GETTING naked in front of a camera requires a different kind of bravery than being emotionally honest. "Black Snake Moan" cinematographer Amy Vincent captures actress Christina Ricci's ability to expose both her body and psyche in director Craig Brewer's $12 million B-movie-by-way-of-bluesy-redemption-fable premiering at the Sundance Film Festival on Wednesday.
But oh, how the tables turn when the time comes for Vincent to step in front of a camera. The normally stoic Ducati-motorcycle-riding cinematographer -- known for a vise-like handshake and running a tight ship on set -- is overcome with a defensive grimace and a reflexive need to check her hair.
"This light seems so ... hard," she says to the photographer as she steps into the bright afternoon sun streaming through an office window in downtown Los Angeles. The photographer adjusts the blinds and positions Vincent so she's straddling a couch. "This is a little too Victoria's Secret for me," she says. "Can we ... try something else?" He moves in tight on her face, but she pulls back. "Is that a 28 [millimeter]?" she asks, wary of a distorted view.
And so Vincent more than understands what Ricci endured in little more than a pair of underwear for 3 million film frames over the course of a 36-day shoot in rural Tennessee.
"Christina is battered, bloody and bruised through the entire movie," Vincent says. "She puts it all out there, and it's painful to watch. And I have to say, there's a maternal part of me that felt like it would have been irresponsible for me not to look after these people while they're performing their craft -- just seeing whether they need looking after when they're done with a certain take."
That need to create an emotionally safe place extended to costar Samuel L. Jackson, who performs a handful of solo blues numbers inspired by the late R.L. Burnside. "The musical performances were challenging for Sam," she says.
Because of the story's extremes -- a petite white girl (Ricci) overcomes painful memories of sexual abuse by hopping on the nearest male but is redeemed by an old black singer (Jackson) who holds her hostage while preaching fire and brimstone and playing the blues -- Vincent and Brewer decided to take a fairly classical approach.
