'Bridgerton', Cinematographer, Alicia Robbins

0:00Jawad MirSo obviously Bridgerton was a huge, has been a huge phenomenon even before this season, and people have been looking forward to it. When you found out that you were going to work on a series like this, that emotion and that feeling, do you remember that? Or was it just a complete…

0:15Alicia RobbinsYeah. Oh, gosh. I remember it so clearly. I remember the phone call. I was already in the Shondaland world, and they knew my work.

0:24Jawad MirRight.

0:24Alicia RobbinsAnd the two of them just called me and was basically like, "Hey, you wanna pop on over to London and maybe shoot some Bridgerton?" I'm like, "Are you kidding?"

0:41Jawad MirWell, good to have you. Thank you for your work on the Bridgerton.

0:44Alicia RobbinsThank you.

0:46Jawad MirSo just so that we have, for the, audience listening, which episodes did you work on in season three, part one…

0:54Alicia RobbinsYeah

0:54Jawad Mir... Part two?

0:55Alicia RobbinsYeah, I shot one and two, and five and six.

1:00Jawad MirCombines the, parts, right? Part one and two, the one that came out today.

1:03Alicia RobbinsYeah, so the first two episodes of part one and the first two episodes of part two are my episodes.

1:10Jawad MirAwesome. That's good.

1:11Alicia RobbinsYeah.

1:12Jawad MirWell, first of all, I just wanna tell you that the look and the feel of the colors are, quite different from what has been coming out over the last while. You know, in cinema and on TV series, everything is sort of darker tones and blacks and shadows.

1:27Alicia RobbinsYeah.

1:27Jawad MirSo it was refreshing to see super bright colors, which was very appealing. And, you know, to start off with that, was that the most difficult... Not the right question. Was it the most different project you had done in terms of aesthetics and production design and all that, and how was that different from other stuff that you had done?

1:48Alicia RobbinsYeah. It was definitely different than anything I've ever done before. Because also going into it being a period piece, usually you're expecting to kind of light it and you're looking for a certain look. A lot of times period pieces are very diffused, sometimes even on the muted color palette…

2:07Alicia Robbins... To give a sense of age, but this is not like that at all. They want the colors to pop. You wanna, you wanna see all that vibrant, color palette that's coming out of production design and costumes. So it's actually a very different looking period piece anyway. And stuff that I've shot in the past have been, like, Grey's Anatomy, and then I did a show called Keep Breathing, which took place in Vancouver forest. And so I've kind of been all over the map in terms of, a visual look for my projects, but this was definitely very different. And just the scale of it all too, just needing to get those really amazing, beautiful wide shots that show off everything. Like, that's very complicated to do and to light for that. And so that was, like, one of the biggest challenges is just to really show off the space. Yeah, but it was so much fun working on that show.

3:08Jawad MirI'm sure, and I'm glad you mentioned the wider shots. That's something I talk about on this podcast quite occasionally, that how... Maybe I'm old school, but I am, I do not enjoy anything where everything is super tight. I like…

3:25Alicia RobbinsYeah

3:25Jawad Mir... The environment to speak to me, and I understand everybody has a different vision. It doesn't make it right or wrong. It's just my preference.

3:31Alicia RobbinsYeah.

3:32Jawad MirAnd it's, it's, it's so good to see that because even if you're paying attention to a character, you know, the dialogue or a costume, then your eye might just catch something else if you're watching it a second time or a third time. And it's…

3:49Alicia RobbinsYeah

3:49Jawad Mir... It's cool. It's really cool…

3:51Alicia RobbinsYeah

3:51Jawad Mir... Because it speaks to the story, right? And it…

3:53Alicia RobbinsYeah

3:53Jawad Mir... People don't realize that, but it does definitely speak to the story.

3:56Alicia RobbinsOh, yeah, and Bridgerton is very big on making sure that we're not doing close-ups like this often.

4:04Jawad MirYeah.

