Reel & Artist Statement

Director / Cinematographer Reel from Lucas Parente on Vimeo.

As what I consider an “Artist”, I try to see and capture beauty in everything that I can. Our eyes easily can find it in something grand, so I look for it in the small details. Also, this same beauty is not complete if is not meaningful to the major piece. I gather information from my memories, the style of those who inspire me and try to put it at my service, at the service of a major project. In the end it seems that is all about feeling—which it is mostly, but I'm aware of the limitations between my mind and the world around me so that's why each new work is a potential way for me to learn and make the link of these two stronger.

Scene Assignment - Pineapple Express

Pineapple Express - Scene Assignment from UA, Telecommunication and Film on Vimeo.

Visual references and goals for the scene assignment

The scene chosen to be recreated comes from the film Pineapple Express. The original scene has a shaky camera style with a strong use of yellow. My goal is to make the scene with a darker atmosphere, but without losing the humor: more fixed camera angles and less use of back light. Here are some references about framing and the original scene (at 1:03).

Which is the best camera?

We all can say that there's no such thing as The Best Camera but again, we all have our own preferences. The problem is that even with our own preferences, we can't determine which is the perfect camera (at least on my point of view).

The first camera that I really had a lot of contact was the JVC HM100u. People usually say that it has a terrible image quality, something that I disagree in a certain level. That aside, the JVC camera is one that I got very familiar with, although I'm aware of its limitations.

Now I'm entering in the world of the DSLRs, with great image quality, more accessible price, and portability. However with the portability, it also comes the design made for still photography and this makes me forget constantly how to mess with certain options on the camera, not to mention the extreme difficulty to determine with your own eyes if your focus is correct or not.

Not saying that it is the best camera, but one that I had a brief but pleasant touch was the Sony FS-100U. I really liked its design: a mix of the JVC with the DSLRs in a simple and efficient way that made me find what I wanted in just one night with the camera. The only issue is the price, inaccessible for a film student. With that, it leaves the DSLRs as the “winners” of the competition thanks to the easy access.

Inspiring Lighting Styles

Maybe it's because of love for drawing, but overall I'm a big fan of the use of the back light (specially when it comes naturally). The way I see in photography the use of it is like “literally” drawing silhouettes with light. But there's also different meanings behind the use back light or any kind of light for that matter since it all comes on what kind of feel or particular image you want to pass, and how much you want pass.

Smooth sources of light in The Deep Blue Sea show us intentions without action.

In Lawless, the use of... lack of light actually... show us small spots of Jessica Chastain's face and just a small spot of brightness in her eye, telling us that she's uncomfortably awake when she should be relaxed and at sleep.

In Killer Joe, the contrast of temperature in a single framing, details on how the light behaves on the character's eyes and hair strands.

In Brokeback Mountain, there's a sea with waves made of silhouettes of light provided by the moon. It's beautiful and work like a canvas, the man surrounded by the Nature.

Lincoln has a similar effect of Deep Blue Sea, delivering intentions. The action can be happening but its hidden by the light, instead of the darkness.

In The Beasts of the Southern Wild, the contrast of light and dark in the rain creates some kind of mosaic mixing the animal's hair and the raindrops.

In Hannibal (TV Series), the use of back light draws a contour around the character Will, a silhouette of light.

The Forgiveness of Blood

True Detective

True Detective

Finally, The Forgiveness of Blood. I couldn't find pictures that showed exactly what I wanted but this film has a great use of back light as well, can be similar to the Hannibal's case or more subtle like this the first image. The film takes a lot of exterior locations and they balance the light shown in the characters at the same time that they show the beautiful contour of light in the clouds and the environment around them. I didn't find screenshots for this movie, but the TV series True Detective does a similar job with that.

Well, I hope you find this interesting as I did!

Strengths and Weaknesses of DSLR

The first strength to mention about the DSLR is the price. For beginner filmmakers the DSLR cameras are the first access to actually put the hands on a camera and practice the filmmaking process, switching lenses to build meanings to a scene, changing aperture, racking focus, etc... Since the professional cameras are too much expensive. That aside, another strength point is the portability of the camera, allowing the filmmaker to carry it along whenever he is going, or to put it small place to film.

On the other hand, its own design was made for still photography rather than actual filmmaking, resulting in a difficult maneuver by it's operator and lack of stability on the frame composition and to avoid that, some accessories like rigs will be needed. Another problem present on the DSLR cameras concerns about the sound. The microphone in DSLR is often tiny and of low quality, so the filmmaker will probably need an external mic to get a better sound.

Lessons learned from storytelling assignment:

Hey again, this one is a bit difficult to do because require a lot of auto critical thinking, working your mind to revisit the moments during the production (that is not really easy if your memory is not that great) and reflexion about your work and the choices you made. 

But well, here it go:

First of all, it's kind of obvious but if you plan to do a documentary, do it about something that is compelling to you. If you don't have a minimum of interest about what you're filming, this will reflect on your final product and more likely the audience will also be not interested.

Always visit location for a general view not only of the place but the final piece that you're planning to produce. The preproduction visit should be as complete as the visit of the shooting day, or even more deeper, since you will have more time to plan a detailed shot list and manage not to miss important spots for a “portrait of a place”.

In the visits, try to speak beforehand with any potential interviewee to clarify what the documentary is about and to get a prior permission to film in particular places. Also, try to find potential sources of light beforehand so you can already plan nice angles with the camera. Even so, it's good to consider new angles that can appear during the shooting, so be open minded about changes and see if your DP had developed ideas of his own of where to put the camera, or different angles for the project. Just don't forget what is the main idea of the film, the rest is complement.

Before moving the camera to another place, take a deep breath and double check your environment: you might have missed something interesting. I think that there's aways a small and beautiful detail in every place that could render a touching shot for someone, if not the general piece. Still, watch out for your schedule! In the end, its all about the judgment of your choices because the time is running out and you have to see what is worth to film in that day.