Artem Mokevsky
He is the Cinematographer in Vyacheslav Vlasov‘s In The Deathroom Dollar Baby film.
SKSM: Could you start with telling me a little bit about yourself? Who are you and what do you do?
Artem Mokevsky: Hello everyone. I am Artem Mokevsky. I’ve been doing videography for 10 years now. And recently became a musician
SKSM: When did you know you wanted to become a cinematographer?
Artem Mokevsky: As a child, every evening my father brought home new DVDs and I watched a large number of films. At some point, I wanted to evoke the same incredible emotions in people as I myself received from some masterpieces of cinema. But I only had enough opportunities to become a blogger, then it became my job
SKSM: How do you communicate with a director to design a visual strategy for a film?
Artem Mokevsky: Due to the lack of experience and self-confidence, we did not work out the visual component as deeply as we could. But at this stage of the creative path, the main task is to finish the product, and then analyze it and become better in the next projects
SKSM: You worked with Vyacheslav Vlasov on this film, what do you think the relationship between a director and a dp should be?
Artem Mokevsky: It doesn’t matter if it’s a big project with a multimillion-dollar budget or a “garage production”, relationships on the site should be primarily professional. If the team members are friends at the same time, then this can create a special chemistry, but should not interfere with the workflow. Also, absolutely all team members should know the scenario in order to be on the same wavelength. I can’t say that we managed to do it to the full, but an unsuccessful experience is a valuable experience.
SKSM: You worked in a Dollar Baby based on a Stephen King short story. It was your most challenging film?
Artem Mokevsky: Of course, this is the biggest challenge in my entire life (after the Unified State Exam). It is very difficult to get out of creative stagnation, work with equipment of a different level and organize a large number of people. It was the first time we did a full dubbing of the film because we did not record sound from a professional microphone on the spot.
SKSM: When you’re going to shoot, what are your favorite lenses? formats?
Artem Mokevsky: The format depends on the task. The choice of format and lenses directly depends on the idea.
Again, you need to have a lot of tools and be able to use them in order for real creativity to begin. We work with what we have.
I like wide-angle lenses of about 10-18 mm and art lenses created for specific effects.
SKSM: Was there any funny or special moment when you made the movie that you would like to tell me about?
Artem Mokevsky: The husband of the main and only actress came to the set, interfered with the filming process and gave unnecessary comments. We politely asked him to be silent, but to no avail. As a result, the actress herself swore at him and kicked him out. I love it when people prioritize
SKSM: Who are some of your influences (favorite dps/films)?
Artem Mokevsky: David Fincher (Fight Club, Social network), Guy Ritchie (rock’n’roller), Timur Bekmambetov (watches), Christopher Nolan (Interstellar), almost all of Makoto Shinkai’s works (Your name, weather child), Mr. Nobody. I can’t trace the direct influence, but these works are my favorite
SKSM: Are you a Stephen King fan? If so, which are your favorite works and adaptations?
Artem Mokevsky: Few people don’t know Stephen, but I managed to miss every film adaptation of his novels. I should be ashamed, I will definitely catch up!
(I remembered that I watched the “it” dilogy – I liked it)
SKSM: What are you working on nowadays?
Artem Mokevsky: The Internet series “The Librarian in quarantine” is a comedy with elements of science fiction Youtube channel with personal experiences.
SKSM: Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Is there anything you want to say to the fans that read this interview?
Artem Mokevsky: Russians go ahead!
SKSM: Do you like to add anything else?
Artem Mokevsky: I say hello to my mother
