Portfolio
Motion Pictures
Instructed to direct actors for the first time ever in one of my classes at Toronto Film School, I nearly had a heart attack. Believe it or not, I've never directed anyone other than myself until this project (excluding my brother in Thief).
I was so fortunate to have met two very awesome actors: Justin Harris and Trinity Evans. Justin's character, Henry, was originally supposed to be blunt and unmoving, but Justin played him as this "art gallery owner," and I LOVED it. It added so much more taste and depth to the character that I hadn't thought of before.
Trinity naturally carries this customer service vibe -- she's got a soft voice and personality, perfect for the miserable Henry to really step all over! What really made this scene funny was Trinity's reactions as Henry goes on his little sassy tangents. In the editing room, I found myself laughing at both of these gifted actors even after watching it a thousand times.
Camera work and boom operations were handled by Alaina Ashton and Shae French, respectively. A big thanks goes out to them!
Fun fact: This whole scene was shot on one camera across three different angles. Originally six, I had to improvise three camera angles due to time constraints that day. I am so glad I could do that on such short notice because filming, regardless of whether you're indie or with Paramount themselves, it never goes according to plan, and you never know what may happen!
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A young and petty criminal risks everything for a single photograph that holds the key to his escape from a dead-end life, only to find that the closer he gets, the more it slips beyond his reach.
Thief is the current Magnum Opus of my career. I was disappointed with how In The Still of The Night had turned out; I thought it was too rushed, that it lacked character development, and overall was too underdeveloped. From this terrible feeling came the idea for Thief: the story about a young and petty criminal who, in an attempt to escape his dead-end life, takes on the final job of stealing a specific photograph for an anonymous client. However, the closer he gets to the photo, the further it moves from him.
Written in a few days, the script was good. During post-production, I noticed some of the dialogue sounded woody, so I rewrote some lines on the spot and was very pleased with the end result.
Acting was never my craft. That's all I will say.
Cinematography was on point as I felt it matched the lonely themes of the story. This was the first work I ever shot in anamorphic 2.39:1, and I still think about how beautiful some of these shots were, especially the title card payphone shot in the opening scene.
In The Still of The Night
In The Still of The Night was my first short film, released two weeks before Thief. In fact, it was my dissatisfaction with the way this film turned out that gave me the motivation to make Thief.
I guess this film's purpose was to experiment with techniques and tell a story. However, the story was poorly written; I felt, and I still feel that it lacks character development most of all.
As stated in the description, I felt little pride for making this movie, and absolutely cringe when friends or family ask me about it because its just embarrassing to me.
However, I'm unlikely to remove it. Kubrick had Fear and Desire. Fincher, Alien 3. Paul Thomas Anderson's Hard Eight was forced by the studio to be redited.
Most directors had a start they weren't happy with. Mine was ITSOTN, and it really only added to my growing knowledge of cinema.
Lions and Lunatics
Lions and Lunatics was an English project video about the character Polonius from Hamlet. I am still so happy with what I did here, and wish I could study Shakespeare all over again.
I was one of the few students who actually liked literature. Likewise, I was one of the few students who understood the play, and was able to write this scene out no problem, with accuracy to the story and with symbolic depth.
I'd consider Lions and Lunatics a passion project. I seriously loved the way it turned out, and I don't care that it's one of the lowest-view-count projects I've released. The cinematography, prop choice, and writing were all stellar. The acting was not.
Tuesday Night Train Club
My good friend George invited me to his miniature scale train club in November of 2023. I was blown away at how detailed everything was.
The above-linked video was shot when I was still learning composition and visual storytelling. I was just fiddling seriously with cameras around that time.
One year later, we went back to the same train club. It hadn't changed a bit, but my skill did, and so was this masterpiece created. I think I might sound like a broken record, in part due to the fact that I cannot articulate compliments well, but the cinematography was just stunning.
I think it's a good time to mention that when I was a little boy, I didn't hear movies, I watched movies. I don't remember a single time listening to any noise or words being said; I just remember being invested in the visual aspect of movies. This is probably why I turned out to be a visual learner, and I embody this method of understanding the world as a tool for understanding my projects and stories.
Written Works
Portfolio Part II: Coming Soon