Jamie Zooms in on lockdown interviews.
Editor-at-Large JAMIE GRAHAM lifts the lid on film journalism.
Last month I had a Zoom interview with Kelly O’Sullivan, who’s being hailed as the voice of her generation for writing, directing and starring in Saint Frances. I prepared for it arduously. I don’t mean research – I mean taking a shower and brushing my hair and pulling on a clean shirt instead of spending another lockdown day in t-shirt and joggers.
So imagine my consternation when O’Sullivan opted to leave her camera off for the interview, saying, “Is that OK? I look like a hot mess right now.”
“But I clipped my beard especially,” I said, gutted not that I couldn’t see her but that I’d wasted all of that time and effort making myself presentable.
“And it looks great,” she laughed, before indulging in everyone’s favourite pastime in this age of Zoom interviews – having a good nose at my study, first admiring a lampshade and then the signed Kill List poster on the wall behind me. I didn’t mind, though it would’ve been nice to enjoy a return snoop. To be honest, I was more occupied by the sound of my dog snuffling at the door, knowing that if he managed to push his way in he’d likely hump the beanbag. It was a trick he’d already pulled while I was Skyping Jamie Dornan.
HOME VIEWING
Much has changed in the world of film journalism these last months, even if the job and lifestyle remain essentially the same – watching and interviewing, writing and putting a magazine together.
For a start, work hours are all over the place. OK, so it was never a 9 to 5 job, what with evening press screenings and LA folk being eight hours behind. But now I work in a higgledy-piggledy manner that favours bursts of activity over dedicating one chunk of the day. I’ll break to walk the dog then make up the time by getting up at 6am to watch a digital screener.
Ah yes, the digital screener. With press screenings terminated, this is the lifesaver. Smaller distributors have long provided electronic links to allow their latest titles to be viewed on home devices, but now all of the major studios have got in on it too. But there’s a downside: the screening links are getting ever-more secure, with multiple levels of authentication to navigate. And when I finally unlock the movie, it has my name plastered across the screen to protect against piracy. Seriously, it’s like bathing momentarily in the exhilaration of pulling off a particularly elaborate heist, only to open the holdall and have one of those bags of dye explode over the money.
POD PEOPLE
Still, it’s a first-world problem, and the film industry has done all that it can to keep things ticking at such a difficult time.
And the odd thing is, I’ve adapted to this new normal, where every email is signed off “Stay safe”, where Extraction landing on Netflix is the equivalent of a $250m blockbuster hitting multiplexes, and where I, and all of Total Film’s staff, have to go to the shops to get the new issue of the magazine.
What I do miss is the office bantz, though chats on WhatsApp somewhat scratch the itch, and taking part in TF’s weekly podcast at least means I see my colleagues’ beautiful mugs staring out from my laptop. Trouble is, they’ve all opted for Zoom backgrounds – the dining room from Call Me By Your Name for Jane, a corridor in the Overlook Hotel for Matt and the knife throne in Knives Out for Jordan
– so I don’t get to snoop at their homes. Maybe I should go for Leatherface’s kitchen to give them all a shock? Or better still, simply follow Kelly O’ Sullivan’s example and leave my camera off, pleading the “hot mess” defence. It will at least save me a shower.
Jamie will return next issue… For more misadventures, follow: @jamie_graham9 on Twitter.
‘HUMPING THE BEANBAG WAS A TRICK MY DOG HAD PULLED WHEN I SKYPED JAMIE DORNAN’