I almost feel guilty about that sometimes because I feel like there is something very narcissistic about art or feeling the need to make art. The other thing that I just can’t stop obsessing over is beauty. You know when you pull out wired headphones and you just need to sit with them and just look at the loops and untangle them? I think that the essay is, to this day, one of the best ways of untangling those headphones in your brain. I always think of my thoughts as headphones in a pocket. As much as I love all these visual art forms, the essay is still the the thing that can really untangle the world for me. It felt like the feelings that I was obsessing over could only really be dealt with through essays. ![]() That is why I started writing in the first place. I am really obsessed with difficult ideas. When you get a new idea, what does your curiosity look like? How do you start exploring things? And then realize,“Okay, the experience of being here is actually something that if I had a camera on, I would have missed the sounds of the cars going by on the street, or the sounds of bees buzzing while we’re on this farm.” There are other textures that you can find when you’re forced to work in a different medium, and that’s something that I’ve learned. I really want to show this, but I can’t.” You have to close your eyes and use your ears and try to see what is special about this place in an auditory way. When I started working more in documentary audio and podcast storytelling, I had to get over the fact that I’d be like, “I really want to see this. There’s a feeling with the speed, the pace, the texture of the environment that can only really be captured-at least in a way that feels fulfilling to me-by the documentary format. In my documentary practice,I’ve realized I want to tell stories where you would say to someone, ”You just had to be there.” There’s a certain feeling that a camera over someone’s shoulder as they’re running through the halls of Congress or through the streets of their city. Other times, if you don’t have to think about budget, the story will tell you what it needs. So often, stories have to be written because that’s most cost-effective. I may think that a story deserves to be a three-minute digital documentary, photo essay, and podcast, but if you don’t have the resources to make that happen, then you can’t. In journalism, budgets are a huge factor. I have philosophical thoughts as well as practical ones. How do you decide what medium to tell what story? ![]() Right? It’s translating an idea into an iteration of that idea, whether through words or through a visual medium. In a way, storytelling, journalism and other art making is a form of translation. It was something that I never really gave up. After school, my grandpa would pick me up and we would go to the DMV and I would translate things for him. This was during the process of them applying for their American citizenship. If you had asked me throughout those childhood years what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said that I wanted to be a translator, because I would always translate for my grandparents. I grew up in a Mexican and Bolivian household, and I was raised in my formative years by my Bolivian grandparents who didn’t speak great English. Since I was a kid I’ve really been obsessed with being able to communicate things in different languages. I’ve always thought about storytelling in different formats. Have you always been drawn to several mediums and formats? I think it feels silly sometimes to list them all, but it’s important because they’re all real. Sometimes the being has to come before the doing-or believing that you can. So do I get to call myself a screenwriter now or do I need some sort of institutional approval before I can claim that title? That’s been a question of my life. ![]() I’ve finally written my first pilot of a TV show. I would say podcast producer, video producer, director, painter, and DJ. By my count, you’re a writer, editor, podcast host, and painter.
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