Rose
I am Rose Bush. I have had the privilege and honor of being a camera operator on the four Seasons of the Small Business revolution.
David
What, what does that mean? Gimme a sort of a rundown of the dynamic of. Of the camera team.
Rose
Yeah.
David
The, you know, and the, and really the production team as, as a whole. I mean, if you can kind of paint that picture.
Rose
Yeah. Well, so to break it down with like a super quick introduction of where I come from as a filmmaker, um, I, uh, I studied media studies in, in university. I went to graduate school, studied production. I’m a director and a director of photography, and I. Co-own and operate a small production company in Brooklyn with my partner Annie Bush.
And, um, I love making films and, uh, this project, it is an honor to be. Um, a camera operator, which essentially means that I’m helping articulate the, the visual idea of the series as it relates to the team. And that team, uh, is led by a number of really wonderful people.
David Layton, the director of photography, has a very clear vision for what the show needs to be in collaboration with.
Matt Naylor and with you and the other team of producers, Lana McCord and Tanya Belk, and um, and then the clients, right? And, and working with Amanda and Julie, um, and the entire team at Deluxe of like what this project needs to be. And so I find my, myself into the project to try to help carry the mission of.
The project, um, in, in advocating for communities and then specifically like the visual fingerprint of what the show looks like. Like how do we cover a scene? Um, how do we shoot interviews? How does the camera move? Um, and try to internalize what that, um. That visual palette looks like. And then when things are happening in unpredictable ways, we have a philosophy in how we shoot the show, um, that then I can rely on some of my skills, um, as a director or as a director of photography on other projects, um, and try to help this be as good as it can be.
So it’s very collaborative and, uh. That’s super fun.
David
Well, the first thing that I um, hear from folks who see the show for the first time is, uh, that they’re just astonished at what it looks like. They’re like, this looks like absolutely nothing else in, in this genre even at all. Yet, it doesn’t look to my eyes overly.
Stylized or contrived in any way either. What is creating that effect? You know, why, why, why would you, why could you have one production crew go into, um, a town and shoot a makeover show? Um, and it looked like what we all would think of as like, oh, it’s reality tv. It’s what it looks like. What are, what are you, what are we, what, what is the, what is this SBR team doing that’s, that’s giving it such a, you know, I, I call it a polish, but it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, um, you know, it’s just a, it’s a real, um, visceral feel.
Rose
Yeah. I think it all starts from the top and the culture of the people who are involved and. That’s why it’s an honor to be like doing this interview and be considered part of this team because this isn’t just like a project that needs to be made and, uh, you know, shuffled through the industry. Um, this is a really smart team and that plays out visually in understanding that by making, um, any piece of film or television or photograph.
Uh, the presence of the camera changes the reality of what happens in front of it. And this project, to my understanding, um, embraces that subjectivity and finds a way to acknowledge how making a show about a town is going to change the town. And that it’s like a prism, like the, the light that filters through the prism of our lens, that is the show ends up reflecting colors that were invisible to the naked eye.
Before that were there. But we show them in a way that we didn’t see before, um, and could only be done through this medium. Um, and the prism that we carry listens a lot and tries to find the identity of that community and then use the, the, the oils that we have on our palate palate to find, uh, the right.
Articulation, the right brush strokes and the right value. Um, so it’s about relating to people and places and listening to who they are and then finding the right approach. So for example, we shoot the show in a 2, 3, 5 aspect ratio, which looks, um, wide, right? If you’re watching it on a tv, there’s black bars on the top and bottom, if it’s not like a wide television.
Mm-hmm. Uh, and that has a fingerprint of like, um. I don’t know, like Avatar or Titanic or, you know, like some Western film, right? It’s, uh, it’s like Lawrence of Arabia. Um, but we’re looking at a nonfiction environment and so I think that, that, um, that, uh, stamp puts us into more of a reflective space in that we know we’re taking a journey, but we’re, we’re going to places that we can relate to.
And so we see it, I think, as a viewer, as a film, or as a, mm-hmm. Um, uh, as a adventurous television show. Um, but we’re seeing people that we commonly don’t experience on screen because we, we can see a very close version of ourselves in them. They’re taking risks, they’re, they’re navigating, uh, the contemporary version of the American Dream.
And we are all also in similar situations. So, um. It, it’s organic,
David
it’s it, I guess That’s fascinating. I mean, you, uh, described it as, you know, being, um, kind of a reflective tone. I, I, I imagine for the, for the town that, and for the, the, the individuals who ultimately see themselves and their community on screen.