4:04Alicia RobbinsSo we will sometimes go into a close u… a close-up if it's absolutely necessary to tell that story between characters. But for the most part, we're about waist high. And then, depending on the hair as well, we might give a ton of hi… headroom, 'cause it really is about showing off the costumes. So that was actually a breath of fresh air for me too coming out of network TV. Network TV has a tendency to always wanna do these really tight close-ups, just for editorial sake, people watching on their phones, all that kind of stuff. But with Bridgerton, we wanted to hold wider frames to show off the space and the costumes.

4:48Jawad MirYeah. So in terms of the space and the performances and the type of project that you were working on, what was the most challenging, the type of shots that you were working, what was the most challenging part of a day or multiple days that you hadn't encountered before perhaps?

5:13Alicia RobbinsYeah. I mean, really the coordination of the ballroom scenes was a massive undertaking on the prep side. I'd never really done anything of that scale before, where you have a cast of 15 to 25 people that all have speaking parts at different times, and the scene is written as almost just one whole scene sometimes. So you'll get a ballroom scene that's, like, 25 pages. So then the director and I would go in and we'd part out these massive scenes to figure out, okay, this grouping happens at this section of the ball, this grouping happens at this section, and then just trying to figure out how to connect those different groupings of people and then the coordination of that. So then after we decide, okay, these are the groupings and this is where people are located and this is how we'll part it… Then we have to go to the AD staff and make sure that falls in line with scheduling.

6:16Jawad MirYeah.

6:16Alicia RobbinsBecause we don't wanna have all of their main cast there all day long every day for a whole ballroom scene. That's just a lot to ask of the actors because then you're, you're also asking, like, lead characters just to hang out in the background as background people. So that's part of the coordination, too, is just, okay, are we going to see the Queen in these shots? And that's always a question, are we gonna see the Queen? Because her outfits and wigs are, really difficult to take on and off. And so we have to coordinate the day around that. Like, okay, at this time... And I'll let the ADs know to, like, three shots ahead. Like, okay, I think three shots from now we'll have this wide shot, and yes, I will see the Queen in her balcony. So it's like that massive undertaking of the coordination for the ballroom scenes was something I had never encountered before.

7:17Alicia RobbinsBut it was really challenging and fun. Like, I'm kind of an organization freak anyway… ... So coming up with plans with the director and the AD and figuring out how to solve these problems to make it all work together is part of, one of the main reasons why I really love the job of being a director of photography. So I actually found it really fun.

7:39Jawad MirYeah. Challenges are always good. Maybe not at the time when you're going through them 100%, but you know, it grows you as an individual and as a, as a cinematographer or director or whatever that your skill set is.

7:50Alicia RobbinsAbsolutely.

7:52Jawad MirYeah. One thing, I mean, like, we talked about wide shots, but just to kinda give you an example, just a little comment. It was really cool to see not just, you know, waist up, but even there would be a scene where you'll have two characters sort of waist up, and in the background you have all these extras, but there are other characters who are maybe, you know, looking at them or, you know, there's gossip going on. But the…

8:16Jawad Mir... The great thing, tho… those kind of scenes are very m… special for me, those shots, because again, goes back to what I was saying. They were not, there was not shallow depth of field, so I'm assuming you were shooting on, like, a, you know, rather wider lens like 28 or 35 or whatnot.

8:32Jawad MirAnd it just spoke to much that, again, it just adds to the intensity. So it was just a comment. Those kind of things I enjoyed more from a visual standpoint because it just said so much.

8:42Alicia RobbinsYeah. Well, and a lot of that is scripted because we need people to be looking at so-and-so who's looking back at so-and-so, and a lot of that is actually written in the script. And so those looks, so if we're holding a wider shot and you see a group of people looking at them, a lot of times that is actually scripted. 'cause Bridgerton's all about who's looking at who and who's…

9:04Jawad MirYeah, but…

9:04Alicia Robbins... Seeing that person is looking at them.

9:07Jawad MirYeah, but the eas… easy way out would be let's cut away, right? Like, let's do…

9:11Alicia RobbinsYes

9:11Jawad Mir... Different coverage and stuff. Again, that doesn't do…

9:14Alicia RobbinsYeah

9:14Jawad Mir... The justice, right? It just does not.

