Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist
Another Eye in the Room

A Conversation with Xavier Thompson, Brigman Foster Owens & Amber Bournett-McLain​
By David Daut

Based on Jeff Keating’s 2020 true crime podcast, Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist recounts the story of the infamous house party robbery that eclipsed Muhammad Ali’s grand return to boxing on the next morning’s front page.

Camera Operator had the opportunity to speak with A camera and Steadicam operator Xavier Thompson and B camera operators Brigman Foster Owens and Amber Bournett-McLain about working on this series, from adapting to its 1970s “Blaxploitation” aesthetic and sharing intimate moments with the show’s star-studded cast to being given the creative liberty to find the right shot in the moment.

It is the night of Muhammad Ali’s 1970 comeback fight and Atlanta is abuzz with excitement. Excitement, some might say, that could be capitalized on. That’s the instinct of local hustler Gordon Williams, better known around town as “Chicken Man.” Chicken Man organizes a party  to feature dancing, drinking and gambling, but when some uninvited guests show up and rob the other party goers at gunpoint, Chicken Man finds himself wanted by the police and on the run from the Black Mafia. Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist is created by Shaye Ogbonna and stars Kevin Hart, Taraji P. Henson, Terrance Howard, Don Cheadle and Samuel L. Jackson.

Camera Operator: I want to do something a little bit different and start at the end. The last image we see in this series is a title card reading, “To Atlanta, with love.” I know that for various reasons, Atlanta has become something of a filmmaking hub, but this show really highlights the city beyond just being a backdrop. Can you talk a little bit about what it was like shooting in Atlanta and bringing that city to life on screen?

Xavier Thompson: It felt good to come back home, because I’ve been in L.A. for the last nine years. So in that way, Atlanta is actually new to me when it comes to filming. Amber and Brig are pretty familiar with the area, but for me, I was just taking it all in. I was actually curious, because I didn’t know what “numbers” were. In the story, there’s this game called “numbers,” and it’s kind of similar to the lottery, so that was a learning curve for me to understand what that was.

Brigman Foster Owens: I loved it. It was different, because there’re so many projects that are filmed out here that aren’t technically set in Atlanta, so it was really nice to be on a project where you can actually highlight everything you’re seeing. You could pretty much point the camera in any direction. The only rule was around things that wouldn’t be period appropriate, but to time travel and go back in time, that was really cool to see. My parents and grandparents are from Georgia, so it was cool to think about what they were doing around that time—where they were, or even if they knew about the heist. But, as far as bringing it to Atlanta, I think the people that live here, who are used to people filming here, most of those things have nothing to do with Atlanta. For this project to really represent and bring out Atlanta in a lot of cool and fun ways, I think people are really appreciative of it. You would tell people about the project, and they would say, “Oh yeah, I remember that.” This is a real story.

Amber Bournett-McLain: Yeah, to piggyback off of Brig, I think it being a period piece and just seeing the costumes and the wardrobe and the cars, and seeing them in neighborhoods that I’m familiar with in Atlanta, it just took you back to that time. I know this spot, but this is how it looked back then. That was pretty cool. You know, my film career is mainly in Atlanta, and what Brigs said is right: We shoot a lot in Atlanta, but we don’t shoot a lot of things that are meant to be happening in Atlanta. So, it was cool for that to be the case.

Owens: Even the locations we would film in—like the Silver Skillet—I didn’t realize it was around back then, so it’s kind of cool to go to these locations and see how popular they were then and how popular they are now, and just hear about the history of these places and bring that back to life. Even the department store, Rich’s. I didn’t know about Rich’s, but people were really smiling and giddy about us bringing it back. There were people on set that knew, “Oh my gosh, I remember Rich’s!” It was cool to see people laughing and happy about it. I’m sure the whole city felt the same way when it came out.

CO: Talking more about the idea of this as a period piece, obviously you’ve got the period dressing—the cars, the costumes—but beyond just the physical aspect of it, there’s a stylistic element that embraces that early ’70s Blaxploitation look in the way the series was filmed and edited. How did that choice impact you all as camera operators?

Bournett-McLain: I came in halfway through the series, but something I noticed right off the bat were the zooms in and out, which I feel are very characteristic of Blaxsploitation films. Just that observational lens. You’re on a zoom following someone walking down the street or something like that. The camera almost feels like you’re on a stakeout.

Thompson: Yeah, I would say shout out to [director] Craig Brewer. He kind of set the tone with the zooms, so we knew about that going in. He wanted to take it back to that time, that era. A lot of that was new to me, so it was cool, and it was very challenging to do some of those shots.

