DoP Alan Jacobsen on the MSE MAX Menace Arm

Matthews Studio Equipment Staff
June 9, 2021
DoP Alan Jacobsen’s mantra is: “There’s a way to do this that will work.” The problem-solver loves the “tinker-toys aspect of filmmaking”. So when he was brought on to shoot a segment of VH1 Divas: Unsilent Night, holiday special, starring some of music’s greatest performers, he welcomed the challenge. The scene featured four musical legends sitting at a roundtable in an elegant lounge situated in Brooklyn’s 90-year-old, newly renovated Kings Theatre. The room was 16’ wide by 32’ long, the ceiling 14’ tall, the dresses big, and the timing short. His task was to portray Patty LaBelle, Chaka Khan and Vanessa Williams giving “baby diva” Teyana Taylor “The Diva Doctrine”. He would only get the stars for 30 minutes, sight unseen, and at the mercy of the stage show schedule happening downstairs.
DoP Alan Jacobsen’s mantra is: “There’s a way to do this that will work.” The problem-solver loves the “tinker-toys aspect of filmmaking”. So when he was brought on to shoot a segment of VH1 Divas: Unsilent Night, holiday special, starring some of music’s greatest performers, he welcomed the challenge. The scene featured four musical legends sitting at a roundtable in an elegant lounge situated in Brooklyn’s 90-year-old, newly renovated Kings Theatre. The room was 16’ wide by 32’ long, the ceiling 14’ tall, the dresses big, and the timing short. His task was to portray Patty LaBelle, Chaka Khan and Vanessa Williams giving “baby diva” Teyana Taylor “The Diva Doctrine”. He would only get the stars for 30 minutes, sight unseen, and at the mercy of the stage show schedule happening downstairs.