Copyright dnaindia
Mads Fridolin Vejlby, DFF, has aimed camera lenses at everything from Danish actors performing dark rituals in a cosmic horror film to Indian underground electronic music artists showing off their latest compositions in a studio setting in Mumbai. As an established Danish director of photography, Vejlby is known for his cinematography in versatile and impactful work spanning independent narrative films, documentaries, commercials and music videos. With a rich educational background that includes the Danish School of Media and Journalism, Copenhagen Film & Photo School, Fatamorgana the Danish School of Art Photography, and an MFA from the American Film Institute Conservatory, Vejlby has garnered critical recognition across international film festivals including DOC NYC, Festival de Cannes and Tallgrass Film Festival and recently earning a grand jury award at Awareness Film Festival. His cinematography brought characters to life on the big screen in stories such as the cosmic horror film Ihruqax, the mixed media documentary Music For Flying Cars, and the award-winning Danish TV series Danmarks Næste Klassiker where aspiring designers worked out iconic furniture designs. Vejlby’s work on the Indian documentary series Superdry Krunk Live Sessions, filmed in Mumbai, made it clear that Vejlby could find ways to showcase a creative collaboration between musicians and visual artists on India’s national youth channel, Pepsi MTV Indies. In this exclusive interview, Vejlby shares insights on his film work, his ways of finding the right frame for any story, and his rewarding experience with Indian independent music and art culture. Q: Before we get into the details of your work, could you share with us how your journey as a cinematographer began? A: Thinking back, there was a time where I had no idea that you could be a director of photography. There were no film people in my family. My dad is a mediator of conflicts and my mom was a librarian. Although I did not have any early exposure to film sets, there were always a lot of books around the house since my mom worked at a local library, and me and my sisters were in that sense lucky to have literature and all sorts of stories in abundance. As a kid growing up in Denmark, film was gritty social realism and some historic dramas, but all in all, most of the films I knew of came from other countries like the US, UK or even the Japanese animated features out of Studio Ghibli. I always enjoyed drawing, and was early on interested in animation since I had a natural joy of creating images. Creating images on paper was my first way of taking my imagination and putting it out in the world. Eventually I discovered that being an animator meant sitting at a desk and looking at a screen all day, and that was not exactly my dream. When I discovered photography and the ability to capture clips of the world in a video camera, it felt very special and fun. My oldest sister had an analogue Nikon camera, and I remember being fascinated with this device that could capture images. This fascination only grew when I discovered video cameras, and being a bit of a nostalgic person, I felt amazed that I could capture moments and memories on tape. As opposed to drawing for animation, with a camera you can capture moments and stories much quicker and also real life experiences for documentary. Before I knew that you could make films for a living, it was just a playful thing. Making films with my friends was like playing a game, and we would just have a laugh, taking turns in front and behind the camera. It’s still important for me to remember to have fun and be playful with my cinematography. Q: You clearly have not stayed within one genre of filmmaking. How do you manage to adapt your visual style as a director of photography to so many projects of various nature? A: I would get bored if I always shot the same type of project. To challenge myself and keep growing as a creative spirit, I like to challenge myself with different kinds of films. I think I can apply some of the same techniques to any type of project, regardless of the genre. What is most important to me is to show a character as a human with multiple dimensions. Even if it’s a flawed character who makes poor choices, I strongly believe it’s important to show them as a character that you can empathize with and be with as an audience member. So, in a documentary, I think you have to show the main characters' perspective and how they arrived to where they are. Same goes for narrative, and with the camera you can make choices that will give the audience a feeling and understanding of the story and the characters in it. I also believe that I become a better storyteller with experience from different genres. Knowing how to light a horror film can become relevant in a grounded social realism film, if the character is going through an experience where they feel afraid. I also think blending genres is interesting, so the audience watches a story that is not too predictable. I have done that recently in a documentary about the war in Ukraine, where me and the director Christina Amundsen (who also directed Superdry Krunk Live Sessions) are mixing traditional real life documentary scenes with constructed narrative sequences shot on 16mm film. Q: You worked as director of photography on the Indian series Superdry Krunk Live Sessions. Can you tell us about your experience filming a production focused on India’s underground electronic music scene combined with the works of visual artists? A: When I first got the offer to go shoot a show in India, I had no hesitation in saying yes. I always seek to work on projects in new places since I’m a very curious person. Also, the director Christina Amundsen is a good friend and collaborator of mine, and since she is