ANORAK Talks...

Our conversation with filmmaker J.M. Harper who writes poetry with a camera, and paints films with the truth

At the root of it, I say that I'm interested in character-driven stories just because I believe that story comes from character and not vice-versa. Often, you'll have a brand or an agency that might start with the story, and then try to fit characters into it, whereas the real story is when you start with characters and the story emerges from who they actually are. And so, the genesis of any project for me is trying to become intimately familiar with whatever character it is that we're talking about and trying to find the truth in that person.

And then with every material and every person that we bring to bear - and that could be just between you, the cinematographer, the art director – or it could be like a 100 person crew – ultimately, you're trying to get all of those people simultaneously aligned with that mission of finding and figuring out what the character is, but then also just getting out of the way of what the film wants to be.

So the simple way to say that is just that it’s character driven, but really it's about this process of figuring out: What are the undiscovered parts of this person's character that I can use to tell a story?

Yes! Personally, I believe that the documentary making of today has to exist in this sort of white space or negative space in between fact and fiction. Everyone from Generation Alpha; from my 18 month old daughter - who already knows how to open a phone and sort through YouTube, for better or for worse - all the way up to, you know, the Luddite generation - everyone knows that especially today with the capability of technology, whatever you watch has been facilitated and curated. Everyone knows that the nature of truth is a very fluid thing right now. So maybe it's a bit less about what the truth is, and it's more about how the truth feels. 

But the root of that story came from what you might have heard, this old tale about five blind men who are all touching an elephant from different sides. One of them says like, “Oh, an elephant. An elephant is rough and tall like a tree” because he's feeling the height of the elephant and that it’s really, really rough and brittle. And another one says, “No, no, no, an elephant is actually quite soft and feels quite furry” because he’s touching the tail. And one says “No, an elephant’s skin is wet,” because he’s feeling the inside of the mouth, and so on, you know? And then the reality is that all of us have these different perspectives, these different truths that are all valid, but they're different sides of the same thing.

And all of that is to say that if you can acknowledge the fact that you can't see everything and that you're making something about the one thing that you can see, then there's something really captivating about that. It's more about perspective and as directors, as people in documentary, there's this sort of Brechtian approach to making films, which is to acknowledge the artifice, acknowledge the apparatus, just acknowledge the fact that we're making a film. And that part of that has to do with fiction, even if we're trying to tell a story that we're saying is fact or documentary.

Well so far, it hasn’t affected what I make but it affects how I make things because it's just opened a new perspective on reality for me. And it's still too early for me to fully understand what it has done to me as a person but I think about her constantly and so it's like a layer of thought. It affects how I look at the world – that’s the best way to put it, and it affects how I look at people as well. I think it's given me a greater sense of empathy. 

For filmmakers - especially commercial filmmakers - there's this tendency to shape people and shape life into the reality or the mold of whatever you're trying to sell. But actually, the more that you resist that and the more that you bring truth and empathy into it for actual people, the better that we can actually do the job of speaking truth. That's what I know so far about how she's affected me. I'm sure it's happened on a level that I don't even comprehend, but hopefully I'll learn more about that. 

For me, it's simple - like there's the simple fact that when it comes to black culture, black folks are often at the center of the most forward-thinking progressive parts of the zeitgeist. And that goes for music especially. It's been this case for Americans, for black American music, whether it's folk music, rhythm, blues, jazz, rock and roll, soul music; black artists are consistently, over hundreds of years, on the forefront of the most powerful cultural movements, while simultaneously being - because of our history in the U.S. - devalued, decentered, and misrepresented. So, you have this paradox where we are this incredibly powerful creative force, and then also just completely often totally disregarded socially because of the history of our relationship between, you know, black folks and those who have oppressed them, frankly, over hundreds of years. And so Change the Lens for me is a very small way that we can bring equity to that situation so that not only are black folks appreciated for our cultural might and creativity, but also for our ability to just be excellent craftspeople and technicians and laborers too in the industry - to just have a seat at that table as well.

I would say to make personal work because in a world where there are so many directors and so many artists, and there's such a low barrier of entry to making films these days, that really the only unique thing that you have is yourself and the multilayered reality that is you. And only you have access to that. You know, there’s the ancient aphorism of “know thyself”. 

The more that you can try to do that, the better chance that you have at making a living as a working artist in this way. It involves knowing yourself on a level that takes a lot more work - besides knowing what a camera does and knowing how to art direct - it has so much to do with everything that happens outside of filmmaking that informs who you are as a filmmaker.

