The film maker is a creator of possibilities.
For me, it's combining my talents as a photographer with theatrical, dramatic and acting knowledge. My desire and passions are to create a life's work in dramatic arts and story telling as an entertainer.
Film making is the art of telling a story visually with the help of good stories, good actors (or real characters) and moving pictures. To focus an audience and take them on a pictorial and emotional ride through a group of events and moments which together create drama. Moments that can also create awe and magic.
The creative interpretation of a story and a script is as individual as the millions of human minds who make up this world. No two film makers will ever have the same interpretation, nor should they.
As a film maker I am not a puppeteer nor a megalomaniac. I am not here to teach acting but I work closely with actors to help them discover their characters needs and to tell a story from an overview. A film maker is an overseer who arranges the forces at work and his talent lies in getting everyone to use theirs.
The film maker's greatest talent comes when he takes what is written then tells the story with the help of the actor and the camera to motivate the emotion, the sensitivity, the enthusiasm, the energy and the compassion, then like a sculptor, molds the ingredients into a believable force of feelings to implant in the imaginations and dreams of the audience.
As a creative film maker, both as a cinematographer and as a director I have studied drama and photographic style, acting and performance and I have studied the great film makers. And I plan to continue to create good films for the rest of my career.
As a director/film maker I celebrate the sorrows, the joys and the fears that mold the human condition. To show the inner strength of humanity, when each character confronts his or her own desires and weakness, his or her alienation when confronted by differing ideas. Characters tell the story. A well defined and fully explored character is the heart and soul of any story. Each character has a need and it is the role of the film maker to find that need and bring it to life in the workings of the character. That need not only propels the story forward but turns the character into a whole, complete individual and the story is then pushed, dragged and coaxed along by that individuals life, the centerpiece. It is the actor who brings that character to life. The actor becomes that person in the eyes of the audience and if the performance is good there should be no difference between the actor and his or her character.
Film making is not just telling the story on film, it is guiding an audience on a journey of exploration with the aid of emotional story telling techniques. I work very closely with all artists and crafts people assigned to any film that I do.
A well crafted film is a sensual experience for an audience. It excites all the senses.
The film maker must bring excitement and tears to the screen, to enrich, enlighten and delight, and to take an audience on an adventure. Making a film is an adventure, it is also a strategy of time management and an evolutionary process. Films are made in pre-production with as much planning and preparation as is humanly possible. Errors will be made but if a film project is tackled with confidence, drive, tolerance and self assured experience, then it will succeed as good entertainment.