9:16Alicia RobbinsRight. No, you're absolutely right. So all that is planned. Like, let's make sure that group of people can see that this is happening in the foreground. And then, yeah, lens consideration is always a factor. Not always shoot... I mean, I don't really shoot wide open either. I'm not really a 1.5 shooter, at least on this show.

9:34Jawad MirRight.

9:34Alicia RobbinsUsually working between a 2 and a 2.8. Still it's full frame, so that's gonna have a lot of falloff on a longer lens. But playing into some of those wider angles, like a 24, 25, then yeah, you're gonna get a little bit more of that depth of field.

9:53Jawad MirYou didn't work on the first and second season, right?

9:56Alicia RobbinsNo.

9:57Jawad MirOkay. So obviously Bridgerton was a huge, has been a huge phenomenon even before this season, and people have been looking forward to it.

10:04Alicia RobbinsYeah.

10:05Jawad MirSo when you found out that you were going to work on a series like this, can you tell me the story of how that happened and how you re… you know, your own... You know, we are all kids at hearts, and we're always looking for, like, you know, different projects.

10:21Jawad MirSo just that emotion and that feeling. Do you remember that? Or was it just…

10:25Alicia RobbinsYeah

10:25Jawad Mir... A complete blur?

10:26Alicia RobbinsOh, gosh. I remember it so clearly. I remember the phone call. Well, I had already been involved with Shondaland prior w… working on Grey's Anatomy and also a show called For the People. So I was already in the Shondaland world, and they knew my work.

10:43Jawad MirRight.

10:43Alicia RobbinsAnd so what happened was Jeff Jur, who's been the DP on since season one, he was still shooting Queen Charlotte when Bridgerton season three needed to start. So they knew they needed a new DP to come in and do two blocks. And it was actually a call from Sarah Fisher and Tom Verica, who are... Tom Verica, you know, is the producing director of the show, and Sarah Fisher is an executive producer over at Shondaland, and the two of them just called me and was basically like, "Hey, you wanna pop on over to London and maybe shoot some Bridgerton?" Like, honestly, Tom said it that way, too. He's like, "Yeah, think you'd be interested in maybe shooting some Bridgerton episodes?" Like, 'cause he knew. He knows me. Of… I'm like, "Are you kidding?" Like, my reaction because I knew he was playing a joke on, like... Like, of course my reaction's gonna be over the moon about it. So he was like, "Oh, okay. Well, yeah, we'll get you out to London then." It's so funny.

11:43Alicia RobbinsHe was so casual about it. But that was really surprising that they just called and asked me, and it wasn't even through an interview process because they knew my work, and they knew that I could do it, so I didn't have to really jump through hoops to get the job, which for such a massive show, I couldn't believe that I was just getting called and asked to come out and shoot. So and I was a huge fan of the show prior as well. When it first came out and I was watching it, I remember even telling my husband, I was like, "Oh, my gosh, that is a show I would love to shoot." So the fact that it came about where I… Got to shoot it was really exciting.

12:25Jawad MirOh, you manifested it, right? So.

12:27Alicia RobbinsI guess I manifested it, yeah.

12:30Jawad MirSo would it be fair to say you were more excited about getting to work on the show from a career standpoint as opposed to a fan viewer point?

12:41Alicia RobbinsYes, absolutely. I… yeah, I mean, even being a fan is, of course, that's super fun, but what a huge step forward in my career to shoot a show of that size. It's one of the top shows of Netflix. I know that it's starting to become potentially the top show on Netflix with the viewership of season three. So I knew that it was gonna be a massive step forward for my career and now that I've shot season three, after shooting it, I feel like, honestly I feel like I could shoot anything at this point, 'cause it was just such a big undertaking. And there's something about having to shoot,.. I'm just gonna pause one second. Can you hear that out… they're doing, like, yard work. They, I wasn't expecting this today. Okay.

13:32Jawad MirNo, I don't hear a thing.

13:33Alicia RobbinsOkay. Just making sure. And they're…

13:36Jawad MirHold on. Let me just try again. Give me a second. No, I don't hear a thing.

13:41Alicia RobbinsOkay, great. Yeah, they're dragging, like, a garbage can around back there, and I told them too that I'm doing a podcast, but no one cares.

