I had the chance to sit down with Matt Matches, an Academy of Creative Media major here at UHM. Matt is currently working on one of his biggest productions yet, a short film, “Bird of Prey.” This film, partly inspired by Jurassic Park, follows the story of an aspiring medical professional girl, who must prove to the attending doctor and nurse that she can save this man who has been attacked by this mysterious creature. While this short film may be low budget, it’s far from a typical 10th grade.
Before film, Matt was interested in photography. He first gained interest in high school when he joined the yearbook comittee and discovered his love for photography. Afer photography, Matt decided “Why not try moving pictures?” and thus this movie man was born.
His true passion is cinematography and when I asked him his best case scenario for his career path 10 years from now, he replied “I’d like to be a cinematographer for a major feature film and win an academy award.” Although, Matt recognizes that this is a best case. He stressed that film and cinematography is a life-long growing process, which is one of the things he likes most about it. “You always continue to grow and develop your art. You can always continue to learn.” While he hopes 10 years from now, he will have made his mark, he knows it is a long process and that the only way to refine the trade is through experience.
Although he loves cinematography, in his latest “Bird of Prey”, he took the role of director. Matt was seeking out a challenge in order to improve his communication and leadership skills, saying that he wanted to learn how to communicate his vision to others and step outside his comfort zown.
Matt gets his ideas in a variety of ways. He carries around a journal with him, in which he writes down any ideas he may have. He also enjoys going to a website called “megatracks” provided by the university, which has a selection of legal instrumenal music for students to use in their films. He says that listening to the music can sometimes spur the imagination and create a scene.
While creating a film and bring a vision to the screen is a complicated process, Matt believes the hardest part for him is deciding how a film will end. He says “the middle is the easiest part, but connecting the beginning to the end is very difficult.” The start and finale are how you convey the message of a film, so it can often be very challenging. You have to decide what message you want to convey, but once that’s done, filling in the middle is very easy,
Look for Bird of Prey to premiere at the end of the semester. And check out the promo here!