, I couldn’t breath, I was so excited. I got the job. Out of all the people in Hollywood doing steadicam at the time “I” got the job. Its also where I met John Singleton, but that's another story too.

WHEN YOU ARE STARTING ON A NEW PROJECT, WHAT DOES THAT FIRST DAY LOOK LIKE FOR YOU - WHO DO YOU WORK WITH ON SET AND HOW IS THE VISION OF THE PROJECT EXPLAINED TO YOU? 

There are so many factors. The very first day of principal photography is sometimes the most difficult. I’ve seen producers make a hard schedule for the first week. Long hours, tough shots a lot of work scheduled on the call sheet. I guess it is to see how tough the team is. Where the weak points are. They start weeding us out, LOL. And sometimes the first days can be an easy schedule. Where we get to feel each other out, get rest, hear creative ideals. It just flows. I like the latter. Its like the quiet before the storm.

I’m a Operator that likes to see what the Director and DP are like. Sometimes your just a tool, and sometimes your part of the creative force in making the film. Sometimes things are figured out so far in advance that you pretty much just operate. Sometimes your making it up as you go along. This all depends on the people I am working with who are in charge, director/ DP. Sometimes, and this is rare, I am brought in a couple of weeks before the start of principle photography (the day we actually begin shooting the film). During that pre-production couple of weeks there are sometimes makeup and wardrobe test. Its a good time to feel out what the team is going to be working like out in the field. You get to see some of the locations, hear some of the ideas that have been thought about for shooting particular scenes. Sometimes there are storyboards to look at. Have dinner with the director and DP or just with the DP to hear how they would like you to fit in. It also depends on the size of the project. The strength of the director and DP I am working for. Is this a new Director and doesn’t know a lot about directing. Is this a visual director who is all about camera. Is this an actors director where he / she is more involved with the actors, and the DP and operator are shaping the look of the show, helping the director with editing choices, sizes, dolly moves and so on. Is he/she a weak director and needs lots of help but a great writer. Is he/she a strong director and knows exactly what he/she wants, but open to ideas that run concurrent to his vision (best directors to work with).

The first thing I do is sit back and let the director DP block a scene. The DP usually knows what direction he/she wants to look first. And he/she will usually guide the director in that direction. I observe this first. I think thats part of my job. Not to constantly inject my ideas first. Listen/ question/ advise/ act. First I listen to the ideas of the director/DP, then I ask any questions in which I’m not sure what he/she is telling me, then I advise on certain things to enhance, simplify, excite, complete the shot, then I act, I get busy building the shot. I am not alone in this process, the Key grip and dolly grip are involved as well. It always seems the gaffer is ahead of the game for some reason. And then when its set, it will probably change again. LOL

WHAT HAS BEEN EITHER THE STRANGEST OR FUNNIEST INCIDENT YOU'VE EXPERIENCED IN YOUR CAREER, EITHER ON SET OR OFF? 

That's a hard question because so many strange and beautiful things have happened to me in my career.

I have always and will always be a big fan of Steven Spielberg. As a younger person I had a poster of Spielberg. In the poster he was kneeled down eye level to a miniature set of Raiders of the Lost Ark . He was holding up his hands making a frame of a shot of the miniature. You see this from the miniature set’s point of view. It was a big close up of his face. Glasses, ball cap on, excitement in his eyes. 

Well fast forward twenty something years later. A friend of mine Chris Harhoff, a great camera/ steadicam operator working on the film called AI. Chris sprains his ankle, so he calls me and asks me to replace him for a couple of weeks on the film. AI is being directed by Steven Spielberg. I get there sit around for a few hours then finally get called into this huge set they built inside the Spruce Goose hanger in Long Beach. I meet Steven Spielberg, no ball cap, just grey flowing hair, beard grey as well, but the glasses are there. He talks very plain and very clear and very direct, he smiles when he talks.He says “ I heard a lot about you, I heard your really good, better than Chris I hear”. The crew laughs and he laughs and I laugh, but I laugh a crazy ass nervous laugh like “Now I better not fuck up”. 

