Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Jeffrey Wright) is a licensed literature professor struggling to sell his book thanks to a publishing industry enamored of pandering stories about the “black experience,” novels filled with violence and street slang. Irritated, he writes the “true story” of a convicted gangster under the pseudonym Stagg R. Leigh. It becomes the next big thing in publishing, something Monk despises.
In framing Cord Jefferson's first feature film, cinematographer Cristina Dunlap wanted to highlight Monk's isolation. A wide aspect ratio and long lenses create a void around Monk and then, as the scenes progress, the camera moves to “pan across all the chaos happening around him.”
This was especially true when Monk meets Wiley (Adam Brody), a prominent executive looking to turn his book into a movie. “I knew Jeffrey was going to do something brilliant by walking into the restaurant by transforming into Stagg, so we started with a long lens in complete isolation from him and slowly backed away and walked away as he entered,” Dunlap says. “When Jeffrey takes off his glasses and changes his walk and posture to become Stagg, we turn to reveal Wiley and let Stagg enter the space.” A cooler color temperature and a sense of dread add to the fake person's surroundings, each hinting at the unwanted world approaching him.
