Kaitlyn Sandvik
Arts, Entertainment, Technology Editor
@ksandvikcourant
Photo by Hannah Kirkpatrick
From behind the lens of her Canon camcorder, junior Jessica Dantas brings her artistic muses to life. The inspiration for her latest film revolves around ballet dance and was formulated on a rainy Tuesday from the confines of her bedroom. The project was initially for her film class, but after she realized her passion for the art form, it became a personal endeavor.
Students around NCHS regard Jessica as an artist in all definitions of the word. Her work spans a wide scope of visual art, including illustrations, photography and even paintings. “Drawing and filmmaking are completely different,” Jessica said. “Whenever I draw it’s like I’m getting away from the world, yet with film, I enter a very intense version of reality,” she said.
Her work has been featured in countless school gallery showings, and the breadth and quality of her work have inspired fellow students to get involved. “I help curate the galleries at the high school and started talking to other kids who had an interest in making films,” she said. “Once I discovered that there was a wider network of aspiring filmmakers I felt even more encouraged in my work.”
Watching independent movies and documentaries was the catalyst for her interest in filmmaking. “The whole idea behind the ‘how did they do this’ question made me think,” Jessica said. “I’m truly a curious person, so exploring different fields of art is definitely something I admire everyday.”
Looking to improve her filmmaking skills, Jessica took three film classes in which she worked with different programs and editing softwares. “I started to take my camera with me everywhere,” she said. “The films I make are done with basic equipment, I like them to have the vibe of authentic homemade work while still producing a finished piece of film.”
Jessica does the majority of her work solo. “I love working alone and coming up with my own ideas and being my own partner for art,” she said. “Filming is a passion, not only an interest, so as cliche as this may sound, it’s like living with someone you love, in this case, a passion.”
Jessica’s enthusiasm has for creating short documentaries stems from her having learned about film’s impact on society in her history class last year. “Documentaries changed the world, I studied how filmmakers would report the widening social and economic gaps globally and concentrated on poverty,” she said. “Films show people the corners of the world which are normally unreachable and uses raw visuals making it a truly powerful technology.”
The process of making a film is time consuming, and Jessica feels that conceptualizing original and unique work is the hardest part. “First, you have to have a story, then storyboard it and you’re ready to go,” she said. “To be honest, no matter how good you are at filming or how great your actor is, no one will ever watch your film if your story isn’t good, and that’s what makes a film good, holding an audience.”
While Jessica was working on one of her earlier pieces, “Lost & Found”, she had to think about what story she wanted to tell within a short amount of time. “I started to think about how panning or using fill lights could help the theme of the piece come through,” she said. “I don’t think using advanced camera necessarily means you’re making a better film, for me it’s about the technique.”
Typically, Jessica’s film ideas begin with music. “To find subject matter that is truly interesting, I listen to music and then it usually will just come to me and it’s a great feeling,” she said. “Other times, the spark occurs when I am just observing the world around me and noticing things most people might overlook.”
The casting procedure often consists of Jessica badgering her friends to see who is willing to debut their acting skills. “I really appreciate having people in my life that support me and foster my interest,” she said. “I think all my friends have been great actors, they care about doing well because once I tell them the summary of the film they genuinely are interested, if they aren’t then I know they aren’t the right option.”
Jessica believes that in filmmaking, one gains the ability to view the world through a myriad of different lenses. “I was always observant but it wasn’t until I had to think in terms of angles and motions that I noticed the smallest things, from lighting tints to sounds,” she said. “Everything around me now holds higher value and triggers the thought, could that make an interesting shot?”
Jessica’s most recent film venture began with her independent research on a topic that has always interested her, the human dream sequence. “I am currently making a short film on human dreams and how they work, I think that is a topic with high potential for creativity and also is something most people have wondered about,” she said. “I hope people will enter viewing my pieces with the curiosity and open mindset that I held when creating them.”
In the future, Jessica hopes to continue working on short documentary films. “I think documentaries offer a variety of facets, some are encouraging while others bring forward darker issues, I’d love to explore capturing any parts of those ideas that I can,” she said. “I want to go to college for anything creative but right now it’s film and I’m always open to learning new things and experimenting.”
You can view some of her work on her Digication account.
Lost & Found from Jessica Dantas on Vimeo.