Owens: Yeah, exactly what Xavier said. Craig Brewer really set the tone as far as his vision, and the zooms were a huge part of that. Day one, this is what we heard about, making sure you were zooming at the right time. And he would tell you if it was right or wrong. He’d say, “Okay, zoom in now!” and snap his fingers, boom. Eventually, you kind of got the rhythm of what he was looking for and would just start doing it naturally. “This feels like a zoom here. Okay, boom.” And a lot of it worked out. A lot of it was really present in the pilot, and I was watching it with a smile on my face, like, this is really good. And the editing was great too—training your eye where to go. The camera really was a character in the show and it’s nice to be a part of that. So often, you’re supposed to be a fly on the wall for the most part, being the camera, just observing. But this camera, you’re an extra eye, and it was really cool to be a part of that.

CO: You mentioned working with Craig Brewer. I know there were three directors on the series, as well as two different DPs. What was the working relationship like between you and the different directors and DPs, and then with each other as A and B operators?

Thompson: I feel like the working relationship flowed overall. Jody [Joe] Williams—the DP—actually brought me in, and he’s worked with Craig before. This was my first time working with him, so I when I came on board, I observed to try to find where I fit. I feel like midway through the pilot, me and Craig really hit it off, and he was able to just come to me with what he’s trying to do. And shout-out to Jody who allowed that to happen. And then with Brigs and Amber, it’s the same, we all work well together. It really was a flowing rhythm, the way we were. I really enjoyed it. I had fun.

Owens: Yeah, absolutely. It was a big collaboration from the jump. Going back to Craig Brewer, the tone he set was so good. Every day, there was some kind of music—jazz, blues, whatever he was playing—to get the whole set right, which got you into that rhythm of how he might score it, which really helped a lot. As far as the DPs and other directors, I worked with Jody and Craig on Coming 2 America, so that relationship was already there. Michael Watson—the other DP—I’ve worked with him before as well. This is the first time I’ve worked with Michael on a whole show, though, so it was nice to finally do that. 

I won’t say they’re too different, but their approaches do differ in some ways. But I’d rather that than have it be the same, because I want to learn from every DP. Learning how one DP does one thing and how this other DP does something else is great. Same thing when it comes to the different styles of the directors that came in. Every episode was kind of different depending on what the director had to tackle. One had a lot of night scenes, one had to deal with the basement. Everything had its challenges—not in a good or bad way, but they were just different. But all the directors were great. I really vibe with Carl [Seaton].

Bournett-McLain: I started as C cam, and I came through during the big fight night. At that point, you’re just observing, you’re day playing. That was my first time working with Jody and Craig. I’d worked with Michael Watson before and Carl as well. With Craig, I feel like he encourages you to experiment a little bit. I felt like I had room to do that after getting a feel for the style and the aesthetic. Like Brigs said earlier, “this feels like a zoom moment,” and I just do it naturally, versus asking to do it. Same thing with Michael and Jody. Once they trust that you have the style and the aesthetic, they just let you tell the story. Of course you have to get the coverage you’re supposed to get, but they give you freedom to find those moments.

CO: That’s something I’ve talked to a lot of operators about: that freedom and that trust to know that you know the style of the show, know the story being told, know the aesthetic, and then find little moments in it without having to explicitly be told to do so. Is there anything off the top of your head you can think of where you found a moment that added something special to the scene?

Bournett-McLain: There’s the scene in the bar where Sam flips someone onto the table. For me, that’s one of those moments with Craig where I was zooming in and out and just finding stuff for the whole scene. That’s definitely one for me. And then we had a shootout scene outside where we did a lot of handheld and dodging behind cars. That was pretty cool for me.

Owens: Everything had its own moments and its own challenges. I do remember the scene that Amber is talking about. In a scene like that, you’re not quite chasing the lines, but you have to know the timing of getting to someone before they say the line, and then zooming in and zooming out and then getting to see how it worked out. Then Craig put it together in the edit and made it work in the style that he had in his head.

There are a few moments where I might want a push here. Sometimes I won’t say it, or I’ll just do it and then as I’m doing it say, “Maybe, this is a good idea?” These were the kind of conversations we had with both DPs beforehand—are you cool with me adding something if I feel it in the moment? Usually they just say, yeah, just bring it to my attention before you do it. But sometimes they say, you know, if you feel something right in the moment, just go ahead and do it. Once they see you do it in the right moment, they’re not going to give you any flack for trying. They’ll just say, “Ah, that didn’t really work out,” but for the most part, I don’t remember them saying any of that. They just applaud you and move on.

Thompson: For me, when it comes to operating, every shot I do, I put something that I feel in it. And either the director or the DP wants something different, or they like it. Or sometimes I just don’t hear anything at all, but when it comes to operating, I hear what the direction is, and I just try to put my personal touch on it. All three of us could do the same shot, but I’m sure you’ll get a different feel from each one of us. When it comes to that question I always try to put a feel to the stuff, but my goal is also to achieve what they want, what their vision is.