13:46Jawad MirAll good. No worries.

13:48Alicia RobbinsYeah, I mean, there's, there's something about, like, working on such a big sh… now, obviously, like, shooting, like, a war movie or something like that where you have all these giant battle scenes and, the coordination of that is a whole other thing.

14:05Alicia RobbinsHowever, I feel like when you're doing massive coordination of ballroom scenes and you're still having to make everyone look beautiful all the time, there's a whole other level of complication with that. So it was like, okay, I've shot Bridgerton. Now I feel like I could maybe do anything at this point in my career. 'cause it was, yeah, it was such a big challenge.

14:30Jawad MirRight. You know, when I, when I'll be very honest with you. I never saw season one and two. I just sort of saw the recap. I mean, it was, it wasn't something that I would actually make a point of watching it, and I'm just being…

14:43Alicia RobbinsI get it. I get it. Usually it's the wives.

14:45Jawad MirYeah.

14:45Alicia RobbinsI always hear from, like, colleagues, they're like…

14:47Jawad MirOh, God

14:47Alicia Robbins... "Oh, my wife loves your show."

14:50Jawad MirShe, yeah, she, and I started watching, and I did a recap. Like, I think YouTube had, like, a 15-minute recap for each season. So when I started watching it, the first memor, thing that I, it hit me, I was really a huge fan of a film that came out in the '90s, Sense and Sensibility by Ang Lee, with Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet…

15:13Alicia RobbinsYeah

15:13Jawad Mir... And, what's his name? Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant.

15:16Alicia RobbinsYes.

15:16Jawad MirAnd it remi… it reminded me of that. That was my first initial thing that, oh…

15:21Alicia RobbinsThat's great

15:21Jawad Mir... Like…

15:21Alicia RobbinsBecause I actually watched a lot of those movies before going into season three. Sense and Sensibility was one of them. Dangerous Liaisons with John Malkovich.

15:32Jawad MirRight.

15:32Alicia RobbinsThat was another, that was actually a big influence for me. But I did go back and watch a lot of those, really beautiful period pieces from, like, the '80s and '90s. I think I even rewatched Secret Garden. It w… I think that's the 1980s.

15:48Jawad MirOh.

15:48Alicia RobbinsIt's Roger Deakins. So, it's, like, yeah, it's, forgot what year that was now.

15:55Jawad MirWasn't Secret Garden in the nine… Secret Garden was in the '90s, no? Or is there was another version of it?

16:00Alicia RobbinsWas it '90s? It might've been '90s.

16:02Jawad MirYeah. That's a great movie.

16:03Alicia RobbinsI'm sure I was watching it as a little kid, so I can't remember how old I was. But it's the Roger Deakins one, so I know I rewatched that as well. So just trying to wrap my head around naturally lit, non-electricity time period, and what that looks like and what that could look like. And Dangerous Liaisons was actually a big influence, just because they did do a lot of hard, light sun splashes on the back wall, and I love that look anyway, and I just wanted to make sure that felt appropriate for Bridgerton. And so I would do that. So I would softly light, kind of the space and the people and then one, and then I might push a mole beam through a window or something to have some hard splashes on a back wall. Leaning a little bit more into candlelight and the color of candlelight, that was something that actually season one and two didn't really do so much. They actually still kept a lot of the night work more on a white light color.

17:04Alicia RobbinsAnd, I was, I found that kind of weird 'cause you'd see the flames being warm in the frame, but then the ambient light was a little bit on the cooler side. And, I think it was just an aesthetic that I think the showrunner at the time didn't wanna lean into the warm color tone of candlelight because it did affect the color of the costumes. Like, if you light everything warm, then the color is different on the costume. So we actually worked with this season still lighting things warm, and then we would take it in post color and isolate the costumes and pull the color back out. Like, maybe reduce the warmth on the costume so that color would come back out, so we could still have warm lighting. So it was a little bit more of a color grade thing that we had to do.

17:54Jawad MirWow, that's, that's amazing. I mean, I can imagine the amount of work that goes into it and, you know, with, especially with grading and…

18:01Alicia RobbinsOh, yeah

18:01Jawad Mir... Fixing certain things. It's, it's a lot of work. It's a lot of work.

