The art of cinematography is one of the most competitive, at least in my opinion. Filmmakers are always trying to challenge the ever-changing craft of film. Whether it’s the camera shots, plot, or artistic direction, filmmakers produce movies that manage to captivate people from the beginning till the end.
The way short seconds or long hours can be captured and edited into an entire entity called a film has an extraordinary beauty to it.
As for me, I’ve been watching movies from every year and genre, not always out of sheer interest, but to learn and understand how simple techniques from the sounds to lighting can tell a story so beautifully but also differently.
With every movie I watched, I remember having my own interpretation to what I thought it all meant and doing extensive research after about what others had to say on Youtube or Rotten Tomatoes. However, films can be widely interpreted and viewed completely different from one another.
Film by its nature is communicative. It is a storytelling medium that has this unique blend of narrative and technological elements. It is at it strongest when it captures the smallest moments of our humanity.
From my experiences though, it is in the quiet moments where film strikes best: in the nuances of a single shot. There is nowhere better to lose yourself than in films. You can be a character in any country, in any time period. For two hours you can forget who you are and be who you wish.
I’ve always had a silent passion for film, and it is silent for a reason. Expressing my interest in studying the art of film was not so much frowned upon, but it also wasn't a golden plan for my future career. With a quirky talent I’ve secretly carried, there were only a few times I revealed it to others.
It is hard to communicate to parents especially why I love filmmaking so much. As a first generation immigrant child in my family, explaining to them the deeper meaning of films and how they touch hearts and awaken our vision is not enough to change the way they saw things.
However, I understand that it's a real privilege to make a living doing a job such as filmmaking, and a great one too. It's the greatest I can think of. While I'm still setting my dreams of filmmaking aside for more realistic goals, I still subtly plan on figuring out how I can turn my hobby for film into some sort of career.
