I grew up making stop-motion animations and I have recently transitioned into live-action filmmaking. Stop-motion allowed me to materialize ambitious visions I had but was not equipped to properly execute in the real world. Despite this, working with physical sets and lights rather than on a screen meant I saw a surprising amount of transferability between the two mediums, especially regarding cinematography.
I write my films as expressions of thoughts that occupy my mind during the period of time in which I write them. I act in all my films, often finding myself drawn to a certain character I have written, and feel as though I “method act” in a way where I start to adopt some of their traits, even beyond the completion of the film.
My thesis film, Sully in the Morning Sun, takes place the night after a funeral for a young man, where his mother, younger brother, estranged childhood best-friend, and girlfriend have dinner together. The film explores how our different responses to grief enlighten our character traits and reveal the intricacies of interpersonal relationships. We see how death can be a transformative power which makes one realize a deeper trait about themselves based on their response to it.
I believe that great art comes from how precisely one is able to use their art as a way to express their unique consciousness. Each person exists in their own world, one that differs greatly from the one next to them. The deeper an artist is able to tap into and understand that world, the more their art will affect others, because it will challenge their own worldview even further.
Thank you!