Feature by Susanna Chang
Photos by Rommel Nunez
Can you introduce yourself and your work?
My name is Lucy Blumenfield. I'm a junior studying film and media studies at Columbia College. I am a photographer, filmmaker, and director. I work in photo and film medium right now, but who knows what’ll happen in the future?
Could you describe a couple of projects you've worked on in the past?
I co-directed and co-wrote a short film called ‘Countdown’ last October with my creative partner Arielle Friedman, who’s a student at GS. We actually just finished post-production on it and it's going into festival applications right now. I made a film in high school but this felt like a new moment for me as a filmmaker. We also shot another film together in May––we didn't write this one. We were in a creative class together and read a short play that had been written by a Columbia MFA student and our professor connected us with her. So we adapted the play into a short film and shot that in May. I also directed a music video last month that’s still being edited. Recently, I've been doing more technical roles, which I guess isn't super related to me as an artist, but I feel like that kind of stuff has helped me think about film in a different way, like all the stuff that is behind directing or writing something.
The interesting thing about movies and films and music videos is that there are so many people working on the production, which is easy to forget sometimes.
Totally! When I was a photographer, it was very much centered on me and my art, but since getting into film, it’s been very much a collaborative process. It’s me and other people all working towards the same goal, and I find that really interesting because there’s creative input from all these different people and you wouldn’t have made the same thing if it was just you.
How did you get into photography and film initially?
For photography, I think I was in 5th or 6th grade on Instagram and I was like “Wow, I could do that, I'm gonna try to do that.” I tried and realized I can't do that, actually. I also did this project in 7th grade where I edited a photo every day for a year. But I think maybe in high school I kind of knew I was focusing on photography to eventually kind of transition into film, because film always felt like the next step. I learned a lot about composition and lighting and color from photography which I think has really helped me as I moved to film.
Self Portrait From Quarantine
That's really cool. I noticed from your website that you have worked on so many different kinds of projects--wedding photography, portraits, digital photography, 35mm, short films, etc., yet there still feels like there's a consistent style or theme, whether you're photographing a landscape or a concert or a group of people. How would you describe your style?
It sounds really weird because all photography is made of light and color but I like focusing on specific interactions of light––how light plays with a subject matter, and also how colors interact with each other.
People as a subject matter are also very interesting to me, which is pretty consistent in my work I think. Maybe part of the reason why I kind of stopped photography is that it became harder for me to find subject matter that was meaningful to me and I started prioritizing what I was doing, and not just how things looked.
With films, I could take a lot longer to focus on a project and what it meant to me rather than just taking a quick image. But I still do some concert photography and music is a big part of my work. Concert photography is fun because I can capture the energy of a performer. Music videos are a really collaborative process because I can take what I hear in a song and create it visually. A lot of the time my subject matter does have to do with music and other forms of expression that I can re-represent visually.
For films, what kinds of subject matter have you been finding meaningful?
It's jumped around a bit.
My first project, "Countdown" is a coming-of-age story of a girl discovering her sexuality while having a really strong female friendship and the intimacy in that relationship. We talked about not having a lot of super supportive female friendships growing up, so we represented that a little bit-- Arielle and I took a bunch of experiences we had and wove them into one thing. The emotions that the main character experiences are very close to how I felt growing up and I still feel this way, in terms of other people perceiving you and your own goals and desires. So my own personal experience influenced me in that film.
The film we worked on in May was a really good play that we both really resonated with. But I had a harder time directing it since it wasn't something that I had written. So I was trying to find my own emotions in a story that wasn't really mine. That's where I think it being a collaborative process was helpful, like working with the cinematographer. We could discuss how to portray the story. For music videos, it's mostly my own reaction to the song and how I see that visually, along with talking to the artist about what they want. But the emotion in the song is really inspiring for me.
Stills from Countdown
Your collaborator, Arielle, how did you guys meet and bond?
We met in a film discussion section. We realized we had a mutual friend who has an art magazine that we both really connected to, and we both really liked the visual aesthetic. So we realized we had similar tastes and interests in theme and subject matter. We did these two films and now we’re at a point where we’ve gotten a lot of practice working together so we’re going to help support each other to do our own projects.
Digital shot from quarantine
I'm curious about where you usually get inspiration from. Is it mostly from your own personal experiences or do you find inspiration when you consume other content that you enjoy?
Again, I think music is a big part of capturing emotions that I'm already feeling, and then I kind of use that to get back into that emotion. Past experiences and remembering the way I felt in those moments is really helpful to me because film, at least for me, has a big focus on evoking emotion. I find it really interesting when people experience art and have a similar emotional response to it. I want to be able to create that emotional response. Listening to music is a way to get me into that.
What kind of music do you like to listen to?
I always say indie or alternative but that's such a big category. I think my guilty pleasures is 2000s or 2010s indie, like The National or Death Cab for Cutie, but I also like contemporary alternative. But those are the bands that I unfortunately always keep going back to. I can't get away from them!
Do you have a dream artist that you would love directing a music video for or going on tour with?
