My guest this week is Anthony Prince Leslie, a photographer and filmmaker from Brooklyn. He has made a name for himself shooting behind the scenes footage for films like The Drama and Spider-Man Brand New Day. I wanted to speak to him to learn all about shooting behind the scenes on a modern movie set, and on film. This conversation involves some fairly hard-core cameras of the stills and moving picture variety and an impromptu fit check so you might want to watch this one on YouTube.
Mentioned in this episode
People
Zendaya — connected AP to The Drama and later to Spider-Man: Brand New Day · Wikipedia
Law Roach — celebrity stylist AP worked with on the Bringing It Forward series, including a Tommy Hilfiger campaign · Wikipedia
Tom Holland — star of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, who told AP he loved the sound of his camera on set · Wikipedia
Sadie Sink — mentioned as the subject of new images AP is preparing to release · Wikipedia
Destin Daniel Cretton — director of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, credited by AP for giving him access on set · Wikipedia
Greg Williams — behind-the-scenes photographer known for his work on the James Bond films, cited for a Matt Damon film image printed in Hollywood Authentic · gregwilliams.com
Films and projects
Spider-Man: Brand New Day — the film AP shot special unit stills for; his medium-format and Bolex images from set are the reason Iain invited him on · Wikipedia
The Drama — A24 film starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, directed by Kristoffer Borgli, that first connected AP to feature productions · Wikipedia
Sugar Honey Iced Tea — AP's own feature film in development, about gentrification in Brooklyn, which he now plans to shoot on film
Bringing It Forward — AP's editorial series with Law Roach, including the Tommy Hilfiger campaign that helped lead to his film work
Gear and tools
Mamiya RB67 — AP's favourite stills camera, prized for its square format · Wikipedia
Bolex H16 — his hand-cranked 16mm film camera, used to steal moments between takes on set · Wikipedia
Fujifilm GFX 100 — his discreet, medium-format digital go-to for campaigns and editorials · fujifilm-x.com
Leica M11 — his everyday carry camera, paired with a Zeiss 35mm lens · leica-camera.com
Leica R9 with digital back — a film-era body converted to a 10-megapixel digital camera, which AP recently discovered · Wikipedia
ARRI 416 — the Super-16 camera AP calls his "graduation" from the Bolex, used briefly on the Spider-Man set · Wikipedia
Alexa LF — the large-format digital cinema camera at the top of AP's wish list · arri.com
Canon IXUS 75 — his low-key point-and-shoot for staying discreet on set · Wikipedia
Companies and institutions
Equator Studio — AP's creative studio and full-service production company · equator.studio
Rapid Eye Dark Rooms — the London film lab AP trusts for colour development and scanning · rapideye.uk.com
Kodak London — Kodak's UK film processing lab, credited for fast, high-quality 16mm and 8mm turnaround
Panavision — camera rental house that supplied and serviced AP's cameras on set
Hollywood Authentic — the large-format film photography magazine that printed Greg Williams' Matt Damon image · hollywoodauthentic.com
Music
"Interrogation (Skit)" by A$AP Rocky, from the album Don't Be Dumb — the source of the episode's title line · Wikipedia
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More about this show:
A camera is just a tool but spend enough time with photographers and you’ll see them go misty eyed when they talk about their first camera or a small fast prime that they had in their youth. Prime Lenses is a series of interviews with photographers talking about their photography by way of three lenses that mean a lot to them. These can be interchangeable, attached to a camera, integrated into a gadget, I’m interested in the sometimes complex relationship we have with the tools we choose, why they can mean so much and how they make us feel.
