Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/798465
DGA QUARTERLY 39 PHOTOS: FOX chose to avoid splashy use of primary colors. She also steered clear of any angle that made viewers aware of the camera. "We knew that we would never use slo-mo or cranes," she says. "We also played with focus a little bit in terms of who you're fo- cused on in the scene, and trying to get into characters' heads, at times maybe being on the side of them or the back of the head, even though someone else was talking in the scene." Considering that the racial roles are reversed from the expected torn-from-the-headlines narrative on which the series is built, Prince-Bythewood was careful to avoid using broad strokes. "We all have virtues and flaws," she says. "It was our hope to explore that duality in all of our characters. We never worried about mak- ing [them] always likeable. We wanted them to be real, and true to who they were." ® F E V E R P I T C H : (Clockwise from above) Gina Prince- Bythewood confers with actor Stephan James on location in North Carolina for the Fox series Shots Fired; the creators mixed locals with extras to give an added dose of authenticity to a besieged community; Aisha Hinds plays a local pastor/activist who urges residents to not stand idly by in the face of racial injustice.