Um, it’s, it’s an aspirational tone, you know, um, because you, you talk about finding, um, colors, whether literal or metaphorical, that that. That are invisible to, to the naked eye of the community that lives in it every day. Um, but you know, when you, uh, show, show it back, show themselves back to themselves, um, in such a beautiful way, just meaning true and, and rich, you know, not a assessment of, uh, it’s how someone looks particularly, but just, just that raw beauty.
That in, in and of itself is yet another, um, major transformative tool that they are given by participating in this series to begin with is they get to see the, the kind of the best version of themselves and what’s possible. I think that’s really cool.
Rose
Yeah, I think they see the most true version of themselves, and I hope that that’s also the best.
David
The, the relationship between, uh, director of photography and camera operator, uh, and, and then, and then the other layer of, uh, the series and show director Matt Naylor. How do, how does that dynamic work? Like, and you know, and I know that there’s at least another, you know, there’s additional cameras that kind of come in and out or whatever, but, um, it’s a fascinating dance to watch, not only focused on what they’re shooting, but.
Keeping an eye and anticipating what the other person’s gonna do and, and how to not be in the frame and how to choose, you know, to get the stuff they’re not getting. I mean, how does that, like, just, I don’t know how, how does that work on set with SBR Oh, sorry. Okay.
Rose
Um, well it works on set on SBR because there is a really good understanding of what we’re trying to do.
There’s a lot of communication and there’s a lot of understanding and. Respect and like all of that foundation allows you to be in the moment and, um, listen to what’s happening on screen. Then there’s some really, really good structure. Um, Matt is a really strong director and knows, um, how to let a moment breathe and also a very clear vision of what he needs to make this show.
Um, and so. It’s never difficult for me to know how long we need to be in something or not, because Matt’s already thinking about that and has really strong instincts. Um, and so that allows the camera team to just really trust that if we’re, if we are somewhere, we’re gonna give it our all. Um. Instead of shooting all day every day, 18 hours a day, 20 hours a day, like everything could be amazing.
Let’s just shoot everything and figure it out later. Um. Matt is really good at figuring out later, but he also, uh, knows what we need to do in the moment and how to keep a team sharp so that, um, we don’t, we don’t miss any pitches. Um, so that, that’s the start of it. Um, and then there’s also some really great structure.
When
David and I are shooting a scene together, um, we have a dogma of how we cover that usually, and sometimes it changes. Which is fun and it continues to reinvent itself. But
David is usually like the anchor camera and I can supplement, um, the flavors that we need to get into a moment by knowing what
David’s shooting and knowing what lenses he’s gonna be using, um, I can then have the, both of us can have this sort of like, um, mind meld antenna conversation about what we know the other person is shooting and, uh.
Be able to work in a really seamless way like that. Um. So for example, like, I don’t know, we’re shooting, uh, an unpredictable scene and there’s going to be like a tour of a town or, uh, something like that, and there’s suddenly there’ll be people that talk to him on the street and it’s never gonna happen again.
And we just have to be there and see it. I know that if Dave is gonna be on a 35 millimeter lens, that he’s probably gonna be shooting like shots of three people together. Or if suddenly the action breaks and we need to move somewhere, I know that he’s gonna see that scope of the world and that. If there’s a quick reaction that someone has to something, uh, a town leader said that I’m gonna, I’m gonna have to be there quickly.
And sometimes it’s very athletic and it’s quick and you, it’s like, uh, you, you don’t have time to think. You just have to be there.
David
So you’re chasing the, the, the reactions and, and the kind of the details.
Rose
Yeah.
David
While, while,
Rose
yeah.
David
You can lean on the Layton’s coverage too.
Rose
Yeah.
David
To get the
scene.
Rose
Yeah. And it’s not always that configuration, but what is.
Like that lens configuration. We do that a lot. But the thing that is always constant, if there’s other people thinking out there, listening to this, uh, interview, how do we visualize a nonfiction environment? Everything happens. It’s not like that. We talk a lot about the way that we’re going to shoot something so that we at least have an idea of what we’re looking for and what we want, and that there is a basis of communication so that.
We, we just know how to dance together and if some, some new song plays and we need to learn some new steps, we, everyone knows each other well enough that we can do that really quickly just by talking. So it’s the communication and a commitment to the, the form. Um, a commitment to try to, to be excellent at everything that we do in this field.
Um. That allows us to find, um, some visual continuity together, um, and, and produce a project that has a cohesive visual fingerprint and acoustic fingerprint and like the editing rhythm, like it, it comes from the top and there’s a lot of healthy. Conversation. It’s a very cool project and it has always been an opportunity to spend time in communities that I otherwise probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity to be in for a number of months and develop relationships with, um, business owners and entrepreneurs and um, members of those communities.
