OV cinematographer and his first working trip in Vietnam

The film Sieu Trom ‘Bitcoin Heist’, by Overseas Vietnamese director Ham Tran being screened at Vietnam cinemas receives a good response from audience.

Vietnamese audience have a chance to enjoy an interesting action-comedy feature film.

The film crew includes an OV cinematographer Kevin Pham, who has returned to Vietnam to work for the first time. Kevin Pham was born and grew up in California, the US. His parents are Vietnamese. He graduated from California State University in cinematography.

Kevin Pham recently sat down for an exclusive interview with a VOV reporter to tell about his working in Vietnam on films directed by Le Van Kiet and Ham Tran. 

VOV: Hello Kevin, How long have you been in Vietnam? What films have you shot?

Mr Kevin: I stayed in Saigon for 4 months. I originally was invited by Le Van Kiet to serve as the cinematographer for ‘Nu Dai Gia’, which meant I was in charge of the camera and lighting crews on set, meeting and planning with Kiet in the limited time we had around the shooting times. 

When one of our lead actors had to leave due to prior arrangements and our film went overschedule, we had to take a month long break. Kiet recommended me to Ham Tran to help him finish ‘Sieu Trom’. Ham's cinematographer Minh Ku had to leave to do another project. I filmed with Ham for 10 or 11 days. Ham's shoot involved lots of special effects, so I had to make sure the lighting looked realistic so that after the special effects were put in, it wouldn't seem obvious.

VOV: 2015 was the first year you came to work in Vietnam. How do you feel when working here? Do you plan to work further in Vietnam?

Mr Kevin: I went to Vietnam to work because my father is the biggest fan of modern Vietnamese cinema that I know. I met Kiet through my friend Tonaci Tran, who brought the first digital cinema camera to Vietnam in 2007. He is definitely one of the most influential people of Vietnamese cinema in the last 10 years. I was warned about the working conditions of Vietnam from other cinematographers and directors that have worked there... the grueling 24 hour shifts, the rough conditioned equipment, the relative lack of safety; I expected all of the conditions I faced.

I did admire the will of the people in Vietnam and am extremely grateful to them for their extremely hard work. Something I found funny was since I am 1.83m tall, I could adjust tall lights quicker than they could get a ladder. I enjoyed the frank Vietnamese sense of humor.

I would like to come back but it would have to be the right script and project for me, since I am working a lot in America as well. Also, I missed my guitar too much when I was over there, and the guitar is my #1 stress reliever. Experiencing all of the hardships over there has made me much tougher over here in Hollywood.

VOV: Director Ham Tran and Le Van Ket made good remarks on you. How do you think of them and what do you learn from them?

Mr Kevin: I think very highly of both LVK and HT. In adapting to Kiet's shooting style, I learned how to coordinate two cameras and light accordingly. He trusted me to build the color scheme of the film, and I learned a lot about sticking by your decisions and when to insist. Kiet is a very calm and composed yet perfectionist when it comes down to the details. I liked that very much about him.

I learned from Ham Tran the importance of precise planning. He had drawn out diagrams of all the shots he wanted to get which helped inform my lighting decisions. Ham is also a perfectionist but very intimidating while on set. When we weren't working he would make me laugh so hard that I couldn't breathe.

VOV: Will you tell us some experiences while working in Vietnam?

Mr Kevin: The way the film industrial companies run their businesses is so possessive, unlike Hollywood. Sure, there's a lot of competition but the lighting and camera companies never force you to rent everything exclusively through them. I think they should try to work together and sublease stuff from each other and they will all prosper in that sense. Spending four months with the same group of people really forged a strong bond, and we felt like a giant family while working together. One of the weirdest experiences of my life was at a dinner we had in Ho Tram with Nu Dai Gia.

I had a few drinks to drink and it was after a long shoot day in the sun. I don't know what I was laughing at but then somebody pointed me out and pretty soon all 60+ people turned and laughed at me. It was so bizarre and embarrassing so I got up and ran away. They liked to make fun of me because most only saw my working side, which is very strict. There's a world of details I have to pay attention to, there's not really any time to socialize or joke around while I'm in command. If I slack off, the set falls behind, so I left it to Kiet.

Working up through the ranks here in Hollywood, you learn not to talk to actors or distract them so they can focus on their performances. You kind of want to show them that you're working, then disappear as to not distract them. So I guess laughing at me was a compliment of sorts. 

They only saw me working and when I wasn't, it was so strange to them that a personality could exist outside of my exterior. To be honest, I'm not even sure any of the actors I worked with even remember that I exist. A lesser known fact about Ham is that he can imitate people extremely well. He had me in stitches he was that good. I probably can't say who though.

Another fun moment on Nu Dai Gia is when we were shooting the climax of the film, and in this highly coordinated shot involving explosives, one of the cascadeurs ran into the room too fast and hit his head on the doorway. He fell to the ground.