DISPATCH FROM THE HAMPTONS | Bruce Weber & Ellen Kuras in Spotlight as Fest Refines Course

“Honestly, I’d rather be with my dogs right now because this is very hard for me,” said a very affable Weber, only half-joking. “This is difficult for me because I’m always behind the camera.” The collection of shorts and commercial work featured some of Weber’s most identifiable imagery including very good looking men and women seemingly at play and various stages of dress frolicking together in fields, at the beach or at parties. In a music video for the Pet Shop Boys, Weber depicts a mansion full of partying young hotties indulging in youthful antics, while in other shorts, he features his treasured dogs playing and bouncing about in much the same gusto. He also screened selections from a new film, “The Boy Artist.” Raj Roy commented that along with art and film, America itself appeared to be an inspiration for Weber’s work. “As corny as Kansas in August,” joked Weber in return.

“I like the beauty in people [and] I’ve always felt my work is a reflection of life they’ve had. Actors in the ‘50s saved me when I was growing up in a small town in Pennsylvania.” A serious and insightful side to Weber came in the form of his acclaimed short “Gentle Giants,” which describes the sometimes painful upbringing he had as a boy who had more interest in musicals and imagery than sports and machismo. In the short, Weber recalls that when he turned 16, he woke up and hoped he would see a car parked outside as a present from his parents. After his hopes were dashed, he disappointingly walked downstairs and opened his present - a camera. “It was a Canon Instamatic,” recalled Weber. “My first subjects were dressing up my sister and taking photos and I also had an uncle with this amazing body…”

On his work in the commercial world, including his ads for Abercrombie & Fitch, Calvin Klein and Pepe Jeans, Weber does not distinguish between his “art” and “jobs.” “I always took the attitude that I’d never have a job again,” said Weber. “I always wanted it to be fun…I’ve never wanted to put labels on things.”  [Brian Brooks]

Meet Ellen Kuras

“We are a family, that’s what this industry is about,” reitered accomplished director of photography Ellen Kuras, during a weekend master class that included clips of her work and obversations on working on film. She noted that, as a key leader driving a production, treating people well and creating the right vibe on a film set is crucial to her work. One of only 5 women in the American Society of Cinematographers, which has a membership of at least 350 men, Kuras is best known for her work on such films as “Personal Velocity,” “Blow,” “I Shot Andy Warhol,” “Swoon” and a number of Spike Lee films (including “Summer of Sam” and “He Got Game”).

D.P. Ellen Kuras at the Hamptons International Film Festival this weekend. Photo by Eugene Hernandez/indieWIRE

She has also been taking her directorial debut, “The Betrayal - Nerakhoon,” on the fest circuit and working as D.P. on Sam Mendes’ “This Must Be the Place.” “I believe that the visuals tell their own story,” she noted, emphasizing that when directing her own film, she worked to make sure that the images worked as hard as a the doc’s narrative.

When things go well on her D.P. gigs, she and a director click and forge a bond. “My job,” Kuras explained to the crowd, is to, “get into the head and the mind’s eye of the director.” Making that connection can be tough sometimes, particularly in the case of brainy filmmaker like Michel Gondry.

Showing clips from “Eternal Sunshine,” Kuras recalled that she spent four days secluded with Gondry, working on the look of specific in-camera effects and scenes from the movie. Later, after production she got to work color-correcting the movie and brought in Gondry to check her progress. He watched about 20 minutes of footage then took an hour long nap on the floor. Upon waking up he said, “Ok, I trust you.” The next time she saw him, she quipped, was at the film’s premiere. Kuras later shot Gondry’s “Dave Chappelle’s Block Party” and “Be Kind Rewind.”  [Eugene Hernandez]