The Genesis of a Filmmaker
By: Natalia Lugo
Tags: Filmmaking, Film, College, Cinematography, Student Life

My First Semester as a Film Major

Natalia Lugo (Left) and crew mate Morgan Monfriedo (Right) while filming “The Ice Cream Man”, a short film by Natalia Lugo, Morgan Monfriedo, Mary Arata and Nyasha Colon. NOVEMBER 2020, SUCCASUNNA, NJ.

Ever since I was young, I have been fascinated by the moving image. Everything from short skits with friends, stop motions with my dolls, to recording home videos, I was there with a some sort of camera to record it all. My family would spend time lots of time together at the movie theater, or even watching movies at home in our living room. Film was always there. Through the good and the bad, I could always run to my favorite movies to comfort me. As the years went on , I noticed how much I enjoyed making little films with my friends. I liked having being able to come up with the ideas and write and plan. I liked to be in the films of course, but I felt most comfortable, and most like myself when I was behind the camera. When I was able to hold the camera and see my work come to life just the way I imagined it would.

The first recreation of “The Brady Bunch” introduction. Directed, shot, and starring Natalia Lugo. MARCH 2019.

A still from “Realiti”, an unfinished short film on drug addiction and mental health awareness. Written, directed, and shot by Natalia Lugo. Inspired by HBO’s “Euphoria”. AUGUST 2019.

When I reached high school I began taking classes in TV production and film studies. I spent a lot of my time in these classes making films, studying the craft behind them, or helping to produce content for my school’s weekly news show. I even did a recreation of “The Brady Bunch’’ introduction with the cast of the news show, after my TV teacher saw the first recreation I did of “The Brady Bunch” the year prior.That project really taught me of not only directing, coordinating, and key framing in post- production, but of patience and time management. That is one of the projects I am extremely proud of. It was a huge stepping stone for me. After achieving so much in high school and with family questioning my plans for college, I decided to pursue a career in filmmaking and further my education at Montclair State University as a film major. My academic goals are to graduate with a BFA in film, learn as much as I can in my classes, and make lasting connections with my peers. To achieve these goals I will need to stay focused and work hard in all of my classes. I need to continue practicing good time management and engage in my classes and with instructors. This semester I feel that I have already started off strong and am already on the right track to reaching my goals. I have been staying very focused and have been shooting films, thinking of new ideas, and planning future film shoots. Im am building my portfolio to show my growth throughout the years. I am also working on making a separate YouTube channel for only my work.To continue on the proper path to reach these goals, I need to work with my peers, collaborate, and make strong connections with them as they will be my coworkers in the future. My peers in my classes are all extremely talented, and it is exciting to wonder when I might work with them again in the professional field. With all of these tactics and my passion for art, I will graduate and lead a successful career.

The art of cinematography has always intrigued me. Of course, I enjoy directing actors, writing stories, and editing, but being able to use the camera to amplify how a story is told is truly amazing. I love being able to give off a certain tone or idea just by using the camera. My favorite use of cinematography in my films are lighting, depth of field, and camera angles. Using these elements can drastically change how the viewers perceive the film, and I think it is one of the biggest factors of a great film. I always appreciate good cinematography in anything that I watch, because I understand the precise planning and effort it took between the cinematographer and the director to bring the story to life. It is definitely what I am the most passionate about as of right now.

A still from “Caution”, a Photo Roman film about a man and his stalker. Written, directed, and shot by Natalia Lugo. SEPTEMBER 2020.

After this first semester at Montclair State University, I have learned much more about cinematography and how to effectively use it in my work. On the left is a still from my Photo Roman film, “Caution”. “Caution” is a story composed of only photographs about an unknowing man and his stalker. Since there was no action or audio in this film, I had to use my knowledge of camera work and editing to get the story across. I used different oblique camera angles, lighting, camera distances, and composition to create the dark tone I was striving for, similar to the tone I created in my short film “Realiti”. In “Realiti” however, I worked mostly with colored, artificial lights to give the scene an ethereal effect, and long takes to have the audience focus in on the action in the scene, making it uncomfortably long and dark as the hands of our protagonist’s inner demons grab at her face, even though the setting looks so happy and serene. Both of these projects were different, but have taught me how to improve the way I visually tell stories.

In 10- 15 years from now, my dream is to become a cinematographer, with some directing and producing knowledge under my belt. I believe there should be more female cinematographers in the industry, and I want to make history with them. Right now I have been planning more films I would like to shoot, and also to shoot whatever I see. I feel that some of the best work in my cinematography reel had nothing really to it. I just pointed my camera and filmed, I focused more on the composition of the shot, not so much the action. The colors, the depth of field, the framing, all told a different story however I moved them around. That’s what I really like to focus on recently. An example is down below. It is just a shot of my friend’s eye, but the way everything is focused and the surrounding colors were beautiful to me. No story or words, just a simple moment in time I wanted to capture. My goal in 15 years is to be able to bring my skill to film sets and work with a crew to create an amazing film. I’d say my one of my other big goals is to see a film I worked on in theaters, or “Director of Photography-Natalia Lugo” on the big screen. That’s how I will know I really achieved what I have been hoping for since I can remember.

A still of my friend Morgan from my first cinematography reel. Shot by Natalia Lugo. NOVEMBER 2019.

For now, I will continue working on bettering my skills and practicing as much as I can. I will continue working hard in my classes and with classmates as much as COVID- 19 will allow. Once back on campus, I am going to look more into clubs and groups or other students in need of assistance in their films. Hopefully in the near future after I have a bit more experience, I can successfully land an internship that will help me begin networking and lead me towards my career after I graduate.

Grit is the amount of passion, drive, determination, and perseverance one has for achieving their long- term goals. I believe that I am a very gritty person, but a lot of times I can get in my own way. I let my fears and even hypothetical situations bring me down. Sometimes I really do believe them. I am working on remembering the positives and the goals that I am striving for, this helps me regain my motivation. I am working on avoiding the negatives and think “This is still just the beginning, how can I say I won’t succeed when I literally just started”. I need to stop self- sabotaging a stay determined on my goal. I know how badly I want this, and there is nothing stopping me besides my own thoughts and procrastination. This is my passion, my love, my life. My dream job. I have the support of my family and friends, and even 12 year old me, cheering myself on. She would think I am really cool. I’m going to make her proud. I just need to work hard, never give up and ultimately, believe in myself. And as each day goes on, I do.