Phillip Earnshaw Interview (Degrassi Director of Photography) by Mark Aaron Polger and Natalie Earl

DL: Tell me about Degrassi Talks, The Kids of Degrassi Street and Mirror Mirror: An Advertiser's Scrapbook.

PE: The Kids of Degrassi Street, as you know was the precursor to "Degrassi High" and "Degrassi Junior High". The first episode was "Ida Makes a Movie" and was produced earnestly as our first effort together. At that time none of us knew what lay ahead with regards to the huge success of the series. "Ida" was a nice little film that we were all extremely proud of at the time because it was the first drama for all of us, and that is what we all wanted to do. When it was finished and the result was charming we all felt proud of what we had done. The CBC liked it and they commissioned Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler to do 3 more the next year, then 6 the next year and so on. Before we knew it we had done 26 episodes.

PE: That body of work had never started off to be a series. I remember saying to Linda what an amazing body of work it was that we had just finished. Her response was that it was just the beginning. How right she was. Next came "Degrassi Junior High" then "Degrassi High" which you know all about. After it was all over in 1990 I think it was, I got a call from Linda asking me if I wanted to go on the road and co-direct and shoot a documentary series with her. My roots are in documentary filmmaking and the prospect of returning there after all the years of drama was fantastic. And what a great person to do it with! We hired Erv Copestake to do sound, Colleen Norcross to be the camera assistant and Michael Barker to be the grip/gaffer (he is Linda's brother), they all had worked on the series so it was a great crew to head off with.

PE: What Linda did was interesting. They advertised a 1-800 number in schools, on busses and in community centers all across Canada asking kids to phone in if they had stories they wanted to share about their experiences with drugs, alcohol, abuse, depression, sex and sexuality. They got several hundred responses. Every one of them was interviewed on the phone and 40 were chosen, all across the country. They were to be the subjects of the series "Degrassi Talks". The first leg of our journey headed west. We took Anais Granofsky (Lucy), Pat Mastroianni (Joey), Rebecca Haines (Kathleen), Siluck Saysanassi (Yick) and Neil Hope (Wheels) with us. They were given super VHS cameras and their job was to do "Streeters", that is interviews with kids on the street about their views on the subjects we were going to cover.

PE: We, the adult crew, were to do the more in depth interviews with the 40 kids who we had chosen from the phone interviews. What followed was a very intense 6 weeks of criss-crossing the country talking to kids about the most intimate and often depressing aspects of their lives. Every one of them had a real story of harrowing proportions. It really rocked me to my soul to be with these kids. Every one of them shared their past with us and with the viewers. Their goal was to help others put into perspective the hardship they might be going through or in some way to make other kids avoid the mistakes they had made. It was a very moving experience.

DL: Why were the Degrassi episodes filmed instead of video taped? How was filming on location (a party, the mall, bowling alley) different than filming at Vincent Massey or Centennial College?

PE: Degrassi like most dramatic series was produced on film because that is the tradition of dramatic cinema and TV. In the 80's when we were shooting the series the quality of video was not what it is today. Even today with digital video the latitude of the video image still does not measure up to film in terms of its ability to reproduce highlights and shadow areas. That is the key to making an image that has subtlety to it. Shooting on location is always a more interesting challenge for the director of photography and for the crew because you can't rely on all the standard answers to technical considerations that you have already worked out in the studio of other places were you have shot before. Location work keeps your mind in gear.

DL: Let's pretend that you could go back in time and re-shoot the episodes, with a larger crew and a higher budget, would you change or improve anything?

PE: I don't think I would change the way we did anything because shooting Degrassi was what it was and I wouldn't want to change that. For me it was a terrific learning experience and was the basis for the experience I have now. We were all learning our crafts through working on Degrassi and perhaps the most valuable part of the experience was being able to repeat our mistakes over and over until we got to the stage where we could leave our bad habits behind through learning from those mistakes. We weren't learning under anyone else's tutelage which perhaps could be seen as a handicap, but I believe it meant that we didn't learn other people's bad work habits. We learned to do things in a way that suited not only the production but in ways that grew out of our own personalities.

DL: How is the Director of Photography difference than the Director?

PE: The director of photography is responsible for getting the directors vision onto film. He or she works with the director in selecting the right lens and camera angle and then directs the crew to set the lights, the dolly track, and all the other things that are involved with the photography. On a series the DOP is also responsible for maintaining a consistent look for the show as the directors change from episode to episode.

DL: Tell me about how you got into your field. What are your credentials and accomplishments (film school, trade experience, achievements)?