I am as nervous as a cat, but I settle myself and center myself and think he’s a filmmaker and so am I. My nervousness leaves and my joy of filmmaking returns. He explains the shot to me. We rehearse it once, light it. Then we shoot the first take. No other rehearsal. I think to myself. That sucked I can do better. Steven comes out from behind the monitors and says “that was great, one more. He gives some instruction to Haley Joel Osment, the kid in the movie, and the robot dressed actors around him, then turns to me and says just don’t push in so fast at the end. I nod “ok”. We do the second take and cut. I hear “Great moving on” Spielberg is happy with my work. The AD walks up and says “good job”. My mentor “A” camera operator Mitch Dubin walks up and says “he likes you”. I think to myself “too much praise for one shot. I do a couple of other shots. Two takes at the most. Finally, and here is the strange part. Spielberg comes up to me and he’s talking about a shot of following a couple of motorcycles. He stands there next to me and holds out his hands to show a frame and I’m standing next to him looking in the same direction. And to confirm the frame, I hold up my hands making a frame. And for a moment I think about this, we are both standing next to each other making a frame with our hands. 


The poster from my childhood of Spielberg suddenly comes into my mind from 20 years ago in my bedroom. It is a very strange moment. I say to my self If I died right this moment it would be alright Here I am standing next to Steven Spielberg working on one of his movies holding my hands up with him talking about our shot. It was the strangest most breathtaking moment in my career, so far. It said to me dreams can come true. You can be whatever you want to be. If it is imaginable, it is possible. (I'm shedding a tear as I write this)


WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE OTHER'S INTERESTED IN PURSUING A CAREER AS A CAMERA OPERATOR? 

Get busy, start shooting stuff. Watch lots of movies. Good ones and bad ones. Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do it. Be confident, be creative and be humble. People will criticize you, and praise you, don’t fall down and don’t let it go to your head. Be kind to others. Filmmaking is a team effort you never do it alone. Never stop learning.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO? 

Being a creative part of a team that creates something that will effect the world in some positive way. I try to choose my movies if I can. Sometimes you do a film or two that you don’t feel good about because you need to work either for money or just to stay in the groove. But mostly it’s knowing that what you do will make someones life a little better. My favorite film so far that I have ever worked on is The Pursuit of Happiness. I really loved shooting that film and while shooting I actually cried looking thru the lens a couple of times. A scene in the church when Will Smith’s character feels a spirit. It was a favorite moment for me. I said “I love making movies”.

WHAT IS THE BEST THING THAT HAS HAPPENED FOR YOU IN YOUR CAREER SO FAR? 

The best thing that has happened for me was being able to direct 2nd Unit for the movie King Arthur. It was a really big movie logistically in my mind. Horses, armour, stunts, fires, fireball slinging machines, swords, woods, Bow and arrow fights. It had a little bit of everything. I really had a great time in Ireland doing the job and worked with the best crew anyone could ask for. Oh and that great background team of extras and stuntmen. At the end of my time on the show the Extras got together and gave me a cake and expressed what a great guy I was to work with. To have 300 guys say that about you is really a great feeling.

WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSIONAL WISH/GOAL FOR 2013? 

Directing and writing. Plain and simple.

WHAT ARE YOUR UPCOMING PROJECTS? 

Starting to work on The Equalizer this summer, its the Training Day crew back together again. YEAH!!!!

And I’m always open to work so give me a call: (323) 205-5475
or email me: hooptycam@mac.com

Gotta promote when you can.

WHAT ONE THING WOULD YOU DO IF YOU KNEW YOU COULD NOT FAIL? 

That's an odd question because anything I do I will succeed. I may fail a bit, I call that learning, but I will always succeed.

IF SOMEONE WERE TO DESCRIBE YOU IN ONE SENTENCE WHAT WOULD THEY SAY? 

At work: I asked someone that question and this is their answer. 
"What an up, positive and calm great guy to work with."

At home: "What's he building now?"

IT'S THE END OF A GREAT WEEK AND YOU HAVE SOME FREE TIME ON YOUR HANDS - WHAT DO YOU DO?

Minga!. iPad freak. I read books, blogs, scripts, I write, catch up a little on my Facebook account, workout, juice, BBQ, sleep late, travel. I start building things for the house. I walk and play with The Franky (my boxer) and doing most of that with my partner.