INTERVIEW (October 1999) p.340
Hype Williams – interviewed by Anna Sui
ANNA SUI: A couple of years ago, I was at a party and Monica Lynch came up to
me and said, "I just saw this video that is going to change videos forever."
I went home that night and I sat and watched the box until your video for
[Craig Mack's] "Flava In Ya Ear" came on. And I thought, Oh my God, this man
is amazing. He's such a visionary.
HYPE WILLIAMS: Anna, from someone like you that's an amazing compliment. I'm
surprised that you would have even be that tuned in to what's urban.
AS: No, I'm a rock 'n' roller, I have to admit. [laughs]. But I love to
learn about something I don't know about. In fact, my spring collection last
year was totally inspired by your videos. When I watched one of them, I'm
not here on this planet. I am in your planet. You've totally created a
different perspective. Why the low-angle centralized camera? It seems to be
your trademark.
HW: I like to see people exaggerated. I like to see artists look big. And
the lower and the wider the camera angle, the larger-than-life kind of status
it gives it. Especially women. A lot of times women are only viewed as
beautiful in the camera when it's a close-up or a high angle or something
specifically composed for a classic beauty shot. I feel like women... stand
so tall nowadays in the world, and I like to see that mightiness in the
camera, like when it looks like they're just towering over everybody. And
they might be only four of five feet tall, but from that angle they look
seven feet tall.
AS: Is it difficult to work with such dynamic stars?
HW: Extremely difficult. [laughs] But at the same time, I couldn't imagine
not doing it. This happens to be a knack for me. And I'm hoping to
translate the things I've learned here into doing films that one day have a
look and feel that no one has ever seen. I've been stuck out in L.A. all
year, and the people that work with me are dying to see me do this humongous
Hollywood production. I don't know how I feel about that. Because on the
one hand, a lot of the films I really like are extremely simple. But on the
other, I love what happens here in Hollywood; I love the size and the ability
to create a world that is truly my own.
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