This used to play in my house on repeat as a kid & I didn’t realise how much a subconscious impact that it’d had on my filmmaking style until I rewatched it recently. I often found myself saying “haven’t i shot something like this??” on so many scenes lol. It’s colour palette, production design & hilarious tone stand out most to me, particularly the humour in mundane beats & moments – often really unexpected but very british lmao.

Having an internal conflict between two cultures, one you were born with & another you encounter along the way, is something i can deeply relate to so this joint always hits home. Also love how well done the motifs are relative to its messages; the tiger, the blossoms, Tom Cruise’s character continually getting back up when knocked down, dope stuff.

Filmmaking can be brutal, you’re either in a state of euphoria or terror haha. Rocky’s character’s mind, as opposed to the actual visuals of the picture, is what I take from this piece when approaching my craft; in a sense that no matter how much it beats me up, I’m sticking through it to see whatever it is I embark on through, & will engage in every daunting creative idea that befalls me! Not concerning myself with the outcomes such as wins or so.

Dude this thing is funny in such an African sense. The kind of humour written into certain characters, that only could have come from living there & experiencing it first hand lol. I’ve watched & broke it down fairly frequently (literally frame by frame sometimes) & I’ll probably keep doing so to incorporate more principles from it in my own stuff.

Everything always gets blown out of proportion, I love that kind of satire. I really love how it was filmed too, from the continuous takes, the choice to commit to using one lens throughout & the almost documentary style feel of it all. You really feel like you’re there in the chaos with
them. I’m not always the biggest crazy camera movement fan but this one used it mindblowingly well, I’d argue it was almost necessary for it.

Anime is my not-so-guilty pleasure so if I didn’t say it’s had a profound impact on almost all my hardest-hitting pieces, I’d be lying. This joint in particular is really beautifully crafted, composed & coloured from the most minute details. I actually used the skies/clouds from this as references for the oil painting sky in “don’t drink and chess”.

Its theme of exploring the culture of one’s home, in a raw unflattering but funny way is the big one here. Toshiki Yashiro did it so well man lmao. I love everything about it, the silent sound design, prolonged beats, the scenery, compositions, all it’s experimental energy.

The images in this push me to make more authentic work. Plus how they managed to accurately & creatively convey the feeling of what was being sung. It’s intense visuals equally compliment the weight of little simz lyricism. Gabriel Moses has a great sense for capturing black people on screen, gotta respect it!

Filmmaking is the only God-given talent I have to present to the world lol, it’s literally all I’ve got. Thats particularly why this piece hits for me…It gave a real unfiltered glimpse into what it means to really stake everything on your vision, creative endeavours & what you believe you have to do, through the making of one of the most acclaimed films out there! I love it man. Everyone sees the acclaim but rarely know about the process behind it.