UC Santa Cruz grad up for major independent film award

(From the Register-Pajaronian)

Over the last half-decade, University of California, Santa Cruz, graduates Aaron Platt and Cam Archer have worked together on just about everything. Platt, a movie photographer, and Archer, a writer/director, were each pursuing their own avenues to Hollywood when they met at school and began working together. The filmmakers, both 24, have produced a variety of short films and music videos since 2003, several of which have been shown at the Sundance Film Festival.

Though the films garnered some good reviews after the Sundance screenings, fame was hardly beating down the door, Platt said. Still, the men were more interested in doing work they enjoyed than striking it rich, so they began work on the decidedly odd “Wild Tigers I Have Known.”

The surreal “Tigers” follows 13-year-old Logan, a shy middle-schooler who realizes he has a crush on Rodeo Walker — the coolest kid in class. To win Rodeo’s attentions, Logan develops a new persona, named Leah, who manages to seduce Rodeo into a secret rendezvous. But when the time comes for them to meet, Logan has to deal with his problems and desires as himself.

Platt said he was as surprised as anyone when he found out a few weeks ago that his work on “Tigers” had been nominated for a Film Independent Spirit Award, one of the top honors in independent cinema. “Tigers” joins such films as “Half Nelson” and “Little Miss Sunshine” in the competition, and Platt will face off against the artists behind “Four Eyed Monsters” and “Pan’s Labyrinth.” The awards ceremony will be held Saturday.

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Register-Pajaronian: Is “Tigers” your best work so far?

Aaron Platt: I think the film is definitely one of the strongest visual pieces of work I have done since I started shooting movies. What I respond to with Cam’s movies is how much freedom he lets the camera have with the subject. We starting working together a couple years before, and one of the best things about our collaborations is how we try to really push the visuals to tell the stories. Cam’s dialogue is also very poetic and subtle, but we really use the camera in a creative way that I enjoy. I think it keeps the audience guessing where things are going — waiting to see what’s around the next corner.

R-P: Can you tell me a little about your relationship with Cam Archer? Do you guys have a process that you always follow when you work together, or is it different every time? How does UCSC figure in?

AP: UCSC works into the story because that’s how Cam and I met. We met in a photography class briefly at first, and I think we sort of had this unspoken artistic attitude and drive toward things around us. It was like an anxious anticipation to create something new in a very liberal and relaxed environment. We eventually found ourselves, by chance, in a film class together and it was like, “Oh, you do movies too?” We were shortly shooting our first film together a few weeks later for a class project. It all stemmed out of a mutual drive to create art — and not wait for someone to show us how to do it, either. I think we both knew that if we worked together, we would be stronger as a team than to move through film school as only individuals. I kind of came from the technical visual side of things, and Cam came from a writing background that clearly stood out when I saw (the) first film he shot himself.

R-P: You’re in some pretty distinguished company with the Spirit Award nomination. Were you surprised to be nominated, or was it something you knew you were building up to?

AP: Getting nominated came to me like winning the lottery without even buying a ticket. I got a phone call from (Cam) the morning the nominations were announced. I don’t know how he managed to find out so quick, but I can tell you I was still sleeping when the phone rang and it took a good while before it registered. I have never been recognized for “best cinematography” in any festival and have been shooting movies for years, so to get recognized at what many would consider one of the highest honors (in the business) was a real nice compliment and felt like a lot of hard work was paying off. I think my chances are a little slim, though, to be honest. I am very proud of the film “Wild Tigers,” but we are talking about movies shot for $20 million. Let’s face it, money can have an influence on the ways movies are photographed.

R-P: You seem to use a lot of shots of girls with old cameras, people in masks and “Graduate” -esque underwater angles. What does it all mean? I guess I’m asking: Do the recurring themes carry specific messages, or are they simply powerful images you like to use?

AP: I don’t how to really describe the shots that I get in the movies I shoot. They definitely have a “dreamlike” quality to them I’d say. I’m trying to make an image that says something poetic and captures a feeling that means something to the audience. Isn’t that why we all take pictures? To capture a moment that means something to the viewer?

R-P: The video for Mainstay’s song “This Could Be” screams California. Was it shot around Santa Cruz? What are some of the best and worst places you’ve worked, and can horrible conditions wind up yielding good shots?

AP: That music video was shot actually on the outskirts of Los Angeles. It’s very difficult to get different looks out of L.A., and when a project calls for a non-urban environment, you can either go west to the beach, north to the fields and hills, east to the desert, or occasionally find these small pockets that feel neutral and non-specific. It is a very California look, with the sunshine and golden fields in that video. I’d say the worst locations are the small ones with white walls. When you are supposed to create dramatic moods and interesting compositions in a 10- by 10-foot, white-walled apartment, it can be very difficult. I feel there is sometimes an expectation when you’re shooting for new directors to create great shots with just a camera and a room, and sometimes people don’t realize that a great photo comes from a great location, art decor, costume and interesting subject. It’s easy to forget that so much goes into getting good images.

R-P: Your horror movie “The Lodge” looks really interesting. A lot of your stuff seems to have a similar creepiness to it, but you’ve also got pretty upbeat stuff like the music videos you did for Waking Ashland. Do you prefer one mood to the other?

AP: I’m sort of at this point of discovery where I am trying to get experience working with all genres and forms of cinematography. “The Lodge” was my first horror feature and so it drew me in just by the nature of having a sense of darkness to it, probably the same thing that drew me into Cam’s writing style. I’m definitely more intrigued by the stories that are true to life. Not to say “The Lodge” is a real story based on actual experiences or anything. I just don’t think people live these fantasies with the upper-class couple falling in love in a coffee shop and getting married to be “happy ever after.” I’m more interested in seeing what happens with that couple when things are at their low point, and the real challenges of human nature begin to manifest.

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The Film Independent 2007 Spirit Awards ceremony will air live at 2 p.m. Saturday on the Independent Film Channel. It will also show on American Movie Channel at 10 p.m. For more information on Aaron Platt and to view his work, visit www.aaronplatt.com.