Lewis sees the world as if it was a movie. At night he dreams up immense film sequences and applies a cinematic visual language to all of his work. Lewis believes there can be an element of mystery or darkness in everything and uses this thinking to enrich the storytelling in his films.
He is fascinated by human behaviour and his perception of day-to-day experiences are often narrated in his head as a surreal, and sometimes intrusive version of reality. With this frame of mind, he is an all-encompassing, creative being. His imaginative senses are constantly alive, and he is always about to reveal the next big idea. Lewis has the foresight to see the big picture before filming, envisioning the right combination of colour and visual composition in the planning stages.
Lewis has brought to life films for brands such as Nike, Puma, and Vogue. He has also directed music videos for Sony Music and independent artists. Most recently, Lewis has worked on Hollywood blockbusters’ Fast and Furious, James Bond, Mission Impossible and Cinderella in the aerial camera department at XM2 Pursuit.
Name: Lewis Andrews
Location: London
Repped by/in: NERD Productions
Lewis> Scripts which are written for the director and not just the cast. Spine tingling one-liners, picture perfect sentences, subliminal messages, all things psychological.
Lewis> I do a lot of research and collate reference imagery around the subject, brand or person in the film. I try to become an expert in the subject matter and figure out what the audience wants to see. For instant visual references, I usually head to Google, browse and save imagery which I think is relevant. If an image doesn’t demonstrate exactly what I want, I’ll modify it on Photoshop and add it to the treatment deck. I’ll add anything which builds a picture like textures or colour pallets. I’ll find comparative visual examples of existing film work to demonstrate my idea.
Lewis> There isn’t a subject which I can’t find some kind of affinity with. I believe every brand and person is their own unique entity with something to offer. Ideas don’t have to be factually accurate either so, if my knowledge of the brand is limited, I can still represent it abstractly. If I’m really struggling, I reach out to people who do know about the brand or market and ask them to educate me.
Lewis> It depends which person you are referring to. If it’s someone you’re involved with creatively on the project, then the most important thing for me is that you constantly feed off of each other’s energy. If it’s someone you’re working for, you’ve got to be able to do business with that person because filmmaking is expensive. You also have to be able to accept criticism and give it constructively too. Communication skills are very important in a person. You must be able to constantly find a happy medium and have a balanced relationship.
Lewis> I like to represent all feelings in my work. I am drawn to darker, horror themed work for some reason. Sometimes I find ‘happy’ too mundane and easy!
Lewis> People perceive that I only did one thing on my Wonderfilm Pictures projects such as Red Bull, Nike, Puma, Sony Music, etc. Each project was different but, oftentimes, I handled a variety of roles on each including producing, writing creative treatments, scouting locations, directing, shooting, editing, designing costumes, building sets, making props, composing visual effects and even doing the actors’ make up!
Lewis> No, but I would like to!
Lewis> I’ve had British Airways lose all of my equipment and hard drives with all my data on a flight over to Portugal. Luckily my client Jessica Patterson helped me to recover it all at the airport.
Lewis> I strike a balance by accepting that the client has a greater understanding of their brand and giving the client confidence that I have a better understanding of the film.
Lewis> I am fully on board with opening up the world to a more diverse pool of talent, it’s the way it should be. I would love to mentor and have apprentices on set, there is no better way to learn. I am still learning!
Lewis> Zoom, like everyone else I guess :D
Lewis> I love the 2:39:1 wide ratio as I’ve always been a fan of the letterbox style. Whatever the brief or requirement is for the project, I will adapt the filming and editing techniques accordingly. This includes appropriate use of the right lenses and adapting shots in production to suit the ratio in the brief.
Lewis> I already work with a computer graphics genius morn1415 who composed DeepDream AI driven visuals for my latest music video project. DeepDream was one of the first results of Google AI where they created a convolutional neural network that they trained to recognize things on Images.
This AI tech is ready and exploding with potential, but I think it’s going to take a while to become mainstream. It is still finding its feet and people still feel intimidated by the possibilities. I’m fascinated by movie concepts like Ready Player One and strongly believe this could be our reality one day. I’m ready to embrace it, whether it takes over the world or if it’s simply viewing a set design in AR.
Lewis> My work on Fast & Furious 9 in the aerial camera department XM2 Pursuit.
Drink Music Video – Coming soon. I’m super proud of the final result because I created every single element of the video from the script, treatment, room set design, sourcing the E-type Jaguar, directing, shooting, editing and visual effects.
My spot for Nike x Jo Gomez. I love to show this off because Nike is such a cool brand and I love how it comes together in the edit with the sound design I added.
My music video for X Factor contestant Ebru Ellis – Blocks Music Video. I was happy with this video because conceptually it pitches the artist and the subject matter of ambition and drive well. I wrote the whole storyline.
My music video for Sony Music Vibbar – Sweden. I love the quality of the footage from the RED Helium 8K and how it came together in the edit with sound design I added.