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Talent On Tap – Andy Hodgson Explains El Color Negro at VSFF

If we all had blue skin like the characters on Avatar, would it stop racism? The act of racism because people are a different colour is so prehistoric and truly shows lack of common sense and lack of capability for change. Apparently moral fibre is not available to everybody. Treating people differently, racial profiling and cultural discrimination has caused destruction, violence, murder and mass protests from a society that is tired of ignoring it, being victimized and is demanding change. The big difference this time – is that they’re not alone and the rest of the world has united to say that Enough is Enough! 

 

The short film El Color Negro is the brainchild of Andy Hodgson and it was important for him to get this message out. Andy is a very accomplished cinematographer with more than 15 years in the film business but he was moved to act after the George Floyd incident and created a stunning masterpiece that really puts the subject of colour under the microscope. It dissolves the futile argument for racism while exposing the multiple shades of blackness and the fact that grey and white must combine to create the colour of black. It’s all very black and white and this film sums up the ridiculousness of the obscene practice of racism through spoken word. The images are absolutely beautiful and I believe this film should be in schools, in homes and on the minds of social media influencers until everyone knows about it. 

 

This film has an incredible cast, incredible wardrobe and the words are powerful and resonate long after it’s over. It’s shot on black and white film, which creates a distinct look and feel, as well as encompassing the message of colour. I loved this production and had an incredible chat with Andy Hodgson on the huge effort going into this extremely important short film. 

 

HNM “You had three writers on this project. How did you determine which section of spoken word each was assigned to?”

ANDY “The process was quite interesting… I started researching the colour black.  It was through researching numerous articles that I started pinpointing words and phrases that related to racism, such as – ‘black is not a colour, it is in the same shade as white and grey’. From there, I had the idea that humans are also not a colour – we’re all in the same shade, so why are some of us racist and look at colour in people differently? I pieced it together like a puzzle and took words and phrases and jumbled them… and then I contacted Rukiya Bernard, who’s an incredible actress and director. I wanted her help on the ‘black empowerment’ to ensure we were getting the message across correctly – we didn’t want to put anybody in a bad light. The other writer is John Mather, my stepfather… he’s been a 30-year linguistics English teacher. After Rukiya and I had put the words together, I approached him to ask how we could best put it into a script form that compliments what we’re trying to say, as well as what should go first, what should be in the middle and what should go at the end.” 

 

HNM “On your imdb page, you have over 80 credits for you Cinematography work. Are you switching gears toward more writing and directing?”

ANDY “I’ve been doing cinematography for 17 years in Vancouver, as well as producing… and since the George Floyd incident and others, I wondered how I could utilize my art and experience to put something together. I never intended or planned to be a director… but it’s given me a new inspired vision to direct my own content that I’d like to put out into the world in order to make a difference. I’ve been working alongside multiple directors here in town as well as in other countries and know what directing is and through cinematographer – you’re directing, so it came at an ease for me.”

 

HNM “Your cast was dressed in clothes from a different era and they also had varying degrees of blackness, was that on purpose?”

ANDY “Exactly! In going back to the script and talking about the shades, I wanted to show that there were light-skinned coloured people and very dark-skinned coloured people and everything in between. I utilized many people that I knew in the industry to help out. I’m half Black and half Spanish and I thought it was important to showcase the different shades of black.”  

 

HNM “This film had so many incredible outfits from a different era, where did you find the great wardrobe?”

ANDY “That was through our incredible and lovely Donna Yasmine. We’ve collaborated in the past and she’s an incredible stylist and wardrobe consultant. I approached her with the idea of using clothing from the ‘roaring twenties’ and she had incredible vision – she knocked it out of the park. She’s also half mixed and was really into the project. What she brought to the table was incredible and I get asked about the wardrobe often.” 

 

 

HNM “What was it about the roaring twenties that prompted you to focus on the clothing of that time?”

ANDY “It was kind of a renaissance time, especially for Blacks; there were a lot of musicians, poets and they started owning their own businesses. That was only 100 years ago.”

 

HNM “The film was shown in black and white. Was that also a play on the colour?”

ANDY “I shot it on film and thought, if we’re going back in time then there’s no better way to utilize the elegant and powerful images of black and white, men and women, as well as the objects in the film – that made it a no brainer to go with black and white film. The colourist was Sam Gilliam, who’s just incredible and did an outstanding job on creating the right feel for the film.”

 

HNM “There’s not a lot of people shooting on film these days. Is it difficult to find processing?”

ANDY “Not really, I’ve shot on film a couple of times before and I use a company out of Montreal called MELS. They had a quick turnaround, which was important to me because of the riots and the other things going on. They were able to give me a digital scan within a couple of weeks.”

 

HNM “Would you send all the footage, uncut to be processed?”

ANDY “Yes, our focus puller Marcus – who’s amazing, loaded the film then packaged and sent it away for processing to MELS. They then digitized it and put it on a hard drive and sent to the editor.”

 

 

HNM “Did the film win any other awards?”

ANDY “It also had an Honourable Mention for Cinematography. I was the cinematographer. Jon Silverberg won an award for Best Editing at the Vancouver Short Film Festival and was the one who put the edit together on the film.”

 

HNM “What type of film camera did you use to shoot it?”

ANDY “We shot it on the Arriflex SR3 16 mm. A good friend Jeremy Cox, who’s also an incredible cinematographer, owns the camera and through him and Brightside Cinema had put together a nice little package.”

 

HNM “This film was narrated by Caitlan Stryker, where did you find her?”

ANDY “She’s one of the actresses in the film, we’ve been social media friends and have worked on a couple projects together. She’s also half black and when I brought her on set, I was still looking for someone to do the voice over. I thought she’d be incredible, so I started working with her to mimic ‘spoken word’ and some of my notes to her were – imagine you’re Malcolm X or Fidel Castro giving a speech in a park or an arena and you’re really trying to portray this message. She did an incredible job and our sound designer, Noah also did an outstanding job in making it sound old school, he added some crackles to make it sound full and in an open arena.”

 

HNM “There was an incredible effort put into this film. How did you finance it?”

ANDY “(Laughing) Out of pocket, that CERB really came in handy. I also had a little help through family, friends and supporters. Stage 6 is the studio we used, Pacific Backlot, Brightside Cinema as well as other incredible collaborators that gave us the space and support we needed.  I’ve been working with these rental houses and studios for a very long time and they really came through for the cause. It was pretty important for me to get this message out and money wasn’t an issue when it came to getting it out there.”

 

HNM “This is an amazing little film that resonates long after its over. How many drafts did you write before it felt right/finished?”

ANDY “There were definitely a few drafts (laughing), we reworked it a few times. We were working against the clock because we shot it a couple of weeks after the George Floyd tragedy, so we wanted to get it out quickly and had to make the decision that it was good enough to move forward and get the message out.”    

 

HNM “Where did you shoot it?”

ANDY “We shot it at Studio 6, they’re friends of mine and gave me the space. We filmed it in late June/early July and we followed all safety protocols for Covid – minimal crew, the actors were all filmed separately and staggered, they social distanced, there was sanitizing and it was a very interesting shoot.”

 

HNM “Is this the only film festival it’s screened at?”

ANDY “This is the Canadian premiere, so we’re super excited. Next up, it’s going to a film festival in Australia.”

 

I find it admirable when a filmmaker has something to say because we are always listening. Good on you Andy Hodgson for making an incredible film with a very significant message. 

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