Owens: And also jump in if there’s a shot that might be there that they either didn’t think of or they may have forgotten that they needed. They want you to be able to bring that to their attention. They like it when you say, “Hey, I think you might need this moment,” and they either agree or they don’t agree, but for the most part, they’re like, “Yeah, that’s a good idea” or “We’ll get it after this.”

Thompson: A lot of the time, directors may give you a piece of what they want, but they have a lot of different shots in their head, and I try to come in and connect the dots, if I can. If I see ways to connect the shots, I try to offer up ways to make it all work. I think I get that from doing Steadicam.

CO: You were talking about the different challenges that came with the different episodes and some of the different directors, shooting in the basement and stuff like that. What were some other challenging moments working on the series? I know in the second episode, there’s a oner that follows the action through the early stages of the robbery. Can you talk about that sequence or any others that come to mind as standing out?

Thompson: I feel like the biggest challenge for the oner was getting everyone in sync because it was a lot of people and a lot of moving parts, but I really enjoyed the way Craig broke it up. He broke up the oner in four parts, and he gave each part a name—named after movie titles—which helped everyone in the room keep up with what we’re doing. I think we did that maybe eight times. I wish I had more, but the hardest part was finding the timing and the rhythm and flow of the shot while getting all the background and seeing all the actors.

I have another shot—it was a zoom in Episode 7 where Don Cheadle and Kevin Hart’s characters were on a stakeout watching the robbers eat. Craig was telling me that he wanted to do a zoom out and reveal Don and Kevin, but in this shot, it was actually a full 180 and I’ve never done anything like that. I’m on a 12-to-one, so I’m zoomed all the way in, and I have to zoom all the way out and whip the camera to the opposite side, on track. We came up with a solution pretty quick. I had a really good dolly grip, Katie Kendall Joseph, but that shot was a challenging one.

Owens: A lot of it was just following the dialog and zooming. There was a bit where Kevin comes out of a hotel, and I was pretty far away on a big zoom lens. I pulled out, and then I zoomed back in as he was running across. It was a very challenging shot because I had to be all in, just let it go and hopefully it works out. And in two or three out of the four takes it worked out very well.

I mean, there were a lot of different parts that were kind of difficult, especially in the basement, because in the basement, we had so many people around us, and all three of us had a shot in there at some time. So, we were trying to hide each other, or hide behind each other, or use someone to hide this, hide that, and still try to make it look like they were really crowded, even though everyone was kind of spaced out. We couldn’t just get a line, cut, and move on, it was more like we shot this line, now we go to that person. Again, camera was another piece of the puzzle. It was another eye in the room. It was a character itself.

Bournett-McLain: Yeah, there was a lot of “zoom in, go tag some keys and then come back and zoom out, and then zoom back in.” You kind of got used to it after a while. I guess another scene that stood out, I really loved shooting the fight. I got the opportunity to get in the ring and go handheld, and just playing like I’m the opposing fighter as he’s throwing punches, going the opposite way, and stuff like that. That was fun for me. And the fight between Kevin Hart and Don Cheadlewas also a highlight moment for me.

Thompson: I’ve got to give a shout-out to Jody Williams and Michael Watson for bringing this crew together. This is one of the most diverse and most memorable crews I’ve worked with. It was really fun. Everyone was really chill. We all had the same temperament and we got along. I feel like by month four, a lot of people get tired from working with the same people all the time, but I really felt like I could go on and continue to work with that group because I had so much fun.

Owens: Yeah, shout-out to the DPs, holding it down, bringing a great crew together. And also a big shout-out to Kevin Hart. His range, what he’s become; you’re not used to seeing him in a role like this. I kept telling people, you’re not going to see the same Kevin. He has a big range. He’s not just being the funny guy at all. He was very serious, he came well prepared, he did his homework. I heard other actors too; they were really surprised and happy at his growth. And to be there in a front-row seat for that and to be able to talk about it was really special.

CO: I did want to ask about working with this cast. I mean, you’ve got Kevin Hart, Don Cheadle, Taraji P. Henson, Samuel L. Jackson, and those are just the headliners. Tell me about what it was like working with these actors.

Bournett-McLain: It was interesting coming on, because these are a lot of actors whose work you’ve seen growing up. It’s like the peak of Black Hollywood. But, even so, it was a very relaxed set. After you get over the celebrity of someone, then you’re just on set with another person, collaborating with someone else. At that point, it’s just “okay, I’m doing my job” and this is a co-worker and you’re creating together.

Thompson: I worked with Taraji and Terence Howard on Empire. On day one, Taraji welcomed me with a warm embrace, so that kind of set the tone, and everyone else kind of fell in. It felt like a family vibe. We were able to talk to every actor. Everyone’s on the same playing field and we all vibed pretty well—from stars to the entire ensemble of the cast. I remember a moment with Don Cheadle. There was a lightning storm and we were all stuck in this restaurant. So, I’m sitting at a table, you know, playing [cards] with Don. It was just like a family reunion. It was a real cool vibe. Kevin always kept the jokes up, so that kept the smiles going. I really enjoyed it. I really had fun.

