bruce logan interview

by Pamela Jaye Smith

Bruce is an Emmy-winning Director, DP, Visual Effects Director, Writer, Producer, and more. He is interviewed by Pamela Jaye Smith, a High Tech Media Producer and Writer.

Pamela: Will you please give us a brief overview of your career?

Bruce: My career in the film business has been a hybrid of being a Director of Photography, a Visual Effects Director, a Director, a Writer, and a Producer.  No chance to be bored along the way.

Pamela: What was the first film you worked on, what did you do on it, and how did that influence the rest of your career?

Bruce: My first film was as an Animation Artist and Visual Effects Cameraman on Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey." As you can imagine such a unique experience has been hard to follow in the rest of my career. You could say that this film was my Film School, but I was fortunate enough to be paid well and receive a great screen credit to boot.

Pamela: You've directed and shot million dollar commercials and - thank you, because we really appreciate it - low budget documentaries. How different are your approaches to a project based on the budget and the concomitant size of the crew and the complexity of the technology?  

Bruce: My philosophy is that any story can be told at any price. The casts of thousands can be off-screen, kicking up wind and dust, and roaring on the sound track, without any need to see them. That said I love to put production value on the screen and have made a commitment to myself to double any amount of money I am given in terms of how it looks. My old commercial producer, the legendary Buddy Kahn, used to watch the dailies and say, "Logan, you're a thief," and I have prided myself on the fact ever since. As far as crew, technology, and complexity, you have to work with the tools available and I've never minded working within restraints. "No solution? No problem!"

Pamela: As a person who grew up with cinema, a chemical process, what have you had to change to adapt to the digital systems?

Bruce: There is no basic difference shooting a story in film or digital.  The filmmaking, the language of storytelling in pictures is the same in any format.  But each format has its strengths and weaknesses and it's a question of working with those strengths and compensating for those weaknesses. For instance, because of the reduced resolution of most digital formats compared to film, wide angle or extreme long shots don't play as well because the eye tries to make out details in the distance and those details are just not there. Therefore you compensate by not making your establishing shot so wide when using these lenses and formats.

Pamela: As a person who grew up with cinema, a chemical process, what have you had to change to adapt to the digital systems?  

Bruce: There is no basic difference shooting a story in film or digital.  The filmmaking, the language of storytelling in pictures is the same in any format.  But each format has its strengths and weaknesses and it's a question of working with those strengths and compensating for those weaknesses. For instance, because of the reduced resolution of most digital formats compared to film, wide angle or extreme long shots don't play as well because the eye tries to make out details in the distance and those details are just not there. Therefore you compensate by not making your establishing shot so wide when using these lenses and formats.

Pamela: How different is it to light for high-def video versus film?  

Bruce: I have to say that it is much harder to light for digital than it is for film.  The extended contrast range of film emulsions, compared to the relatively small bit-depths of even the most advanced digital formats, allows you to capture a much greater range of light differentials that you experience in lighting, especially for day exteriors. Any wide contrast ranges that exist have to be compensated for with "fill light" when shooting digital formats. Any object which is actually flaring that is being photographed, has much smoother and more natural artifacts on film than it does in digital, although current camera like the Dalsa are beginning to approach the response of film with its amazing 16bit contrast range. The upside of digital lighting however is instant results. There are no more sleepless nights wondering if you forgot to compensate for a particular shutter angle or camera speed. What you see is what you get!

Pamela: Which do you prefer artistically? Technically?  

Bruce: As of today....? Film, film, and film. But this will change any day now. 

Pamela: As a director, what's the most important factor on the set to produce a quality product?  

Bruce: Preparation, preparation, and preparation! In theory, having prepared, there is someone on the set to do everything that needs to be done.  You have a great script, you have cast good actors, hired great technicians… now all you have to do is sit back and watch it all happen.  Guide it a little, steer it left or right. As I say, that's the theory. If you are prepared you will always have a plan, a safe place to go, and get the day done. However, I never follow the plan exactly; the creative process must breathe, have its own life. You must leave room for the Gods to co-create with you. 

Pamela: How do you connect with your actors/interviewees to get the best performance?

Bruce: I mostly leave them alone, unless I feel they are looking for support.  When I cast them, I saw something I liked, and most often they will give it to me with the minimum of coercion. If I have a fault it is walking away from a great performance, to the next set up without thanking and complimenting. I'm working on this. 

Pamela: What was the most challenging project you worked on and why?

Bruce: The next one. Because I don't know what I'm going to do and I'm scared to death.... or I used to be. Now I acknowledge that I don't know what I'm going to do, but I know when the cameras roll I will have figured it out.  I have a recurring nightmare that I'm completely unprepared and the day is slipping away and my goose is cooked! It doesn't happen very often in the awake-world, thank God. 

Pamela: What was the most fun project you worked on and why?

Bruce: The greatest fun I've had  on a project is the work itself. The process of production is thrilling to me. They let me shut down a city block, give me a whole bunch toys to play with, then let me invite all my best friends to come and play make believe... and then they pay me? Can you believe it? 

Pamela: What project of yours most holds your attention these days?

Bruce: I'm working on a comic book movie set in East L.A. The champion warrior of the Aztecs has returned from 500 years of incarceration to take back the barrio from the gang bangers and give back to local citizens. Thanks for asking.

Bruce and Pamela met in the early 1980's at Universal Studios working on a Lily Tomlin / Joel Schumacher film, The Incredible Shrinking Woman. Bruce was the Director of Photography & Special Effects and Pamela was Director Joel Schumacher's secretary.

Bruce, Pamela, and Monty have co-written a number of scripts, including The Aztec Highway. Pamela and Bruce have teamed up a number of times as Producer and Director/DP, including on Hyundai car commercials, Japanese fuel commercials featuring a fighter jet, and an Axiem Award-winning spot for the San Diego Transit Authority.