And I can say that it has absolutely changed my life.
David
Can you, um, just maybe elaborate on that a little bit and in what, in what ways? I mean,
Rose
yeah. Well, we’ve been in four communities. We’ve been in Wabash, Indiana, Bristol, Pennsylvania, Alton, Illinois, Searcy, Arkansas, and they’re all very different from each other.
And they’re all very different from the places that I have lived in the last decade, but not so dissimilar in size to places that I grew up in. Um. I lived in places even smaller than all of those. Um, and being in small communities like that provides an opportunity to interact with people who have. In a place like the United States, different political and social, uh, theological, um, ecological visions of the world, and I strongly feel that in the 2019 America that we live in, it is monumentally important to try to see the person first.
That you’re communicating with, uh, instead of any of those other things. And try to see a pathway for our shared common humanity first and cater that relationship. Um, and then some of these other things that in the world that we’re living in today that make conversation a little tricky, uh, can be more natural And, uh.
To hit the nail on the head. Um, you know, Indiana and Arkansas and parts of Illinois, um, vote very differently than places that I live. Um, I lived in Austin, right? San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York. Um, and I guess to answer the question directly, um. Having those kind of kinds of conversations has helped me learn a lot about where those people are coming from, and I’ve learned a lot from them.
Um, and I’ve also learned a lot about the places that I live and some of the misconceptions that people in, uh, large, urban, liberal, progressive democratic cities have about small communities. This project has been the bridge of understanding for me and serves a far greater purpose than, um. Holding a camera and, uh, I don’t know, creating images that, that look nice.
It’s not, I hope that’s part of the result, but it’s not about that for me. It’s been really cool to be in some of these places this year. We happen to be in a community. When I say that the project has changed my life, um, this, I’m a trans person and. This was the first time in my life that I had both had a critical mass of wonderful support in the communities that I live in, the companies that I work with, um, to feel empowered enough to start responding to who I am.
I should say that I’m a recently out trans person and, um. I guess just to say it directly, being in Searcy, Arkansas and working on this project, uh, was the, was the, the path that allowed me to take some of the first big steps of like coming out to the world and being in a place like Searcy, uh, where suddenly a big part of me, um, was not what that world wants to see.
Um, made it blossom. Um. So, uh, there are certainly some other like, really positive factors that that helped that happen. It wasn’t just like. Sort of being in a place that was, um, evolving and in some ways, uh, you know, presenting an uncomfortable identity,
David
uh, talking about serious, it’s, it’s not, um, particularly aligned with the type of thinking and, and political and sociological, you know, uh, kind of worldview.
Of the, uh, places that you’ve lived in, although it’s may maybe, uh, maybe aligned in some ways with, you know, the Alaska, you know, small towns that you grew up in.
Rose
Definitely.
David
Um, and so, uh, you know, you got sort of two, two choices and, and, and being in that environment, you know, you can either. You know, further suppress anything that you identify with that is counter to the norm of the town, or I, I guess in, in this case.
And really, and it seems like that it’s really been empowering in a way.
Rose
Yeah, it was. Uh, yeah, it was great to be there in that crossroads or that dichotomy. Of possibilities, right? Of either like, um, you know, walking one path in which you continue to kind of like, keep things to yourself and, and navigate, um, the policing of gender and sexuality, um, as it relates to the LGBT community or, or walk a different path and, um.
Find a a way with composure and confidence and grace to. Uh, interact and be yourself. And that was a catalyst for me in a big way. Um, and I guess what I would say, just, I don’t know, as your friend and on a personal level, like maybe to help just illuminate like what the process has been like or has felt like.
Um, I, growing up in really small towns where. Um, there was absolutely no conversation of LGBT people issues. Um, uh, beauty, uh, there just wasn’t a conversation at all. And so, um, I didn’t, I didn’t even hear the word trans until I went to college. Um, so there was absolutely no possibility model for me to think that listening to who I am was a good thing.
Um, and I started thinking, uh, if there are trans kids in towns in Alaska of 500 people, they’re definitely trans kids in Ccy, Arkansas. What would it do if some, if a person like that happened to see someone like me with what might be a really cool job holding like a hundred thousand dollars camera and helping tell stories that people around the world can see.
If I had seen people like that when I was a kid, um, that might’ve made a pretty big difference.
David
Hey there, if you like this podcast, you’ll love the show. Small Business Revolution Main Street is streaming on Hulu. Now we’ve got three seasons up with the fourth on the way, and hey, we’re gonna be having a lot more of these conversations, so if you like what you hear, why not subscribe to the podcast?
We’ll catch you next time.