Like many filmmakers, I got my start a kid shooting home movies with whatever resources were at my disposal. Many of my days off from school were spent either filming stop-motion shorts with stuffed animals or chasing my pets around the yard with a camcorder. Becoming a filmmaker seemed so easy back then, because the films I created were simple and fun. Now in my 30’s, it only seems to get harder with every project I’m involved in. The scale of the productions get bigger, and managing it all becomes more and more daunting. There is something refreshing about being able to shoot and edit something on a whim, just like I did when I was kid.
Cat and M.A.U.S is the first in a series of micro films that I hope to create this year in which I take random ideas with simple narratives and try to make a 30-40 second short within 24-hours. The idea for this film came to me when I was practice my focus pulls with my cat and noticed him staring at a bug flying around in our backyard. In the spirit of many of my early home movies, I pulled in all of my pets and just kept filming until I felt like I had something I could edit into a story. I love being involved in every facet of a film’s production, from shooting and editing to visuals effects and scoring, so being able to create something in this capacity is a great way for me to grow as a filmmaker and understand the relationship between every component in a full-scale production.
Website: www.jonulasien.com
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