Late introduction - Luc, aspiring cinematographer, at your service!

After spending more than 6 months on Steemit and loving it more and more each and every day, I thought my #introduceyourself post was long due. So there it is ! The man behind the camera: one of the rare photo I have of myself.

So how far should one go back about one of people’s favorite conversation subject -themselves? Well, first things first. My name is Luc and I am currently 21 years old. For those to which it matters -and I’m not one of them,- I am a Capricorn in Western astrology and a Rat in Chinese astrology.

I was born in France, in a small town called Rochefort (the film nerds might recognize this name from Jacques Demy’s musical The Young Girls of Rochefort). When I was three years old, my parents moved to a slightly bigger city called La Rochelle. It is in this beautiful harbor town on the West coast of France that I spent the first 17 years of my life.

Source: Voyagetips.com

As you all know, many things can happen in 17 years: first drinks, first smokes, first sexual experiences… But none of that really matters to the person I am today. They are anecdotes that might be overheard on a hot Summer day while you and I are sharing a joint by the river while listening to Leonard Cohen. None of that matters because I see the first 17 years of my life as a unexplainable meander of coincidences that led me to the single most important encounter of my life.

No, no. Don’t get excited, it is not a candlelit love story (although in a weird way it, might be). For those who read Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, you may remember the main character Santiago meeting several “Kings” during his quest. They are like fatherly figures or spiritual guides that unexpectedly cross your path, people that point you to the right direction or make you perceive life under a different light or with different eyes. It was during a warm Summer night, tamed by the ocean breeze those who live by the coast are so familiar with, that I met my King.

His name was Raphaël. Late twenties, tall with a red beard and the nonchalance of an intentionally lost traveler, he told me he would travel across France every year for the last decade or so to attend the International Film Festival of La Rochelle. I shamefully confessed to him that I had never been. We then agreed to meet at the opening night. It was a screening of Jacques Demy’s The Young Girls of Rochefort. I was moved by the beauty and elegance of this movie which showed my hometown in a totally different way than the one I was used to, but above all, it was the the receptivity and the enthusiasm of the public that marked me the most. That night, I heard for the very first time of my life, applauses for cinema.

That Summer, I discovered Linder, Murnau, Clément, Wilder and many others, but most importantly, I discovered a new approach to movies, a new way to apprehend and appreciate them. All of that in this magical environment where for ten days a year, the city and its port-theaters become much more than mere cultural centers, but reservoirs of kindness and joy, of powerful and shared emotions, peaceful and friendly faces that we find one night or the other, in a dark room, a waiting line or a café. Raphaël became my friend, and we’ve shared many laughters and tears in front of movies ever since that night. To this day, he remains the most intelligent person I've ever met.

Two years after this fortunate encounter and after finishing high school, I moved to Philadelphia to study business, which idea I quickly abandoned to follow what I discovered in La Rochelle. At that time, my passion for movies grew exponentially. I had to spend a lot of time by myself during my first year in the United States. That year, I recall watching more than 250 films. In a way, movies kept me sain during this difficult transitional period, where for the very first time, I was away from my friends and family, in a country where I couldn't express myself properly.

I was studying at Temple University when I understood business wasn’t for me. I then transferred to Temple’s film school, not without having to face the incomprehension and initial disapproval of my parents. To this day, I still don’t know what exactly made them accept my choice, but I wake up everyday knowing my life would be totally different if I didn’t confront them and stand my ground.

Which brings me to a side note I hope would speak to other people who have a passion in the arts but are afraid to dedicate their life to it for parental or societal pressure is too high. Just fucking do it. If you are really committed to your craft, people will see it and all the discontent will melt into understanding. That’s what happened to my parents. I understand their initial disapproval: they fled the war and worked countless years for my sister and I to have an education. Their frame of thought is geared towards survival, so it was normal for them to want me to have a safe career. But today, they understood my disapproval towards what they thought would be best for me, maybe because they see how fulfilled I am. There’s nothing like waking up in the morning to do what you really enjoy. It's the kind of energy that pulls you out of bed although you had a 15 hour shift and a 4 hour night. Please do yourself a favor and do this to yourself. Because you deserve it and because life is too short not to. Of course it isn’t always easy. I shed many tears to be able to do what I really wanted to do. But if you believe that you have something to show the world that’s worth any amount of tears, then do it. I wake up feeling I’m at the right place every day, and that’s priceless to me.

So that’s what I did. I started study filmmaking at Temple University and got my first DSLR around the same time, a Canon 70D. I started to post photos on Instagram. One of my classmate noticed my work and for this reason, asked me to help her out as a 2nd Assistant Camera on a student film she was shooting. I couldn’t hide my excitement. People say that getting your first job is the hardest part and it is especially true in the film industry. This small two day shoot led me to many other shoots where I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience (more than in school, I have to say).

A few months after that, I decided to transfer to New York University to pursue filmmaking in what seemed to me a more nurturing environment. Not a single day have I regretted that choice. I arrived in New York in the Summer of 2017. During a filmmaking workshop, I met my friend Sam who would later become a director and collaborator I've been working with on a regular basis. He introduced me to analog photography (35mm) and I haven’t touched my digital camera every since. My still camera package now consist of a cheap but extremely reliable Nikon Nikkormat FT3, a Nikon 28mm f/2.8 AI-S, a Nikon 85mm f/1.4 AI-S and a Nikon 180mm f/2.8 AI-S that I never use and intend to sell for a 35mm or 50mm.

Today, I am about to begin my final year at NYU. I spend most of my weekends on film sets, primarily as a cinematographer, which is what I want to do in the future, but also as an assistant camera or electrician, which are great jobs to learn from others. I'm surrounded everyday with beautiful people that dedicate their life for their craft.

And that’s about it.

I’m not sure if anybody is going to take the time to read all this but if you do: thank you! And if you are into films, hit me up! It would be great -and not impossible- to create a filmmaker community on Steemit.

I wish you all a passionate life.

Luc