Things like, why a 40mm lens instead of a 50mm lens? Why does the camera need to to pan an inch that way or tilt an inch that way? Why is one thing wrong and another right like that? All of those decisions are a question of, “how do you know?” To answer your question, it's like, how do you know when it's true or not? And again, the more that you know truth outside of the realm of filmmaking or advertising, the better you'll be at making those decisions about what your personal truth is for what you're looking at. So it's an exercise in understanding human behavior. The more that you understand human behavior, the more that you understand just the texture of truth and the smell of it, and you can make aesthetic decisions based on what gets you closer to that. It’s like really startlingly clear down to the shot, you know, that you don't start rolling until you have that exactly right in the frame. How you get there – how you decide to craft it - is that personal journey.

Somebody said that craft is what we're expected to know, but artists make an unexpected use of the craft and that's how I often approach this. these days, that really the only unique thing that you have is yourself and the multilayered reality that is you. And only you have access to that. You know, there’s the ancient aphorism of “know thyself”. 

The more that you can try to do that, the better chance that you have at making a living as a working artist in this way. It involves knowing yourself on a level that takes a lot more work - besides knowing what a camera does and knowing how to art direct - it has so much to do with everything that happens outside of filmmaking that informs who you are as a filmmaker.

Things like, why a 40mm lens instead of a 50mm lens? Why does the camera need to to pan an inch that way or tilt an inch that way? Why is one thing wrong and another right like that? All of those decisions are a question of, “how do you know?” To answer your question, it's like, how do you know when it's true or not? And again, the more that you know truth outside of the realm of filmmaking or advertising, the better you'll be at making those decisions about what your personal truth is for what you're looking at. So it's an exercise in understanding human behavior. The more that you understand human behavior, the more that you understand just the texture of truth and the smell of it, and you can make aesthetic decisions based on what gets you closer to that. It’s like really startlingly clear down to the shot, you know, that you don't start rolling until you have that exactly right in the frame. How you get there – how you decide to craft it - is that personal journey.

Somebody said that craft is what we're expected to know, but artists make an unexpected use of the craft and that's how I often approach this.

To me, film requires every single person on set to bring a higher level of attention to the work because the medium just demands it - there's a respect that the camera demands from you. And then, in the way that it captures, there's a bunch of silly things that are just personal attributes of film that I love, like the way that light wraps around somebody, the way certain film types react to certain lenses, the flare of fluorescence when it hits the top of the gate - there's just a million little things that make me love the experience of shooting on film. And now we’re making films for Gen Z, you know, who didn’t grow up with it, so it’s new and exciting.

If I've done things with my approach, by the time we start making the film, it's already cut, like it's already done. There are some times where in the prep work, you get to the point where it's time to actually shoot and it's almost like the film has already been made and you're ready to move on to the next one, you know? Before you ever roll the frame. And so obviously, in documentary, there's this beautiful process of discovery and new things that happen but I'm cutting the film well before it's shot and when we're shooting something unexpected, I'm cutting it then and there. And that's how I'm able to shoot on film, you know, and in documentaries; situations where you don't typically shoot in film.

So I'm making a feature for Paramount and MTV about rap lyrics and the criminal justice system in the U.S., and the way that I'm telling it is from the point of view of the artists themselves. So I’ve traveled through New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Louisiana, Houston, London - and tracing the path of, say, how drill rap music emerged from the ghetto of Chicago, cross-pollinated itself in London and came back to New York in the Bronx and Brooklyn. I'm interested in the way that the origins of mass culture and - specifically when it comes to hip hop - how it comes from black folks, from the most oppressed parts of society. It fascinates me that the music that people in these situations make is at the forefront of our culture, and yet the complications that arise from making music about these very tough situations grows, because the target on their back from both inside that world and from law enforcement is also growing larger and larger. 

And so the documentary is about that and the fact that this is the first case in which artists are being targeted for something that they made as art, and that is being treated as confession. And so it's a super, super complex, super interesting story. And at the root of it all is the music. I feel incredibly lucky to be working on it and with the people that I’m working on it.

The impact that I'm most most interested in making is just, I want the people next to me on set, whether they're in front or behind the camera – and that goes for agencies and brands as well – to be aligned in making something that that transcends advertising just in the nature of how we're making it. And the people that we make it with and the place where we make it - and just the memories made there - that's what’s worth looking back on and being proud of. That's the best case scenario. Doesn't always happen, let me tell you, but if everybody is aligned in a single vision, then it happens in ways that are just unforgettable.

Words by Lucy Tran.