18:04Alicia RobbinsOh, so much work. And Pankaj, was, he's been on since season one, and I know that before I would even go sit with him in the theater, he would do, like, four big passes on every single episode just trying to get it exactly to where... And 'cause we had show Luts too, so, like, we would try to light it as close as possible.

18:27Alicia RobbinsBut he would do like four passes before I would even come in and sit with him. And then we'd look at it, and then micro tweak other stuff or, you know, push and pull as you do with color grading. So…

18:42Jawad MirRight. DaVinci, I guess you guys are using or...?

18:44Alicia RobbinsHe was actually on, it wasn't DaVinci. It was,.. Oh man, I'm having a…

18:51Jawad MirI know exactly. I think I know which one are you talking, but there's another major one that I'm, I'm

18:58Alicia RobbinsI'm having such a brain malfunction. What is it called? It's something light, isn't it?

19:05Jawad MirYeah.

19:05Alicia RobbinsFaceLight.

19:06Jawad MirYes.

19:08Alicia RobbinsYeah.

19:08Jawad MirDP. I think that's what it is, yeah. Yep. So, you know, which, you mentioned Roger Deakins. I mean, he's amazing, right? One of the most amazing piece of work by Conrad Hall, late Conrad Hall, which I saw after 20 years, Road to Perdition.

19:32Jawad MirSuch talented and amazing individuals and craft that they have, like, you know, with working with rain and different lights, and the camera movement matching with the action… ... And the suspense and all that. Which DP have you sort of grown up wanting to not necessarily be like or be inspired from?

19:54Jawad MirAnd you still do. Any few names?

19:58Alicia RobbinsYeah, Roger Deakins is definitely one of them, and I finally got to meet him in person just last week.

20:03Jawad MirOh, cool.

20:04Alicia RobbinsI know. It was amazing, and it was one of those situations where it was a smaller dinner, so it was more of an intimate environment and s… I've never had the courage to actually go up to him and introduce myself. And this time, 'cause it was such a small group…

20:18Jawad MirRight

20:19Alicia Robbins... Totally felt like, "Okay, this is the time to talk to h… to him and James," and, it was, it was really cool to meet your hero really. I've always appreciated his work. I think that, a… and he comes from documentary, and he does have that also that naturalistic approach of what feels right in the space. If it's natural lighting, then we just time it during the day where the natural lighting works. Like I love all that stuff. I don't ever feel like his stuff is really lit. Like, even when you're watching Blade Runner, it's still motivated. It's still motivated off the LEDs, it's off the cityscape, it's off the orange smoke that... You know what I mean? It's still…

21:02Jawad MirYeah, I get it

21:03Alicia Robbins... Very natural to the environment. So he's, he's definitely one of them. I mean, honestly, Greig Fraser's… ... Up there now with me. I love the work that he's been doing lately, and he rides it a little bit on the lower side. Like Dune is c… has really dark elements to it, and I love that too. That works not as well with Bridgerton, but it does work with other things that I've done. Like I worked on Quantum Leap as well, which we were able to play into the shadows and keep it contrasty and dark and,.. So I'm inspired by his work too, and he's definitely kind of on the newer front as a big DP. Definitely Conrad Hall. I mean, I got to meet him when I was at AFI, and that was really cool. And I liked that he also wasn't, he wasn't terribly technical, which I w… found really interesting. He said, he was like, "Yeah, you don't have to know what the lights are called. You just tell your gaffer you want one this big." "That can be there coming this way." He's like, "You don't have to know if it's an 18K or if it's a whatever."

22:13Alicia RobbinsAnd we're like, "Oh, that's, that's really cool." yeah. So, and there's definitely new ones coming out. Like honestly, Mandy Walker, some of the work that she's been doing is really amazing. I loved Elvis. I thought it was…

22:27Jawad MirRight

22:27Alicia Robbins... So good. Just, and such a variety of styles in there too. It was all over the place, but it worked with the story.

