Director of Photography, Darius Shu filming with the Arri Alexa Mini on the set of Secret Child: The Bridge in London, United Kingdom. Photo credit: The Secret Child
We had an opportunity to chat with phenomenal filmmaker Darius Shu. His film, the “Secret Child,” has received more than 15 awards worldwide since it’s circulation to film festivals. Check out the interview below.
Hi, Darius! Thank you for granting the interview. We’re excited to speak with you. Tell us what inspired you to study film production.
Ever since I was young I was into interior designing, did some small directing roles, performing arts, composing music and songwriting and video editing. I even did life and abstract painting when I was just 8-12 years old. The one thing it all had in common was that it was all in the arts and I knew I wanted to do something related to the entertainment industry. What inspired me to study film was really my love for photography, telling stories and creating beautiful imagery and I really like to get in-depth with the whole production. I don’t want to sound like a geek but I was obsessed with Star Trek and the TV show Knight Rider ever since I was 6 years old and anything related to Sci-Fi. Looking back, I do have lots of love for films and TV shows even when I was at that age, and this was before the internet even was a thing.
My interest sparked, even more, when I bought my first camera, I was 18 years of age and soon I just fell in love with taking photographs. I found out that I had a real talent for taking portraits of people and I got an adrenaline high from making people look good even if they weren’t camera friendly. I would always get a response “Wow, I never knew I could look like that!” from the people I have taken photos of. This all led me into the direction of filmmaking which to me was an extension of photography. People would joke and laugh at me and say, “You have a third eye and you see things other people don’t when it comes to taking photographs and filming.” I also found myself editing my films and videos for other people as well which meant I felt I had more control. I was also doing more music videos and documentaries in the earlier days.
One day, a friend of mine who was a director asked me to take charge of her production as she loves my work as a photographer. This was my big break to become a Director of Photography and I had to use lights and other equipment which gave me much more control over the production. I must be sounding like a control freak now, but I am not, I just happen to care about creating high-quality work. And it turns out that I love what I do and I made a career out of it and I’ve not regretted since. I decided to study my Masters in film production and cinematography at Arts University Bournemouth in the UK.
I still do photography until today and I’m also a fashion photographer on the side. Very soon I got approached to take fashion photographs and have worked with luxury magazines and high-end brands. This is when I found myself looking at all types of glossy fashion magazines and I was thinking of ideas to make my photograph look different and stand out. I guess doing fashion stuff really brings the creative side out of you as well.
I found myself in demand even though I am very young. My work ranged from fashion magazines, music videos, documentaries, commercials, and films. Like all things, the more you do the better you become as you start to experiment. People always say I have a distinctive look and style to my work, although I do not notice it myself, I guess it’s a good thing that people feel that way.
Did you come across any challenges in your career?
The challenges really are trying to break into the industry and getting knowing the right people that you can click and have chemistry with.
Being quite a perfectionist, sometimes when I make or shoot something that didn’t quite come out to what you envisioned or planned, I get really tough with myself feeling all disappointing and frustrated. As much of a regret and thoughts of what would I had done better if I could turn back time, I take it as a learning experience and not to repeat the same mistakes in my next projects. This really motivates me to keep doing better and my philosophy that I always stick to is to always create something that is better than my last project. One of the other challenges is also to constantly keep up with the latest technology in the industry, things are moving at lightning speed nowadays!
How do you choose a role to play?
I’m a very story driven person, and I love it when films become a work of art in the midst of telling a story, as I feel films should not just be about huge car crashes and explosions. I choose my projects based on whether the script or story interest me. A story has to make you think or creates a good impact whether its emotionally to the audience at the end of the day. I love to see my work as visual poetry, and I put a lot of love and care into what I do, even if it means I’ll need an extra few months storyboarding, planning and brainstorming to perfect it.
What do you enjoy most about the industry?
What I really love most is when you find the right people and you have great chemistry with them, it makes working such a joy. These like-minded individuals that you meet feel like family over time after spending months working on a project. Filmmaking is all about collaboration and teamwork and when you find the right team and working alongside visionary directors, the feeling that we are able to make something great is extremely satisfying and exciting at the same time.
Which makes this whole industry really interesting is because every project is different and it really makes life and my career more exciting doing something outside the norm and brainstorming creative ideas and continues to enhance my craft every day.
What continues of the projects you have worked on?
