DOP Andrij Parekh ASC on crafting authenticity in Roofman
- oliverjlwebb
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
By Oliver Webb
Directed by Derek Cianfrance, Roofman is based on the extraordinary real-life account of Jeffrey Manchester (aka Roofman). Portrayed by Channing Tatum, Manchester earns the nickname after robbing a series of McDonalds by cutting holes in the roofs. After escaping from prison, he takes refuge in a Toys “R” Us where he lays low undetected. There, he meets Leigh (Kirsten Dunst) and his life soon takes another drastic turn. Andrij Parekh ASC served as DOP on the film.
*interview contains spoilers
How did you first get involved with the film?
Andrij Parekh: Derek and I have been shooting commercials and movies together for about 20 years. It's a long-standing relationship. So, when Roofman came up, I was really excited about working with Derek again. We haven't shot a feature together since Blue Valentine (2010).
Years ago, he saw a film I shot called Half Nelson (2006). I'm always interested in the movies where you feel like there's no screen between you and the actors. My approach has been always to try to get rid of the artifice of filmmaking as much as possible. Make it about the actors and let the actors play. That’s also something that Derek has always fought for as a director.
What were your initial conversations about the look of Roofman?
Andrij Parekh: We wanted to make a period film and to make it feel raw. Our inspiration always tends to end up being the Dardenne Brothers, so a very light camera and an unlit French New Wave kind of feeling. L'Enfant (2005) was a big reference for Derek and I when we first spoke about Blue Valentine.
How challenging was it to recreate a true story?
Andrij Parekh: In this case, the protagonist (Jeffrey Manchester) is still incarcerated. In American prisons they now give inmates iPads, which acts as a sort of pacifier and allows them to communicate with the outside world. We were regularly speaking with Jeffrey and he was also in frequent touch with Channing.
That also involved shooting in North Carolina where the actual events took place. Derek managed to cast a lot of people that actually knew Jeffrey Manchester, including prison guards, drivers and people that were in his orbit, as well as the original Leigh who had a very small role in the film. That meta-aspect to making this film was really interesting.
Which camera and lenses did you use?
Andrij Parekh: We shot on two-perf 35mm, which is one of my favourite formats. Even though it’s 35mm, the negative is only about 40% larger than a 16mm negative, so you can really feel the film grain. You need lenses with a tremendous amount of resolution that are quite sharp. We used the Leicas, which turned out to be the magic-bullet combination and I’ve shot three or four films using that setup. I love the pairing of Leica Summilux-C lenses with two-perf 35mm negatives.
Did you create any LUTs with a colourist?
Andrij Parekh: No, there’s no colourist. Everyone is chasing a film look and my feeling is why don’t you just shoot film. I think it’s faster and in the long run cheaper than digital. The amount of digital garbage that it has produced on a film set is incredible. I can work with a smaller crew and I feel it’s also faster which means shorter days.
Did you have any issues with shooting locations?
Andrij Parekh: Our locations were in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the original story took place. Charlotte is the real America; there are churches, gun shops and gas stations everywhere.
We shot in an empty Toys “R” Us shell and there wasn’t even a tile on the floor. Our production designer, Inbal Weinberg was tasked with recreating a Toys “R” Us within a Toys “R” Us. We ended up using all of the original fixtures that were there and shooting with available lights. We had to supplement a few bulbs that were burnt out. I had actually worked in a Toys “R” Us when I was at University, which was a funny feeling to return to.
What was your approach to capturing the escape sequence?
Andrij Parekh: I think we shot almost all of it handheld to give it a bit of energy and immediacy. Part of the film was trying to figure out what was in the mind of this character. He was incarcerated a number of times and robbed 40 or 50 McDonalds in the same way. He could have robbed a bank, but instead he ended up robbing a bunch of McDonalds.
I'm just telling this very strange story of this man who was brilliant. All of the people that we interviewed for the film always talked about him with very high regard, even the prison guards that he duped had a tremendous amount of admiration for him. He was able to escape a system that they thought was secure and impregnable, but he managed to get out multiple times.
The film is very faithful to his story. I think Channing really embodied the life of Jeffrey Manchester in a really interesting way. Channing never complained and was always ready to do whatever and he did his own stunts. He was very much there for Derek and the character and gave himself 110%. I was very impressed with him.
Did you have a lot of creative freedom working on this film?
Andrij Parekh: Derek and I have developed a shorthand. We don't really need to speak on set. It’s great because I know what he wants, but I like being able to deliver and still surprise him sometimes with framing choices or a camera move. I always tell the sound guy who's booming that I have no idea where the camera is going to go because I like to shoot in a way where the actors have total freedom.
I hope the cinematography in this film is invisible. If people are noticing it, then they are not noticing the acting. I'm always trying to make my cinematography as un-invasive as possible to the process. Maybe it’s not as beautiful or perfectly framed, but it allows for a performance from an actor which I think is what people are interested in when they go and watch a movie. They want to be pulled into a story and I think the best way to do that is to make the camera sort of invisible.
You've also worked as a director. How does that inform your work as a DOP?
Andrij Parekh: I would say that my work as a DOP has informed my work as a director. I’ve only recently started directing in television. I haven’t done any feature work as a director. I do think there's a difference between television directing and feature directing.
I would say that I enjoy it for the same reason that I enjoy cinematography as a DP, which is trying to capture performances. I started directing to sort of push myself in terms of having to maybe be more extroverted on sets. You can easily hide behind a camera as a cinematographer because you only answer to the director. Whereas the director is answering 1000 questions a day.
How long was the duration of the shoot?
Andrij Parekh: 35 days. There's never enough time or money no matter how big the project.
What did you enjoy most about working on Roofman?
Andrij Parekh: There were ten ot so of us that have been making movies together for the last 20 years, so it was a really nice reunion. It gets unprofessional really quickly because we all know how to push each other's buttons. It's always so great to feel like you're doing something together with people that you love and care about. It was a really meaningful experience for me.
