Alexxiss Jackson is a film industry professional and a longtime resident of Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward. She’s specialized as a director of photography for the last seven years, though Jackson has worked in film in various roles since 2007. “I have been interested in stories and wanting to be a storyteller since I was very, very small,” said Jackson. “I was a voracious reader when I was younger … I would write novels, and I would make my family members read them.” Jackson’s drive to capture and create visual stories remained strong and eventually led her to attend film school with the hope of becoming a music video director.
Over the years, Jackson’s projects have extended to short and feature-length films, with photography, cinematography and pre-and post-production roles. She applies her discerning eye to questions regarding a film’s visual aesthetic in pre-production. “That could be looking at photography references or music references that fit a certain mood that the director is going for, or watching a film that the director says ‘Oh, I love the vibe of this.’” Jackson might also be responsible for sourcing and testing lenses and filters that will determine a film’s look.
“I don’t really have a normal day per se, and I think that that’s one of the things that I love the most about my career,” said Jackson. She described long hours on location trips across the United States or working in-studio sets in LA and New York, constantly adapting her skills and established treatments for various scenarios.
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