22:36Jawad MirYeah. One of the things that you mentioned, and this has nothing to do with cinematography. Well, kind of. You mentioned that how you finally got to meet Roger Deakins, and it was because it was this kind of in a intimate environment where you felt more comfortable approaching him as opposed to like, you know, a massive event. And I can relate to that, and I think a lot of creative people, but I would like to sort of hear it from you. A lot of people in the creative business, not all but a lot, have this social skills lack, if you wanna call it, right?

23:12Alicia RobbinsYeah.

23:12Jawad MirBut when we, when we're actually working, you can put us against the biggest amount of crowds, a completely different person pops out. Right? How... Do you notice that when you're like…

23:27Alicia RobbinsI…

23:27Jawad Mir... Sort of working?

23:27Alicia RobbinsWell, I notice that about a lot of colleagues and even, people that I'm mentoring and stuff. I honestly am a very social person.

23:36Jawad MirOh, you are? Okay. So that doesn't…

23:37Alicia RobbinsYeah, that was just a inter… The main reason why I never felt comfortable walking up to him before is he was always mobbed by so many people. Like, any time he was in a crowded environment, he would just have 10 people around him waiting to ask a question, and it just, it just was never the right time to go up and introduce myself.

23:56Jawad MirSure.

23:56Alicia RobbinsJust like... So that, I, it wasn't that,.. I mean, yes, I was intimidated by him 'cause he's a icon to me, but it was more just like, how am I gonna separate myself from all of these people that wanna say hi to him?

24:10Jawad MirYeah.

24:10Alicia RobbinsSo, but other than that, no, I'm, I'm, I'm actually pretty good at the social aspect and the networking aspect. And I think I… I've kind of always been that way. I mean, I, before I got into cinematography I thought I was gonna be like a news anchor or something. So I was studying communications, and I used to do, like, speech contests growing up. Like, my parents are piano teachers and my sister was in theater and… I mean, I grew up on the stage too, dancing and so it was never

24:47Jawad MirRight

24:47Alicia Robbins... A weird thing to me to have to socialize with people. But I do find that is hard for a lot of creative types, and I hate that could potentially be a barrier for them to be able to do the work. But I know that can be a barrier 'cause, the bottom line is even when we are on set and we're working, it is still absolutely a social atmosphere…

25:18Alicia Robbins... In how you're having to collaborate with people and how you're having to communicate with people. And if you don't try to develop at least that skill set, I think that it's hard to get ahead. So even if y… you do have, social anxiety and difficulty with that aspect of it, I feel like you can train that in yourself…

25:42Jawad MirYep

25:42Alicia Robbins... And at least put on…

25:45Jawad MirYeah

25:45Alicia Robbins... A little bit of a mask at that when you have to do that. So then you go home and you rest and you hang out with your cats and... I have cats, so I can make fun.

25:58Jawad MirIt… it's, it's actually, it's interesting you mention that because I think it… the fight is within. You know, because, and I can speak for myself in this. There was probably a time, when I say a time, it was a long time ago, but let's say 12 years ago. Like, for me to sort of... Because I hadn't made a film at that point. I'd done a lot of other stuff, like a lot of commercials, a lot of events-based stuff, you know, but film is a completely different thing. And making documentaries, and stuff, being in that really, you know, in the thick… thickest of the situations and trying to cope with that.

26:40Jawad MirBut one thing is that it, without... That I learned is that until you push yourself to the corner of the cliff, it's not gonna happen. So as much as I probably did not enjoy, and I still, I won't lie, n… I rather be in my own space than be in a room of 300 people. But if I have to be there for the sake of what I'm working on, or even not necessarily in that moment, but just, you know, for networking purposes…

27:08Jawad Mir... I will push myself, and it does wonders. It does. You have to make an effort yourself, but it's hard at the same time.

27:15Alicia RobbinsYeah.

27:15Jawad MirYou know? It's…

27:15Alicia RobbinsIt's hard. And I feel like you can find that balance. Like, you don't have to be…

27:19Jawad MirYeah

27:19Alicia Robbins... Out socializing all the time, but you do have to do it once in a while.

27:25Jawad MirYou do. You do.

27:26Alicia RobbinsYeah.

