I realized I had a strong allurement to filmatic imagery in 1994 after attending a lecture on semiotics. Since then I have become increasingly fascinated by the use of symbolism and semiotics in film and the power of juxtaposition inherent in montage techniques. I enrolled in a number of film classes while at grad school, these classes contextualized my intellectual admiration for the moving image while allowing me to explore film as both an aesthetic and as a medium of communication within my theatrical work. I have written several papers on film; The Matrix, The Truman Show and Jean Baudrillard, Hegal and Withnail and I, and a discussion document for Brokeback Mountain. I also lecture on semiotics in Withnail and I, Platoon and The Last Temptation of Christ.
My interest in film strongly influences my approach to playwrighting and directing. The more I work with film the more I think in film and the more my writing and theatrical works are shaped by the differences, the idiosyncrasies and the aesthetic challenges between the mediums. If pressed I will admit that my interest is not in making theater or film but in creating work that lives somewhere in the absence that lies between. If really pressed I will admit that the exploration of that absence is better served through film. I explored documentary film and New Media techniques when documenting WordBRIDGE and providing advertising content for www.RBIhornell.com. I am proficient with both Avid and Final Cut Pro and also with Final Draft.
The following excerpt from Robert Rodriguez's "Ten Minute Film School" is particularly relevant to my approach to film production. There are many people working in theater right now, who could learn a lot by studying film.
"What you need to learn is that being creative is not enough in this business. You have to become technical. Creative people are born creative - you're lucky. Technical people however can never be creative. Its something they'll never get. You can't buy it, find it, study it - you're born with it. Too many creative people don't want to learn how to be technical, so what happens? they become dependent on technical people. Become technical, you can learn that. If you're creative and technical, you're unstoppable. (Robert Rodriguez. 10-minute Film School)