Early on, when you’re just starting out, you shoot in your living room and work with whatever lenses you can get your hands on. But as you grow as a filmmaker, you start thinking differently. You break down the story first, then you figure out your narrative perspective, and finally, you choose your focal length before you even have a location picked out. Listen with Transcript here.
Lenses are simple, but why do they have a reputation for being complex—like something only a few experts truly get? It’s like gravity. We all live with it, but those complex equations make it feel way over our heads. Still, the basic idea is familiar—we just don’t always realize that’s enough to explore deeper. Listen with Transcript here.
Don’t say “we’ll start wide, then go in.” Instead, try something like: “We’ll emphasize the character’s realization with a close-up, so we’ll hold off on close-ups at first and start with a wide.” Those are two very different ways to approach a scene. Listen with Transcript here.
Every shot in a movie has a perspective. The moment you turn on a camera, you've already chosen one, you can’t get around it. So naturally, that raises some big questions. How do we intentionally express objectivity or subjectivity? And maybe even more important—when should we use one or the other? Listen with Transcript here.
If film images are meant to communicate a deeper, subtextual message to the audience, and tools like lens choice or camera movement make up the visual language, then visual strategy is like the grammar of that language. Listen with Transcript here.
There’s one question that never fails to make filmmakers squirm: What’s your story? It sounds simple, but the answer isn’t always obvious. In this episode of Visium, we unpack why that question is so hard to answer—and why it might be the most important one a filmmaker can ask. Listen with Transcript here.
Filmmakers need more than beautiful shots; they need purposeful images that serve the story. In this episode of Visium, we explore how great films use visuals to guide audiences, not just impress them. From Irving Penn’s approach to 2001: A Space Odyssey, we break down how images create meaning in storytelling. Listen with Transcript here.
Discover how images become iconic by tapping into a universal visual language that resonates with audiences. This episode explores how filmmakers and visual artists can use that language to craft powerful, intentional storytelling. Listen with Transcript here.