27:27Jawad MirThere's so much out there now.

27:29Alicia RobbinsThat's how you meet people.

27:30Jawad MirYeah.

27:30Alicia RobbinsYou meet people at networking events and Cameraland's demos and, like, you, that's how you meet people, so.

27:39Jawad MirI'll tell you, I'll tell you a little story about how important it is to running into people. I ran into somebody at a wedding, someone who was very... He wasn't, and he had nothing to do with the film world. He was a businessman. But he loved the idea of storytelling and making movies and stuff. And someone introduced me to him, and he goes to me, "You know, one day we'll work on something." This was in 2015, and he knew people. He had resources and stuff and networks. And then four years later, or three and a half years later, I was at an event in the UK. I was already working on a film. We were already directing a film. This one right here, Citizen of Moria.

28:18Alicia RobbinsOh, cool. Okay, cool.

28:19Jawad MirAnd, my hands were full, and I had been introduced to this... I saw this woman speaking about an issue in China about the Uyghurs, and I'm not sure if you've heard of them, which is this film, In Search of My Sister. And, he saw me at this event, which I've never been to, and he remembered me from three and a half years ago, and he pulled me on the side, and he introduced me to the protagonist. He's like, "I want you to meet this woman, and I think you should work together." And that was it. Like, that taught me so much that how someone I met three and a half, four years ago and never communicated, never even thought about…

28:53Alicia RobbinsYeah

28:53Jawad Mir... Somehow, because I said hello to him…

28:56Alicia RobbinsYeah

28:57Jawad Mir... It, you know, it... And that's how you have to think. You can't expect for the results to come in a snap.

29:01Alicia RobbinsNo.

29:01Jawad MirSometimes it will take 5, 10 years.

29:04Alicia RobbinsYes, absolutely. No, it's true. Actually, not on a social side, but that's how I got my break, was because of a connection that I had made, like, two years prior. So a… a… and it was just…

29:18Jawad MirYep

29:18Alicia Robbins... Because I had day played on a show, just one day for, Christian Sebaldt. And two years later, For the People, the Shawna Land show, was looking for a C camera operator and also slash DP that could bump up sometimes when Christian was busy. And so my name was referred to him, and he wa… he remembered me from that one day that I worked with him. And he was like, "Oh, my gosh, yeah, absolutely. Let's get her in for the interview for sure because she did a great job for me that one day." So that's how I got in. Was…

29:54Jawad MirIsn't that amazing? Like, you worked one day and he remembered you. Obviously you must have done great stuff, which he said you did.

30:00Alicia RobbinsIt, well, it was…

30:00Jawad MirHe…

30:00Alicia Robbins... It was, it was a special s… situation because it was, it was like a concert scene that he was shooting for a Disney show, and it looked... The amount of shots that they were having to get that day, it wa… it was a night shoot, all-nighter. Like, it was just, it was a lot. And as I was camera operating, just like the D camera or whatever, I noticed that it just seemed like there was just a lot of content that needed to get done. And I was a little bold, and I actually went up to Christian and was like, "Just so you know, I've been a DP for about 14 years, and I'm a graduate from AFI. I do know how to shoot, so if you need help at all with, like, presetting some lighting or whatever, like, let me know 'cause I might be able to help you out."

30:48Alicia RobbinsAnd yeah, so he was like, "Oh, that's interesting. Okay, good to know." And then… As the night went on, he was like, "Hey, actually, can you help set up this shot? I gotta get this exterior shot, and you could take some electricians out there and light it up, da," whatever. And so I was like, "Yeah, absolutely." So I'd start pre-lighting some of the shots, and then he'd come out, check the frame, check the lighting, and he's like, "Okay, this is great. Shoot it. Let's roll." And so I hopscotched a little bit with him that d… that evening and I'm... And that's what he remembered, was that I actually helped him make his day. So that was not just me camera operating. I actually stepped up a little bit to help him out on the lighting side.

31:31Jawad MirWell, it's about taking initiative, right? Ep… And if you hadn't done that, then…

31:35Alicia RobbinsYeah

31:36Jawad Mir... Who knows?

31:37Alicia RobbinsAnd I…

31:37Jawad MirRight?

