Image Purity and Simplicity – Jaskaran Singh, Sidetracked Director of Photography

My goal as the DP on Sidetracked is to add some real climatic value to the script. 

I see a lot of character in Vermont—I’ve grown up here—and the script certainly sees that character too. 

I’d like the film to look and feel as if it belongs to Andrea’s telling of the story.

I tend to lean towards purity when it comes to my tastes in cinematography. Anyone can swing around an expensive camera, and anyone can take an infinite amount of time to set up a cinematically orchestrated shot; very few cinematographers can thread the needle between memetic beauty and cinematic value, and that’s my goal behind the camera. 

Inspirations for my taste in general can be attributed to the earlier works of Emanuel Lubezki, especially Y tu mamá también, Lee Daniel, and my personal favorite, Christopher Doyle—who’s work on Wong Kar Wai’s films goes unmatched, at least for me.