Hustlers

1 RAMONA TAKES THE STAGE

That was the most nervous I’ve been during the entire shoot. In the script originally, I didn’t know what the capabilities were of whoever was going to be Ramona so it just says, “Ramona does one final flourish.” Then Jennifer came aboard and threw herself into it. My DP, Todd Banhazl, and I didn’t see the dance until two weeks before we shot. It took a minute to get our jaws off the ground. Once we did, we thought, “Okay, how do we shoot this like the stunt that it is? And how do we shoot it like the live event, and wanted to give her those boxer-entering-the-ring vibes. We basically applied the sense of control that runs through the movie in the visual storytelling. We’re obviously seeing the effect that Ramona’s having on Destiny, as she’s seeing this woman wielding her power, and then we also wanted to be onstage with Ramona, to really feel how intoxicating that is, and then we also wanted to feel what it was like to be the audience, to be taken over by her. So it felt like Ramona is in control of where the camera went. By the way it was [shot on] my birthday! I’ll never have another party like that for the rest of my life.