31:37Alicia RobbinsI wouldn't do that all the time. It's like you gotta, you gotta see…

31:40Jawad MirYeah

31:40Alicia Robbins... What's going on. Like, I wouldn't…

31:43Jawad MirStep on other people's toes

31:44Alicia Robbins... I wouldn't walk the operator. I wouldn't go up to the DP and be like, "Oh, I can help you shoot." Like, there's a…

31:47Jawad MirYeah

31:47Alicia Robbins... No way I would…

31:48Jawad MirYeah. I get it.

31:50Alicia RobbinsYeah. But in this situation I was like, oh, you know, this... I could see. 'Cause I saw him kinda running out, pre-light. Like, I saw him kind of having to run around and wear many hats, and I was just like, oh, I probably could help out with that. So.

32:04Jawad MirThat's so cool. That is so cool…

32:05Alicia RobbinsYeah

32:06Jawad Mir... To know. You know, people, pe… we need to take initiative, and that's all about it is. We're always expecting the things to happen to us or for us, but they won't until we take the first step.

32:15Alicia RobbinsYeah, absolutely.

32:17Jawad MirJust to kinda wrap things up, Alicia, now that Bridgerton is out, right, and people that you know, or I'm sure online you've seen, or reviews, what... How does it feel like to be in a space where people are talking about... Like, a lot of people, you know? Not just like one of those series which a certain genre of fans watch, but a lot of people are watching, and they come up to you and praise you or... What does it feel like? I know the answer, but I just wanna hear it from you.

32:50Alicia RobbinsIt's, it's wild just because you put so many years of practice and work into your craft. And after... I've been shooting for over 20 years at this point, and you just... You never know if you're gonna get to shoot something like this in your lifetime ever. And so when you do get something like this and it's actually coming out and people are responding well to it, there's, there's really nothing like it. This is gonna be hard to top. Let's just say that. Gonna be really hard to top.

33:28Jawad MirBut I think the idea shouldn't be that you wanna top it. The idea should be that you should just go with it. I know it's hard to think that big.

33:35Alicia RobbinsYeah. I have to. I have to just go with it at this point. This... Because there's never gonna be a feeling like this again. I mean, the first time that you get these kind of responses to your work…

33:46Jawad MirYes

33:46Alicia Robbins... That's…

33:48Jawad MirNothing can replace that

33:49Alicia Robbins... That's once in a lifetime. So…

33:51Jawad MirYeah

33:51Alicia Robbins... It'll be different as we go ahead, but yeah, this is the only time that I'm really gonna feel this way about it, and just over the moon about what we were able to accomplish. And I'm just so happy with the way it all turned out, too. Like I love every frame of it, so.

34:12Jawad MirNo, you should, because it's... It looks beautiful. It absolutely does. And you know, when you do other projects, you will find something special in terms of people's reaction in a different way that you won't find with this and so on and so forth, right?

34:27Alicia RobbinsYeah.

34:27Jawad MirSo that's, that's journey. Any exciting stuff coming up for you or you're taking a break and considering

34:33Alicia RobbinsI'm taking a break right now. Gonna do some camping. I am going back to season four of Bridgerton, so that's probably my next big, my next big project. Other than that, yeah, just visiting family and just taking a minute for myself, so.

34:52Jawad MirAwesome. Well, that's great. Would love to chat with you when season four comes out. And, maybe even in between if there's something. I'll go through your IMDb a little bit more in-depth.

35:03Alicia RobbinsYeah.

35:03Jawad MirI haven't, to be honest.

35:04Alicia RobbinsYeah.

35:04Jawad MirAnd if there's something that…

35:05Alicia RobbinsI mean, I might. I'm hoping to get something in between now and when I have to go back. It's just getting a little tight on the schedule at this point. But yeah, no, I would, I would love to chat with you again. This was great.

35:18Jawad MirAwesome. Thank you so much for your time, and thank you for your wonderful work, and looking forward to chatting with you more in the future.

35:23Alicia RobbinsThank you so much. All right.

35:26Jawad MirTake care. Bye-bye.

35:35Alicia RobbinsBye.