“Casting a Spell from the First Frame to the Last”
“There’s a book that was given to me by my mother when I was in 10th or 11th grade called ‘The Big Book of Photography’. It was hers from college. I still have it. It’s stacked with lessons and techniques as well as some truly beautiful photographs,” says Soup Film’s Kevin Phillips as he shares how he first came across the medium which would become his craft of choice.
It was a Pentax SLR with a 50mm prime which became his first prized possession, bought for him by his mother. “I have vivid memories of riding in a car, past bystanders and wishing that I had a long enough lens to zoom into their fleeting faces, so they filled the frame,” he says. “I also remember asking my mom how to make my pictures more grainy. These were film days, but I didn’t start developing and printing my pictures in the dark room until college.”
Pinning those moments down as the “inception point” of his photography, he also recalls the impact that the big screen had on him. “My father saw to it that I became obsessed with movies, raising me on classics like ‘Gunga Din’ and ‘The Third Man’. I eventually took to dubbing films to tape specifically to rewatch certain scenes over and over and over…I particularly remember doing this with Alien 3.”
Through using his high school’s AV equipment and the job he got at Hollywood Video, the combination of creating work and renting masses of movies, made a recipe for creativity. Watching ‘Lost Highway’, ‘Akira’, ‘Boogie Nights’ and ‘The Piano’ he says, “It carved new networks in my mind and I didn’t finish it till years later because I was too scared. Around this time I was watching all manner of movies.”
Attending Savannah College of Art and Design to study filmmaking and photography, Kevin met many of his closest friends and collaborators, but never fails to remember who’s at the heart of things. “Ultimately, I owe much of this to my parents,” he explains. “From the earliest age, they encouraged my creative pursuits, suggesting I attend art school when I really didn’t know any better. They taught me the difference between looking and seeing, and they are both excellent storytellers and my greatest supporters.”
When Kevin began creating, it was ‘Too Cool for School’ and ‘Super Dark Times’ which became celebrated works. About the latter, he shares, “Super Dark Times was written for me to direct by two close friends who I actively still work with, Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski. We’ve known each other for about 20 years now. Ben currently lives next door. The film came to him in a dream sometime around 2009 and we went for a walk the next day, to talk it out. I was apprehensive, but Ben was insistent. Luke then came in and the film really began to take the form as you know it today.”
As time passed and financing the film became tricky, they brought on friend and producer Jett Steiger as well as filmmaker and producer Rich Peete. The two suggested a short concept film was made to pitch to investors. With no interest in creating another draft of the spot (they were on number five at this point), the team instead adapted a short, tonal piece written by Ben and began creating that feature by focusing on the rhythm, tone, theme and style of the piece.
Kevin explains, “I suggested we film it in my parents' home in Pennsylvania in December, and after receiving their blessing, I took a trip out there to scout. Since it was going to be cold with snow I thought it would be good to title the film ‘Too Cool for School’. A few people didn’t agree but they were wrong, I thought it was funny and perfect. We brought together a handful of wonderful friends from New York, driving through inclement weather and shooting for three or four days, I think. It was incredible. My parents' reaction to the dolly track being laid through the atrium is etched into my memory. They were so cool and kind and excited by the whole thing.”
The whole purpose of creating ‘Too Cool for School’ was to make a feature out of ‘Super Dark Times’, but upon the completion of the first, they decided to submit it to the Cannes Festival anyway – and it got into Critics Week. Following that, with UTA signing on to package the film and meetings with potential financiers, things were in motion. “That was a crucial month where I confronted my fears and truly fell in love with the film. A very smart friend told me that it was my chance to say what I wanted to say and that simple sentence really galvanised me. A few months later we were in upstate NY, making ‘Super Dark Times’ a reality.”
Kevin credits his wonderful friends and colleagues for coming together to create something that he refers to as “one of the great experiences” of his life. “Our cinematographer and UPM met on the set [of ‘Super Dark Times’] and eventually got married; our producer and line producer did too. It’s beautiful. There was a lot of love in light of the subject matter and that conjunction has fundamentally shaped the movie into what it is,” he says.
Throughout all the years he’s been working, he hopes that he’s learned to be “less fussy; more fluid” during the whole process. It’s rhythm and tone that’s the basis of his understanding, and he seeks to evoke emotions with the work he creates. “I’m always thinking about the edit; the construction,” he reflects. “It’s tricky because intention is everything, but it’s a balancing act of how much your decisions draw attention to themselves.”
He continues, “Cinema is magic, it’s eclectic and collaborative and its primary drive is to envelop you in its experience. My considerations stem from this idea - I'm interested in casting a spell from the first frame to the last.” Kevin brings this same attitude into the commercial work he’s done for brands such as Levi’s, Gap, Nike, Adidas, Dior and Chanel, to name a few. Working mostly as the cinematographer on these, he says, “They are all very visual campaigns and in many of those instances the relationship between cinematography and directing is pretty symbiotic.”
He continues, “At the end of the day the client/agency has a goal and it’s really a matter of manifesting it beyond expectation and that comes down to communication.” Reflecting on the similarities and differences between the two visual mediums, he says, “The hierarchy of workflow is similar, in the fact that they are effectively both platforms for advertising and as a director in this arena, you are ultimately serving multiple masters.”
Kevin continues, “That said, on average, music videos are notoriously cheap and don’t pay, they also require a lot of passion, time and favours. Commercials tend to have more money and require just as much passion and maybe less time and favours but ultimately have more masters at the helm. So, passion really drives everything, but unless you’re in the position of directing a film you write, then you’ll always need to be ready to carry and drop that passion at a moment's notice, and pivot to the whims or desires of a bigger boss, committee, or whatever obstacle inevitably arises on set.”
Of course, to create work that invites an audience in, directors and photographers have to find inspiration to keep them motivated to create. For Kevin, this comes from several places. “Waking up while it’s still dark and going for long walks as the sun rises is special,” he says. “I also like watching films in the morning. I think ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’ is one of the most influential pieces of cinema I’ve ever seen. I also find great inspiration in my friends and family and art outside the filmmaking bubble.”
However, let’s not forget that Pentax SLR camera which got him inspired in the first place. That love of craft means he’s worked on two separate photography books in the past decade. “I hope to complete them soon and find a publisher,” he says when reflecting on his collections. Living under the names ‘Near Whisper’ and ‘Caught in a Whirl’, they capture those elements of light and dark that he longs to see on early morning walks.
All in all, it’s Kevin’s focus on making time for his friends and family that he encourages other creatives to pay heed to. “Surround yourself with people you love and respect and work with them as much as possible and lift each other up.”
