American Cinematographer - September 1995 - 39

Victor, has confessed to the
crime. As the detective pressures

Strike to confess to the murder,
the docker's relationship with his

dealer sours inexorably, leaving
him no place to turn.
Before the film came to

fruition, Scorsese and De Niro
opted to pursue a different project
(Casino), sending Universal Pic¬
search for another
director for Clockers. Under
Scorsese's auspices as executive
tures

on a

producer, the studio offered the
film to Lee, who felt the project
was a
perfect fit with his own sen¬
sibilities,

and aesthetics.

Lee worked out a new
draft of the script with Price, cast¬
ing Harvey Keitel, a veteran of
four Scorsese films, in the role of
Rocco Klein. The players also in¬
clude a pair of Lee mainstays:

give a former member of his elec¬
trical crew, 26-year-old Malik
Sayeed, the promotion of a life¬

John Turturro (Do the Right Thing,

in film studies and later attended

Jungle Fever, Mo' Better Blues) as
Klein's partner, Larry Mazilli,
and Delroy Lindo (Malcolm X,
Crooklyn) as crack dealer Rodney
Little, whose neighborhood gro¬
cery store serves as a front for his
drug-running operation. The piv¬

the Maine

otal role of Strike went to new
face Mekhi Phifer; Isaiah Wash¬

"I read the novel and looked at the

ington essayed the role of Strike's
upstanding brother, Victor; and

various

scripts that Marty and Ri¬

another first-time actor, Tom

chard Price had worked on," says
Lee. "But as I did, I started getting
ideas about how to add my own
vision while still being true to the

Byrd, portrayed Errol, Rodney's
drug-addled henchman.
Phifer and Byrd weren't
the only newcomers to benefit
from Lee's patronage. In a rare
move that bucked Hollywood's

concerns

book. I met with
and De Niro, and

Marty, Richard
they all seemed

to be in line with what I wanted

to

do,

so

I went ahead and made

the movie."

traditional

system of personnel
advancement, which often occurs
at a glacial pace, Lee decided to

September 1995

time to director of

photography.
graduate of Howard Uni¬
versity, Sayeed earned his degree
A 1990

Photographic Institute,

where he benefitted from

courses

taught by cinematographers Ralf
Bode, ASC, Rob Draper and Billy
Williams, BSC. "A major part of
my education was reading any
book I could find on motion pic¬
ture photography," he says.
"Reading was my foundation; it
really helped me to understand
the actual process during my
practical training."
Having worked his way
into I.A.T.S.E.

as an

A

police

detective

(Michael

Imperioli)
attempts to
"strike

a

deal"

with Strike

(Mekhi Phifer).
Sayeed's
lighting scheme
for this
sequence
included a
combination of

sodium-vapor
and mercuryvapor lights.
The mercuryvapor fixtures
provided the
scene's

greenish hue.

electrician in

college, he was later able to gain
a
position on the electrical crew
for Lee's epic biopic Malcolm X.
Of his entry into the film busi¬
ness, Sayeed relates, "A friend of
mine who

was an

introduced

American

me

electrical intern

to the

Cinematographer

gaffer

on

37
American Cinematographer - September 1995

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - September 1995
