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“We Kept the Space Very Intimate for Our Subjects”: DP Laura Goncalves on Sly Lives
Still from Sly Lives!. Courtesy of Sundance Institute. Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s follow-up to the Oscar-winning Summer of Soul will premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festiva’s Premieres section. The film combines archival footage with new interviews to examine the legacy and music of Sly and the Family Stone.
Laura Goncalves, who served as director of photography, explains her personal connection to the project and how she used the Interrotron to help create private, intimate spaces for interviewees.
See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here.
Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film?
Goncalves: I believe I was born to shoot this film. I have been a Sly and the Family Stone fan as long as I can remember. I learned how to play trumpet because of Cynthia Robinson, the female trumpet player in the band. I caught wind of the project through a friend and reached out to Joseph Patel. It’s the first project I can say that I pursued by cold calling someone. During my first interview, it turns out that Beyoncé had given me a recommendation to Ahmir. I can’t thank Ahmir and Joseph enough for bringing me on!
Filmmaker: What were your artistic goals on this film, and how did you realize them?
Goncalves: Ahmir, Joseph and I were inspired by the portrait photography of Irving Penn. We wanted to approach the interviews as elegantly as possible. We wanted the audience to feel like they’re having a conversation with a friend. The shooting style was created around that feeling with the Interrotron, the table they lean on, the intimate lensing and the tone of our set. We kept the space very intimate for our subjects, building privacy solids around our crew so when our subject comes in and sits down, they are immediately immersed in an interview environment that feels very safe. The camera was always mounted on a dolly, so I could easily make the necessary micro-height-adjustments with the Interrotron to maintain eye level with the subject. The entire team worked hard to keep the visuals consistent, which was important since the interviews would be all over the map and at different times.
We wanted the color of our backgrounds to evoke the flag on the album cover for There’s a Riot Goin’ On so we had a red and blue custom hand painted 12×12 backings made by Oliphant Studios in NY that we traveled with.
We used red for primary characters, people who were either in the band or directly related to Sly and used blue for everyone else.
Filmmaker: What were the biggest challenges posed by production to those goals?
Goncalves: We shot over the course of about a year. I made a detailed style guide so things could remain consistent in my absence. I would have DP friends step in for me when I wasn’t available. And when I wasn’t there, we would make sure my gaffer, Kiva Knight, was there. For the shoot with Larry Graham, I was coming from a job in Paris and my flight was redirected. I ended up flying for 24 hours straight just to make it on time for that shoot. I could not miss Larry!
Filmmaker: What camera did you shoot on? Why did you choose the camera that you did? What lenses did you use?
Goncalves: We shot on a Venice and I had two Panavision VA lenses that Dan Sasaki detuned for me. Everything was shot on those two lenses, mostly on the 50 at around a 1.8. I would just push in from a medium to a close-up halfway through the interview.
Filmmaker: Describe your approach to lighting:
Goncalves: I used 2 Hudson Spider for my key light, sometimes direct, sometimes through a thick 12×12 diffusion with a grid. We would build a 8×8 soft box overhead with 2 vortex’s going through magic cloth and I would put a pixel brick with a diffuser mounted to the camera in case I needed an extra eye light in a pinch.
Filmmaker: Finally, describe the finishing of the film. How much of your look was “baked in” versus realized in the DI?
Goncalves: We finished remotely and colored with Lionel Barton through FrameRiver in Toronto. It wasn’t ideal since we were coloring in HDR for streaming and we were all in different places: I was in LA, Joesph and Ahmir in NYC and Lionel in Toronto. I reached out to Light Iron NYC (who I have a long relationship with), and they were able to provide a screening room for Ahmir and Joseph in NYC, and I was able to view a DCP at Light Iron LA. We spent a lot of time going over the balance to make sure the interviews flowed with the archival footage without too much distraction.
TECH BOX
Film Title: Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)
Camera: Sony Venice
Lenses: Panavision VA LF lenses 40mm T1.4 VA Series LF, 50mm T1.4 VA Series LF
Color Grading: FrameRiver