such a talent too, I knew it would be a great project. Collaborating with Indian musicians and visual artists was such a fun experience and also very inspiring. I would say that as far as the musicians and visual artists go, it was not that different from working with musicians and visual artists in any other place. They were all very professional and passionate about their art, and it was good to feel that they also wanted these episodes to come out as good as possible. I have sometimes worked with artists who are a bit strict about how they are portrayed, but on this show everyone was super friendly and trusted that me and my technical team would do our job right. When we shot this I had already done a fair amount of music videos and live sessions in Denmark and Australia, and this helped me in figuring out how to shoot the live sessions of this show. We had 3 cameras for the live sessions and two cameras for the interviews. We shot on the Canon C300s and with dolly tracks for the cameras we could easily move the cameras around and create different compositions throughout. I had some good meetings with the producers, director and then the camera operators, so everybody was on the same page and knew how to move with the performances. The visual artists showed us the concepts of their installations before we shot the sessions, so I knew beforehand how the setups would look and could plan my shots a bit more intentionally. There was a special energy on set that I haven’t experienced anywhere else. People were very welcoming and respectful, and even with a tight production schedule (we shot the six episodes over the course of 16 days), we managed to capture everything without compromising quality and I think we kept the cinematography at a high level. I think it was an interesting challenge to showcase both the musicians and the visual artists together. It was kind of a bonus that the whole show was landing on the platform Pepsi MTV Indies, in the sense that it would actually reach a wide audience of young people all over India. I would definitely be happy to go back and shoot more in India, whether it’s another show about music and visual art, or a narrative drama in Bollywood. Q: How does your international background influence your approach to projects like Superdry Krunk Live Sessions, which have a strong cultural identity? A: When I was working as director of photography on Superdry Krunk Live Sessions, I treated it like any other job. I had meetings with the director Christina Amundsen who had already developed the concept with producer Sohail Arora from Krunk Live. It was clear to me that they wanted this production to have a high production value, and we decided a multi camera setup would work best for the live sessions, so we could catch close up details of instruments, the singers and the visual art installations, while also getting wider shots to establish and tie it all together. My experience with international productions helped me communicate with the camera operators, the gaffer and key grip, and the entire team really. There were a few cultural differences that I had to learn, for example that people do not work on October 2nd, since it is celebrated annually as Gandhi Jayanti, honoring Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday. Personally I have worked across 27 countries, and no matter if it’s India, DR Congo, Greenland or Brazil, film is a key to get access to locals and start conversations and collaborations easier. Film is such a cultural common denominator that people all over the world get excited about. I have also learned that empathy and respect for cultural context are vital. My international experiences allow me to bring a fresh perspective while being mindful of the local culture’s nuances, ensuring that the visuals resonate authentically with the audience. I like to listen and observe how my collaborators work and then offer my own insights and thoughts, and it often blends well together. I think a good amount of humility and patience goes a long way in these collaborations. I also believe in a positive mindset, and for example I believe that there is a good reason that I find myself on a project with a different culture - if I was hired on something outside of my own culture, chances are good that there are people, either in the producing team or other departments that are open and encouraging for an international vibe and input from different corners of the world. When I work in different cultures, I pretty much keep the same approach. I will do my prep with a shotlist, based on research and conversations with the director. I try to get a good sense of the location beforehand, but obviously it’s sometimes hard with international productions, where I sometimes arrive a very short time before the shoot begins. With Superdry Krunk Live Sessions we would get some illustrations from the visual artists, so we could understand how the setup would be, and we already knew the locations and the size of the studio. This definitely made it easier. I think my experience with documentary film making has aided me when working on international productions, where you sometimes have to figure out things on the fly. I have recently worked on a documentary feature in Ukraine, where I constantly have to think about how to best tell the story with available light on locations that I have no control over. So, it’s best to just be open to your surroundings, listen and respect the local collaborators, and try to trust your visual instinct, no matter what culture you work in. Q: During your career, can you think of some of the most rewarding moments or recognitions that stand out to you? A: A couple of weeks ago, I won an award at the Awareness Film Festival in Santa Monica, Los Angeles for the film “Borders”. This