I have shot a British-Indian film “Pardaa” by Kajri Babbar which manage to reach semifinalist of the 44th Student Academy Awards last year. The film has also been selected at the Aesthetica Film Festival and Sydney Indie Film Festival. We were very fortunate that this film kicked off successfully having to work with the director for the first time for her debut film.
Besides that, I co-directed and shot a silent psychological thriller film called His Hands with Arron Blake and Philip Brisebois earlier this year and it has also been making it rounds in festivals such as the Gold Movie Awards in London which it won Best Experimental Film and Best Cinematography and will be at the BAFTA Theatre January next year. This was a film that I wanted to push the boundaries of visual storytelling by using only the power of imagery to tell its story. I’m definitely very fortunate to have three back to back award-winning films.
What was your favorite project to date?
Secret Child is my favorite project to date because we had such an amazing cast and crew and I’m very happy with the outcome of the film. Everything went so smooth and one of the most organized film sets I’ve worked on with such a professional crew. I had a brilliant team with which we share the same vision and understand each other very well. My first and second camera assistants were superb. My gaffer read my mind and understands what I wanted in terms of the lighting. I had the chance to work alongside a fantastic cast such as Fiona Glascott (who was on the Oscar-nominated film Brooklyn and currently the second Harry Potter universe franchise film, Fantastic Beast: The Crimes of Grindelwald), young 11 year old Austin Taylor (from My Cousin Rachel and Dr Who) and Aaron McCusker (from the new Queen blockbuster movie Bohemian Rhapsody). I was also the youngest crew on set so it was such a wonderful experience and the best few months working on Secret Child. With great teamwork equals a great film.
Who would you love to collaborate with?
I would love to collaborate with Denis Villeneuve and Christopher Nolan one day as they are my favorite directors and my inspiration. I love their impressive storytelling style and vision they have for their films.
Tell us how you got involved in “The Secret Child.”
I’m very grateful to have directors and producers approach me to work on their projects, which was what happened in the last three films I worked on before Secret Child. On one of these projects, I was even flown out to India for a film shoot, working alongside a Bollywood crew. Secret Child was the same as well. I knew about the project through a contact who knew the producers and the director of the film. I sent my showreel to them, and lucky me, I got the job.
When I read the brief for the project, I was keen on being involved with the film. The story and subject matter caught my attention, since it’s a 1950s-period film true story based on the bestselling book, Secret Child, by Gordon Lewis. I wanted to do something I hadn’t done before. I was lucky when a few days later, I was informed that the producer was impressed with my previous work and wanted me on board the Secret Child. It has since been one of the best film sets I’ve worked on.
I did not expect this film to have such a tremendous response from the festivals all around the world. To date, we have more than 15 awards and nominations from UK, Europe, and the USA. We recently screened the film at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood Boulevard for the Oscar Qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival 2018 and won Best Debut Film at the New Renaissance Film Festival in London. I have more than 3 awards for Best Cinematography as well, which I really am grateful for people to recognize your hard work because it’s not just a recognition of my work but to all the people that are involved too.
Is there a production you would like to produce?
I would love to work and shoot a sci-fi film one day. I’ve always been a fan of sci-fi and TV shows like Black Mirror. I think in our current generation, Blade Runner 2049 really pushed the boundaries of a sci-fi film. It was so mind-blowing when I watched it!
If you had to do it all over again, would you still choose to make film production your career?
Yes, I still would. I don’t know what I will be without this career honestly and I’m glad I pursued it. If I would do it all over again, I wished I had pursued it at an earlier age maybe around my teenage years and got it all figured out then but I’m still young at 24 and I’m grateful to what I had accomplished so far and fingers crossed with more to come. Sometimes everything happens for a reason right J
Do you have anything else you would like to share about your career?
The producer and writer of Secret Child, Gordon Lewis, is looking to make a TV series of the book with American production companies and he will be going to America in November to meet people. I’m working closely with them on bringing forward the Secret Child project. If anybody would like to contact Gordon, he is contactable at secretchild.com.
I’m currently working on a few fashion commercials and spots in the UK and Asia. I’m also planning to do another film later next year and set up a company in London, United Kingdom.
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Connect with Darius:
Official website: http://www.dariusshu.com/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/dariusshu5
Facebook: www.facebook.com/DariusShuOfficial
Darius’ IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm8954266
Secret child website: www.secretchild.com
Featured Image Credit: Director of Photography, Darius Shu filming with the Arri Alexa Mini on the set of Secret Child: The Bridge in London, United Kingdom. Photo credit: The Secret Child.
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