When it came to camera movement, Vincent came to appreciate her operator, Henry Cline. "This was the first occasion I'd had to work with an operator, and it was amazing." While Cline and key grip Rick Cottrell laid down the 80 feet of dolly track the production carried, or took care of the complicated flagging that many scenes required Vincent was freed to spend more time working with Lemmons. "One of the best parts about working with Kasi was that she provided me with a script so rich and inspiring from the start. We were both seeing the same vision and the things that might have been the most challenging became some of the greatest moments of the movie. And we both encouraged each other to take chances."
Even the best laid plans didn't always work out, but Vincent and Lemmons took them in stride. "I climbed a ladder one day up to the roof of the main location, the Batiste home, and saw the two bodies of water, with the trees reflected in the bayou. It was the most amazing thing, and I knew it was the perfect ending shot," Vincent recalls. She called Lemmons up to have a look and even though the director had initially envisioned going out over the water for a final shot, she was taken enough by the reflection to change her mind. "She loved the shot," says Vincent, "but what we didn't realize was how drastically the water level can change. One the day we were supposed to shoot, we had the crane parked, ready to go and the water level was so high the yard was flooded. They had to move the trucks. The crane was about to be submerged. We tried it a few different times," Vincent adds, "and it was always the day after or the day before the most brilliant sunset. But it still came out very well."
Vincent was pleased to be involved in the project through post production at CFI in Los Angeles. "Kasi and I worked closely with Teri Shropshire, the editor, and color timer Mike Mertens, throughout the opticals and the choices of takes," she remembers. "Those relationships were invaluable to the look of the movie. Even when I wasn't available, I could trust Mike to take care of the timing. That was a big part of the movie's success; the trust and effort of everyone who was involved."
