Please meet an incredible Cinematographer and Director, Tiffany Murray.
Tiffany is a Los Angeles-based Camera Assistant (IATSE Local 600), Cinematographer, and Director. While growing up in Florida, even at a young age, she always had a camera in hand, so a career in the film industry was the only thing that felt right. Tiffany attended Middle Tennessee State University outside of Nashville and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Film Production. After five years in Nashville honing her craft, she made the move to Los Angeles to leave her mark on California. Tiffany has experience shooting short films, music videos, documentaries, and episodic series. (bio from site)
Follow Tiffany:
Her Website Her Web Series: Ctrl Alt Delete
THE INTERVIEW
What are you working on right now?
I’m working on a handful of things at the moment. It’s nice to be able to bounce from one project to the next at different stages… sometimes hard to keep up with, but definitely fun to switch hats so often.
I directed a short film, I’ll Be Here, that’s in the final stages of post-production. The short is about a man trying to stay sane and maintain order in a post-apocalyptic world. I wrote this as a directing challenge for myself. I thought it would be interesting to direct something with limited cast and hardly any dialogue. It’s taken a while to get through post, but I’m really excited about what it has become.
I’m in pre-production to DP a feature film, Two Lives in Pittsburgh. I’m thoroughly excited about this project. I heard the logline on set and asked the writer/director if I could read the script. One morning I woke up way too early for a day off and started reading it and I kid you not I was belly laughing and bawling before 7am. I immediately contacted the director and producer and asked what I had to do to be a part of this film. One 3 hour coffee meeting later, and we were already talking about rental houses and locations.
Other than that I have two shorts that I DP’d in post-production (one of which a 12 minute oner), and I’m working on writing a couple really fun scripts.
What does “inclusivity” mean to you?
For me inclusivity in the workplace means not letting race, sexual orientation, belief system, or any other unrelated qualifier affect the basis on which to employ a person. Many times people associate stereotypes to qualifiers before giving a person a clean-slate chance. Our society has ingrained certain stereotypes in our brains and our subconscious automates them. We have to be the change and make conscious decisions everyday to accept people from all different walks of life no matter how different they are from our own. There’s a song by Hozier called ‘Someone New’ that talks about loving strangers- the stranger the better. I think that’s the way we should all live our lives. Until we put the effort in to learn from and love people that are different from us, of course we won’t understand them. Once we do, we have a better understanding of the world- also a good reason to travel!
You recently DP’d an incredible show, CTRL ALT DEL, and if I’m correct, you had an all female crew. What noticeable differences do you see in an all-female crew vs mixed crews? In your opinion, is an all female crew inclusive?
Working on an all-female (aside from our amazing male actors) production like Ctrl Alt Delete was a really unique experience. It was little things like cleaning up after ourselves or combining forces to solve problems instead of someone insisting their idea was the right way and the only way. I work with many fantastic men on set and I love them, but this experience was special.
I will say, the reason it was such a great experience wasn’t specifically because everyone was a woman. Our producers, Lola Noh and Allison Powell, did an AMAZING job of finding the most outstanding women for each position. I think that finding a combination of fantastic people of any gender that compliment each other the way they did is truly an art form.
As a DP, which director would you love to collaborate with? As a director, which DP would you love to collaborate with?
There are so many amazing DPs and Directors on my list I can’t possibly choose, but I will say as a DP, I love working with Directors who have a very specific vision and will speak their mind, but are also willing to experiment with different styles and techniques.
As a Director, I like to work with DPs who will challenge me to think outside of the box. The DP that shot my last two shorts, Justin Carroll, challenged me for a shot in a film called, No Cleaner Threads, that I did not think we could pull off. He pushed for it, and it became the final shot of the film and is always the first topic of discussion after a screening.
What is your favorite part of the filmmaking process?
My favorite part of the filmmaking process has to be production. I love making shotlists and lookbooks, and watching a cut come together is great, but the days actually on set are pure joy for me. On a crew you have so many different people all working towards (hopefully) the same goal. Everybody on that set comes from a different background and their minds work a little differently, so they’re probably going to have a different way of achieving that goal.
Production Design is one department where this is especially visible. Watching these designers take one room and transform it into the character’s space is amazing. Art Department will just show up with little trinkets or artwork that perfectly align with a character and it blows my mind every time.
The teamwork and creativity aspects of this industry are what drew me to it in the first place and being on set with a group of anywhere from 2-200 people all working together to make a story come to life is intoxicating.
What story have you still not seen on screen that you would love to tell?
I just finished this book called Without You, There Is No Us. It’s about this American journalist who goes undercover in North Korea to teach English to the children of powerful leaders in their country. Whether it’s me or someone else that gets to tell the story, I think it’s a fascinating one and could be wonderfully told on screen.
Who, currently working in the industry, inspires you?
I’m constantly inspired by Reed Morano and Rachel Morrison. Individually they’re both doing amazing things and with such grace and strength, but their support for each other and their colleagues is also so refreshing. They’re constantly using the platforms they’ve built to lift up other people and share important stories.
Name a movie you think everyone should see.
There’s so much amazing content out right now my head is spinning, but name a few that have recently been released, Reed Morano’s I Think We’re Alone Now and If Beale Street Could Talk which I think got majorly snubbed in awards season last year.
If we’re talking of all time, I’d have to go with Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amélie. There’s a moment when the main character is talking to her mentor and he tells her “Your bones aren’t made of glass, you can take life’s knocks. If you let this chance go by, eventually your heart will become as dry and brittle as my skeleton.” I watched that film over six years ago and I still think about that quote on a daily basis.
What would you like to promote? (can be your own project, someone elses, an organization, a cause, a movie, company, brand, whatever)
I’ve worked with Producer, Allison Powell, multiple times now and now when she calls I try to always take the job because I know I’m in good hands. She’s started this genius business consulting indie filmmakers on how to make successful projects. She’s constantly uploading public blog posts and videos with useful tips and tricks to her website as well. Check it out here: https://www.
Also, the #SheDirected Filmmaker contest is happening right now through August 8th on TheAudienceAwards.com. There are some amazing films in the running and I encourage everyone to go watch and vote. Special shoutouts to Lesley Powers’ Don’t Tell Mom and Foster Wilson’s Made Public.