Filmmaking can be fun! Just ask
anyone who has immersed themselves in it and you
will see that not only are they pretty satisfied with their
careers but they love hanging around film sets that creative people gravitate
to. We asked Nichole Ruiz, the Filipina director/cinematographer about all of
this and she told us that she couldn’t imagine doing anything else with her life. Some of
her films like YOU have chalked up a number of awards on the film
festival circuit and the other films that Nichole has worked on as director of
photography have also been very well received. Nichole has been involved in
over forty productions so far and she has a very busy schedule in the coming
months.
She is very focused on the social
issues of the LGBTQ community and is drawn to narratives that gives voice to
this often marginalized group of people. Nichole thrives on real stories that
project real characters in real situations. Her compassion for humanity goes
back to the small town of Laoag, in the Philippines, where she was raised. She
was always around people who were passionate about what they did and passionate
about relationships and family. She was greatly influenced by that in her early
life.
Another big
influence on Nichole’s
life was and is Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki, the great Mexican cinematographer. He
utilizes the Steadicam quite frequently and has been nominated for an Academy
Award for Best Cinematography eight times and has won three times in three
consecutive years for Gravity, Birdman and The Revenant.
Nichole would love to work with
Lubezki and she feels that he is able to elevate movie story telling with his
cinematography and apparently, a lot of people agree with her. She pays close
attention to all of his movies so she can see what he is doing with the
lighting and the camera placement and movement and how he sets the mood for a
particular scene.
She understands that it would be
easy for aspiring cinematographers or directors to drop out of the business
because other people might doubt their skills and their creativity but she says
that’s when you must keep
holding your art to a high standard and be strong and continue to move forward.
Nichole has a number of projects
in the works including a web series called Bombshell, which she will
photograph. The shoot is scheduled for the end of March and the first week of
April and is about the adventures of a trans gay guy living in Los Angeles.
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