PE: I went to York University and got a BA in Visual Arts (film) and the lucked into a job shooting news which I did for 3 years. Linda Schuyler hired me to shoot my first paying job right out of university, "Blue Mountain Crude", it was also her first film and it was also the first time she worked with Kit Hood. I then lucked into a job shooting news. When I quit that, I met up with Kit and Linda again just as they were going to shoot their first drama "Ida makes a Movie"

Which was to turn out to be the first Degrassi episode of all and the start of a wonderful working relationship that lasted for years...hopefully it is not over yet! They were great, they believed in me, let me direct, and were great friends too.

DL: What were your job responsibilities as DOP for Degrassi? Describe a typical two-week film schedule from start to finish.

PE: The best thing about the Degrassi schedule was that we prepped for a week then shot for a week. This is unheard of for series TV. It gave us a chance to prep together and it gave me a chance to recharge my batteries on the light weeks between shows. The shooting week was always really intense for me because I was operating the camera as well as lighting. This is essentially 2 jobs. It makes for a more intimate relationship with the director and the actors which is great but it can burn you out really fast.

DL: Who else directed Degrassi besides you, John Bertram, and Kit Hood?

PE: Eleanor Lindo

DL: Did any of the Degrassi cast or crew disagree with your visions of how the scenes or sequences should occur?

PE: The nice thing about working with kids as actors is that they don't usually dispute creative decisions. Most of the issues were adolescent issues involving testing the limits of our patience and authority.

DL: Did every Degrassi episode follow an established formula of cinematography specifications? Were the scenes always shot in chronological order?

PE: The established formula for the cinematography on Degrassi was generally always striving for photographic realism. Kit didn't want to create a world where the photography created its own world he wanted everything to look as natural as possible. No the scenes weren't shot in chronological order. They never are in film as it would be ridiculously inefficient to do so.

DL: Kit Hood was famous for making last minute changes during filming. He says that he could whisper something to you and you would know exactly what he was talking about and exactly why. How is it that you and he had such an instinctive understanding?

PE: In a funny kind of way I was a slave to the story as much as to the photography in those days and I would often make quick decisions to pan here or tilt there on Kit's whim if I knew the technical consequences weren't to high. I still think it is important to be flexible but it is also important to know what you want before you roll the camera!

DL: After over a decade with the Degrassi series (from The Kids of Degrassi Street to School's Out) how did you feel about leaving something so familiar to you?

PE: It was a bitter-sweet experience to go through the end of Degrassi. In many ways it was time to move on, especially professionally speaking for me. 10 years is a long time in this business to work on one project however all the kids had grown up under our tutelage and it ways sad to say goodbye to all of them. I still see a few of them from time to time. Anais Granofsky is a friend of mine. I went to New York to shoot her student film for her at NYU a few years ago. Colleen Norcross the camera assistant and Steve Massey the grip from Degrassi went down too. Anais is planing to shoot her first feature as director/writer soon and I hope to be able to shoot that for her.

DL: Because of the age difference, was there a big gap in communication between cast and crew?

PE: Just the usual kid/adult stuff.

DL: Tell me about your projects before and after Degrassi such as "Traders".

PE: The show I'm working on now is called "Traders". It is a dramatic series of 1 hour episodes and is takes place inside a small investment bank in the financial district of Toronto. It sounds dry but it is a great show with interesting stories and characters. There is all kinds of intrigue and double crossing. Last year it won a Gemini for best tv series in Canada (our equivalent of your Emmys). Unfortunately the show isn't on in the states at the moment. I also shot a feature called "Fishtale Soup" and one called "The Assistant" starring Armin Muller Stahl and Joan Plowright, directed by Dan Petrie Sr.

DL: Have you ever considered working for Kit Hood or Linda Schuyler after Degrassi ended?

PE: I have worked for Linda since Degrassi. I shot 26 episodes of Liberty Street and I lit Riverdale for her in 1997. I hope to work for her again some day.

DL: How did they make "It Creeps" look like a cheap, amateur film? How was Degrassi Junior High burned down without really harming the building?

PE: "It Creeps" was shot on super VHS video, hand held, quick and dirty. Degrassi Junior High was burned down using special effects. We shot a plate of the building in 35mm film (A locked off shot that doesn't move) then we sent the negative to a special effects company who then made a scale model of the building that was simply a black cut out with the windows in the right places. They then put fire in the windows, filmed it and superimposed it over the piece of film we gave them. It's quite simple really. You will notice in the episode there are only 1 or 2 shots of the burning building, all the rest of the shots are of the students watching with flickering light on their faces.

DL: Please share some of your fondest Degrassi memories. Do you have a special message for Degrassi fans?

PE: A piece of Degrassi trivia: (Question) There is an old picture of a gentleman with long sideburns which hangs outside the office in the corridor of Degrassi Talks (See the last sequence of "Body Politics", it's there because I directed it). Who was the gentleman supposed to be and who posed for it? (Answer) The man is supposed to be the founder of the school, Sir Philip Degrassi, and I posed for it!