I can't say Phoebe Bridgers because that would be too basic at this point...Fontaine DC, a post-punk band--that would be fun. I guess it kind of varies depending on what I'm listening to. I really like the new Indigo de Souza album so she would be super cool to work with.
Photos from Hot Flash Heat Wave Tour
You talked about this a little already but I’d like to hear more about your process and workflow. Are they different for when you're making films vs when you're shooting photos?
Yeah, if I'm doing a photoshoot with someone, or doing music portraiture, normally I would talk to them about what they’re generally looking for in terms of vibe and location. And then I like using Pinterest. I think it's super helpful to have a collection of different stuff that you can try and be inspired by. Again, for films, a playlist is helpful. For this recent music video I was working on for example, the artist and I were talking about what we were thinking and I wrote a kind of script that corresponded to different parts of the song. Then I did a shot list with the cinematographer where we broke down what each segment in the script would look like. I did a preshooting cut list for this project and think it was really helpful since it was a narrative music video. We gave that list to the editor, like a roadmap. It's a lot of pre-production so that when you’re actually shooting you know exactly what you want.
Teaser for Immutable Uncertainties, shot in May
What about post-production? Is that also a big part of your work as well?
When I first started film, I would edit everything myself, do everything myself. But I’ve been working with more people recently. I edited the first short film myself but for the second one we worked with a sound designer, colorist, and composer. It’s very collaborative, you go back and forth or meet in person and discuss all the cuts.
What is it like to go from being a photographer, which as you mentioned is very based on your vision and you generally act as the sole director, to being a part of something really collaborative? Was that a challenge for you or did it feel natural to make that transition?
Having it be more collaborative allows you to do so much more. It feels really expansive compared to photography. I do want to get back into more experimental film where it is very much an individual process where I know what I want and I’m editing it and capturing it myself. But I think they're different and yield different results--both are super fun and interesting.
I'm interested in this idea of music influencing your work. You talked about how when you're listening to music, you're able to visualize how you want it to look. Where do you think that visual language comes from for you?
My dad's a musician and music was an important part of growing up for me. I associate memories with certain music I was listening to as a child. My brother is also a musician. Because music is tied to life experience for me, and life experience is super visual, that's maybe why. Music is one way of expressing something and for me, and visuals are just another extension of that.
Music video for James the Seventh. Cinematography by Lucy
What is it like translating between all of these different mediums—writing, visuals. and music?
I am just starting now to think about another short film that I maybe want to write. It's still a vague idea. I'm very much thinking about how to create structure but also talk about these themes and emotions and how much I need to focus on events. I'm starting by creating a playlist. Also, I find it easier to start in poetry because poetry to me feels more like a more visual type of writing. So if I can start with small visual vignettes then it's easier for me to transition into traditional narrative.
What are some of your favorite films? Do you watch a lot of films?
I don't watch as many films as I should. That’s why I like studying film because I'm forced to watch a lot of movies. The last one I saw was a movie called Zola. It was really beautiful visually. Eliza Hittman, Chloe Zhao, and Andrea Arnold are some of my favorite directors. They capture very raw experiences, especially coming-of-age, female-centered narratives, visually but not super explicitly.
You said earlier that when you were doing photography you kind of saw film as your next step. Now that you've made some short films, what do you see as the next step and where do you want to go from here?
The technical side of film is super interesting to me. I think I do enjoy being in a creative role but being an assistant camera and working on lighting in film is a way to supplement income after college while I'm trying to direct which obviously is a lot harder to do full time. I work at an equipment rental house for film. I like it and I'm learning a lot about lighting. But artistically I definitely want to keep doing music videos. When I was directing that music video a couple of weeks ago, I thought “Wow this is really right for me because it's taking someone else's artistic expression and meshing it with my own.” Eventually, I want to direct features but that is a long time from now. I can also see myself going back to photography, especially to work with musicians again. But right now I'm very much in the film world.
What is it like being a student and also having these projects to work on?
Last year it felt pretty good but this year I feel like I just want to work full time in film! It's hard and I'm trying to find that balance right now, like how many projects I can take on while still being in school? During the summer, it was like “Oh, I can really see myself doing this full time,” because that was all I was doing. Now I'm working towards trying to find that balance.
What about the distribution of your work? I would assume that sharing something like photography looks very different from sharing something like a short film.
I was posting my photography a lot on my Instagram and that was my main way of distributing my work. And I kind of stopped posting because film is such a longer process and you’re not continually producing content. In a way I’m really grateful for that because in some ways I felt like I was photographing for Instagram, which is related to what I was saying about how I was losing connection with the subject matter because I was just pumping out content. But people don’t watch short films as much and that’s tough because you always want as many people to be a viewer. But I do appreciate that change in workflow and output.
I’m still trying to figure out how film distribution works. We’re submitting both short films to festivals so hopefully it’ll screen at some festivals and eventually be released online. So we’ll be able to share it that way.
Thank you so much, Lucy! Where else can we find your work and stay up to date?
My website is https://www.lucyellephotography.com/ and my Instagram is @lucyblumenfield.