The filmmakers originally planned to shoot Kaepernick’s scenes during principal photography in Los Angeles, but the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic started to peak and the idea of relocating him from New York City for three months of production became increasingly unrealistic.

“Ava did what she’s great at and quickly pivoted,” says [cinematographer Matthew J. Lloyd CSC, ASC], who, along with DuVernay, writer/showrunner Michael Starburry and production designer Scott Dougan came up with a solution that also maintained the integrity of their original idea: a literal gallery of the mind. But this new approach prompted new questions about the process. “What does the installation of your life look like? How do you visualize memories?” Lloyd and the others asked themselves. He also questioned the “metaphysics” of their plan — how they could shape time and space to the needs of the story. 

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