Brief 14: On Camera, Off Camera

 I've only watched one Chadwick Boseman film, Black Panther, thus far, not having yet got round to watching Da 5 Bloods, as I'd intended, nor being a big Marvel devotee. 

I have, nevertheless, watched a great deal of him talking/being interviewed, so feel saddened by his loss. In particular, I've seen a lot of him talking on a youtube show called 'Off Camera With Sam Jones', which I'd highly recommend.

Sam Jones, who I first became aware of directing the Wilco documentary 'I Am Trying to Break Your Heart' (he also shot the iconic cover photograph, of which the below is my own personal version!), is, primarily, a celebrity photographer.

One supposes it is the fact his job has involved making celebrities feel at ease in his presence which makes the hour-long 'Off Camera' interviews (which I usually watch in the short youtube clips he edits them into) so rewarding. 

They are the best "Hollywood" interviews I've seen. It is just him, in black and white, talking, at ease and leisure, to a famous person, and you'll never see famous people so relaxed, so open, so interesting. He gets them to talk about what got them into acting, who their heroes are, their processes, their hang-ups. Nearly all of them come across humanised and normalised, and even those that are clearly still "on" have interesting things to say.

Chadwick Boseman was one of those interviewed - I think his interview is from 2017. Hindsight I know but , perhaps you could see, in his uncommon intelligence and sense of purpose, that it was a sense of purpose sharpened by the uncommon and awful circumstance he'd already found himself in. 

Youtube being youtube, that took me to further Chadwick Boseman interviews - there is so much fascinating about how he perceived the importance of his role as 'Black Panther' and the film itself. I enjoyed the film a great deal, though of course it was not the event for me it was for others - in particular, though, I thought his performance a marvellous, finely balanced thing.

Anyway, it's a deeply sad happening.

And check out the Sam Jones interviews, they're really good.  Equally, the acting process may be of little interest to you, nor indeed seeing film stars flattered by appearing down-to-earth. The only minor irritation is the way he goes "Right" when someone says something half-interesting then "Riiight" 10 seconds later as if he's just fully grasped the deep insight. But that's a minor quibble!