Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ricky Jordan II Creator & Cinematographer . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Ricky Jordan II thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
I would say learning the craft of filmmaking can go a million different ways, and no one’s path is the same. My path has been a more hands on experience. I started out as an Actor, which taught me the craft of what’s going on in different characters’ head that the audience doesn’t necessarily see. However, I always wanted to be more of a painter than a color in the painting. I want to create! Therefore I did A LOT of reading, went to Youtube University (wink, wink), and took those processes and started writing scripts with the wealth of knowledge I thought I had. Which in hindsight was very little. I found myself not being able to communicate with my crew on how I saw my vision. This ultimately led to frustration on set or in the edit room. So I decided I would learn what the crew did, how they did it, and what they needed to execute a Director’s vision. That first step was joining a gear house and renting out gear to crews, then I was able to get on set as an Assistant Camera and Grip. and went up the chain from there. Which I would say was ESSENTIAL to my process today. Now, when I write a script or am brought on someone else’s story I know what that story actually needs and what it will take to execute. What would have of sped up my learning, was giving up perfection. Really understanding that your best is what you give everyday and sometimes it changes and being okay with that. Because if not it would trickle down to my attitude and would lead me to not wanting to work or sit on certain projects because it wasn’t going to be “perfect”. Since really harnessing the attitude of nothing is perfect, except maybe a Frank Ocean album, my filmmaking has been such a wonderful time for me and those involved. Helping to really craft my “look” when creating.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I LOVE MOVIES AND TV. When I was younger my dad worked at Best Buy growing up and would always receive the new released DVDs every Tuesday and I’d watch pretty much all of them that day after school. I just loved getting lost in the different stories of different people, in different times. People dealing with somewhat the same ambitions and problems around me, even better if the story is something foreign to me. They weren’t actors to me until I was probably 9 and realized Will Smith was like four of my favorite people. Still I didn’t think acting was a thing I could do until I took my theatre class my senior year and started becoming one of the first people picked for scene partners every time it was time for scene work. So that gave me the courage to take theatre as my major when I went to Auburn. Quickly realizing I didn’t want to do more remedial classes to get to the fun part I ditched school and went to train at a Acting Studio in Birmingham. How you say? That’s all she wrote. I booked some roles and fell in love with the Film industry. I wanted to get in a bigger market so I moved to Atlanta in 2017 to get deeper in the industry. Then I worked to become who I am today, which makes me proud. I became a person who can elevate any story, brand, or business’ story. Wether its writing a feature for someone who isn’t a writer but has great ideas for stories. Crafting visuals for someone who is a Writer, or using my network to raise the quality and execution of a production when brought on as a Director or Producer. The best part, today I have people who are willing to invest their time and money in my stories because it touched them, they see the vision, and are excited to work with me.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
My driving mission is to create films that make people think how I thought about V for Vendetta. It made me think in ways I’ve never thought about regarding different philosophies in society and social class. Just a mesmerizing film. The art layered throughout the film does such an inspiring job of portraying these concepts so effectively to the viewer it becomes subconscious. This movie is a HUGE contributing factor for me becoming a member of this community.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
When we shot Greed, which is one of my favorite visuals to work on, the second take of the first shot of the day the camera operator fell and broke the Ronin, which he brought on pro bono for the sake of the story. Instead of reacting negatively or thinking the shoot was going down the drain. I made sure he was okay and waited to see if he could repair it. While we were waiting on the verdict on the Ronin, I kept the morale up especially for the camera operator because obviously he was very stressed having broken his own equipment. All the shots for the whole day were slated for the Ronin, so we adapted and continued the day. It ended up being somewhat a happy accident, coming together as a crew and adapting when challenges arouse, allowed us the space to create one of the most impactful visuals yet.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://scorchedent.com
- Instagram: @mr.ricklentless / @scorchedent
- Other: https://vimeo.com/scorchedearth
Image Credits
Brandon Clifton – BTS