Bournett-McLain: There are projects where you feel kind of heavy going to set, where it’s a task to go in, and then there are projects where you enjoy going to set every day. This was one of those projects where it was fun.

Owens: Yeah, it was a lot of fun. And I’ve worked with Kevin a few times, so when he saw me, he gave me a warm embrace as well. Hearing about the cast for this, I was pretty much in awe. Before the project, we were hearing each time they got a new actor. I think in the beginning it was Kevin Hart and Don Cheadle, and I was already happy with that. But then it just kept growing. Oh, Terence Howard? Damn, that’s cool. Then Taraji, then Sam Jackson gets on. I’m like, “Oh my god, this is going to be amazing.”

I remember being in a trailer with Sam Jackson when he’s getting ready to pop Kevin. Just being in that moment to hear his voice, his alpha male stature. I’m on the ground looking up at him, he’s pointing the gun right past my lens. And to have that moment captured of him saying “mother effer this, mother effer that”—that was the Sam Jackson moment. Like everyone knows him for not only his acting, but how he delivers his lines. I was like, cool, check that box. That was something I definitely took away with me.

I was looking at my job like I’m lucky. I’m one of the only people on set who gets a front row seat to the performance of an actor. You have to capture it, capture that action and enhance it if you can, but to be that fly on the wall and to move when they move, you’re basically dancing with them the whole time. So, to be on set with these actors that are way up here, and they’re so cool about everything, and you learn about their lives. When they call cut, they’re not usually leaving, they’re talking about what they did on the weekend or what vitamins they’re taking. Terrence will be the first one to tell you what you should be taking or not taking.

I remember a couple moments when we were in the hotel suite. It was rehearsal and a lot of things were changing in the script, and pretty much all the actors were there. They were talking about what they like, what they didn’t like, what needs to change, and I’m just sitting there on the floor watching these amazing actors like it was like an actors studio. I was so lucky to be sitting in that room. There were not many people there. It might have been like six extra people. It took them almost 45 minutes going back and forth, but when they figured it out,  I got up and I was like, “Oh, my god, I cannot believe I just witnessed that.” People would sell their house to witness what I just saw. I was really blown away, and I just took it all in.

Bournett-McLain: I think it helps you become a better filmmaker, a better storyteller. We have to pay attention to people’s mannerisms. I feel like you get really good at reading someone’s tells. They’re about to lean back, or this person leans to the left before they go to the right. And so in that sense you do feel very attached to the performance.

BEHIND-THE-SCENES

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Xavier Thompson 

After graduating from Georgia State University with a degree in film theory, Xavier relocated to Los Angeles, California, in 2016 to continue enhancing and building upon his skill set. The move to Los Angeles was inspired by a prior trip he took there in 2015, when he participated in his first Steadicam workshop and fell in love with the physicality of Steadicam and everything it embodies. 

Xavier was first exposed to his craft while in college, in Atlanta, Georgia, and working for ESPN. He was focused and committed in his career development as a Steadicam operator, proactively scouting out freelance opportunities and making strategic investments in his future. Xavier understood that to advance in the industry he would have to make a significant investment in himself and his talents, so in late 2016 he purchased his first Steadicam rig. 

Xavier’s most influential training came through Garrett Brown, the inventor of Steadicam, to which he credits many of his techniques. Working with Garrett has led to Xavier working behind the lens for an assortment of projects in television, feature films and music videos. One of the highlights of his career to date is working with Jay-Z and Beyoncé in preparation for their OTR II Tour in 2018. Xavier now focuses on film and television as he welcomes the challenges of these types of projects.

Brigman Foster-Owens 

Brigman Foster-Owens received his MFA in cinematography from the American Film Institute and his bachelor of science in photography from Florida A&M University. While attending Florida A&M University, Brigman won the “By Line Blitz Award” for outstanding photography and contributions as the photo editor of the award-winning newspaper, The Famuan.

As a cinematographer, Brigman has received the Aurora, Telly and Addy Awards. He is also a winner of a Primetime Emmy award for the ESPN 30 for 30 Documentary No Màs as camera operator and 2nd Unit DP. Some of his camera operating credits include Captain America: Brave New World; Creed III; Fight Night; Little; First Man; Coming 2 America; Cobra Kai; Raising Deon; The Walking Dead; The Resident; and P-Valley. He is currently working on the HBO limited series DTF St. Louis. 

Amber Bournett-McLain

Amber Bournett-McLain is a union camera operator and independent filmmaker based in Atlanta, Georgia. She has worked on Fight Night; You’re Cordially Invited; Kindred and other projects, with future plans to become a cinematographer.