Ice Princess — Behind the Scenes

As the view counter for Ice Princess surpasses one million views, BBP cinematographer Josh Usheroff reflects on working with directors We Were Monkeys and the Ice Princess herself, Azealia Banks.

When We Were Monkeys first approached Josh to DP Ice Princess, they described a powerful Medusa-like Banks battling a shape-shifting supernatural force in an icy world. Whether inside her translucent ice castle or riding a giant flying snake, Azealia's character was to be illuminated by the cold diffuse light of a cloudy sky. In order to match the even lighting of an overcast world, Josh used two flicker-free 1200W HMI lights bounced into 8ft frames to evenly wrap around Azealia's face, plus an Arrilux pocket-par to add a little sparkle to her eyes.

The entire shoot was filmed on a green-screen stage and recorded in 4K RAW to allow for easy compositing into the CGI world. Having an evenly lit green background is critical in order to "key" or remove it in post — so it felt great when We Were Monkeys sent a note saying "these are some of the best keys I have had to deal with."

On Set with Azealia Banks

In order for the animated crown of snakes to follow Azealia's head movements, the directors placed tracking points along her neckline and around her head. The technical demands of the shoot were matched by the creative energy on set.

Azealia was super fun to work with. She was incredibly patient during her hours in the make-up chair as she transformed into the pale-faced and bejeweled Ice Princess. Her performance was always on-point, and her expressive delivery lit up the screen every time. Between takes, she joked with the crew and posted photos to Instagram. Without a doubt, Banks is a driven and talented artist whose creativity and commitment to a visual world elevated every frame she was in.

This was a technically demanding shoot that lived at the intersection of cinematography and visual effects. The care taken on set to deliver clean, key-able footage is exactly what allowed the CGI compositing team to bring the Ice Princess's world to life with the detail and depth the directors envisioned.