was a grand jury award for best narrative short, and it was given for this film that I shot on 35mm film in 2024. I spearheaded this film, and besides being the director of photography I also co-wrote, co-directed and co-produced this film. This was a project I care a lot about, it’s telling the story of a refugee trying to cross a national border. It is inspired by conversations I had with refugees in Danish deportation centers in Avnstrup and Sjælsmark in Denmark. The conversations I had informed me that the reason many of these humans flee their home country is because they want to give their children a safer life. As filmmakers I think we are lucky and privileged to be able to be creative with cameras and lights, it’s kind of crazy that we get to do that for a living. With that I think there comes some sort of responsibility to try to tell some stories that matter and can help start conversations about underrepresented people who might not be as fortunate to make films for a living. So have this film get a bit of attention at this festival and have an audience that received it really well means a lot and gives me hope to create more like this in the future. What also meant a lot in this context was that the people that inspired this film also really liked how the film turned out. Another great moment was to see the film Music For Flying Cars screen in New York City last year as part of DOC:NYC. It’s always special to watch my frames and compositions on a big screen with good sound and a big audience who reacts and are engaged with the film. As a director of photography you spend so much time thinking about each shot, and then to present it for someone who has never seen it before and have a positive reaction is so rewarding. I think it’s valuable to recognize the progress you make. For example I remember the first time I shot on film. It was for an exercise at the Danish School of Art Photography Fatamorgana. We shot in an old empty apartment in Copenhagen and we shot on some expired ektachrome. The moment we pressed the trigger felt so exciting and also a bit scary with questions of self doubt: Did we expose correctly? Will the image be in focus? Is there a hair in the gate? Then a couple of years later I found myself at the American Film Institute Conservatory, where I attended the 35mm class taught by Jacek Laskus, ASC, PSC. Here I would get so used to shooting on 35mm film, attending a weekly class where we would learn everything from loading, threading, lighting, pushing, pulling, exposing the film in different ways and operating the film cameras, and then analysing the result when it came back from Fotokem. It was still very exciting, but the level of know-how made it so much more comfortable and fun. I still feel a relief when I see dailies come back from the lab, but every time I see something I worked on being well exposed and in focus, I gain more confidence and can rest assured that me and the crew know what we are doing. It opens up for a new way of telling stories, so now I can decide whether the story is right for film or digital, and if film, what is the right stock for each scene. To arrive at this place in my career is truly a win, and I look forward to more rewarding moments with both digital and film. Q: What advice would you give aspiring cinematographers who want to work across different cultures and genres? A: For aspiring cinematographers I would encourage you to say yes to as many things as you can. Early on it’s important to get the training, the hours and this will help you build up experience that will help you later. Then you can gradually become more picky and also find your way to the projects you actually love to do. What I find is that when you participate in a project, no matter what it will always lead to something. Either you learn something, you meet someone interesting or you make some money that can support you to keep on this unpredictable road of being a freelance creative. Also, I would say that patience is super important. Nothing comes easy as a director of photography, so work hard and keep going, and you will see how you grow. I would also advocate for being a nice person to people you work with. It’s a tough business, but I think it’s really good to make an effort to treat people with respect, no matter what position on a crew they have. As a director of photography you are a leader of a department, and the tone you set will affect the atmosphere of a crew. So, spread good vibes and it will come back to you. I would also recommend having something in your life that is not about film. This might contradict my first advice about saying yes to all the film opportunities - but it’s important to not burn out. For me it helps to sometimes do something different. Like making an apple pie or running around Griffith Park in Los Angeles, or driving to a beach and swimming in the ocean. This gives a nice mental break, and then it’s more fun to get back to the camera and lights afterwards. To work in different cultures it also takes some patience with yourself. When I moved to Los Angeles from Copenhagen, I had to learn a whole new vocabulary. I knew most of the equipment from home, but the different names like ‘cheeseborough’ or a ‘platypus’ were something I had to get used to. I was used to measuring things in the metric system, and suddenly had to get used to feet and inches when calculating focus distancing and sizes of frames and flags. This took some time, but with patience and hard work, I learned and got used to it. With this interview, Mads Fridolin Vejlby, DFF hopes that readers will enjoy and appreciate the art of cinematography and also be reminded of the value of cultural exchange that has shaped his work, for example in his contribution to the flourishing creative landscape of India.
