Filmmaker Blog - Mario J. Novoa

Cinematography TIFF Vilmos Zsigmond, the Academy Award-winning cinematographer, joined the Higher Learning audience for an in-depth master class and a look back at his 50-year career at the forefront of the industry. This Higher Learning event was held on August 8, 2014 at TIFF Bell Lightbox. Visit the Higher Learning Digital Resource Hub to learn more about our upcoming events at TIFF Bell Lightbox and to access bibliographies, filmographies and additional resources associated with this event.

Sometimes you find happy accidents on set. Sometimes you're lucky to arrange subjects, actors, props and lights in a way that gives you dynamic range and images. But directing and composing before arriving on set is extremely important, if you want to do any justice to your film. Watch this video and be inspired.  What Is Composition from Press Play Video Blog on Vimeo .

POV's 2013 Documentary Filmmaking Equipment Survey | POV | PBS

A talented cast and crew embarked on a table reading for The Baby Cries. The Baby Cries is a short film comedy based on a stage play I wrote for CASA 0101's The Brown and Out Theater Festival this year. It is a story of a gay couple raising their newborn daughter and the chaos that ensues when the traditional Catholic Salvadoran grandparents show up. The talented Cast includes: Martin Morales, Miriam Peniche, Matt Pascua and MJ Silva. As the writer/producer/director of the film, it is a proud moment to see the "baby" come alive. The play version generated a lot interest and praise from the audience, and it was great to hear how well people connected to the story. Time and time again people would tell me how they identified with each character - people from all walks of life: gay, straight, male and female. When writing the piece, there was a part of me that wanted the characters to be identifiable with anyone and people did indeed connect to the story of family, trad...

Taking The Baby Cries from stage to screen has some fantastic challenges. Last night I had a great session with Production Design and Actor Martin Morales regarding the look of The Baby Cries. For two weeks I've been discussing lenses and cameras with Director of Photography Dan Cotreau and trying to find a look for the film. This is the first time as Director that I've approached a film from a production design perspective and Martin had some great ideas. I listened intently and pictured what the ideas would mean in the scope of a film frame. I heard about the environment of the room, the color in the scope of emotion and using light to convey a passage of time. Between production design and cinematography, there are elements, ideas and design that overlap. As a director I try to listen to what people are bringing to the table so that I can let them create within the vision I have. My main approach is always about the performance in front of the camera, so I hope th...