Young, Talented, and Behind the Camera

A conversation with Isidore Bethel ’11.

In Hollywood, the million-dollar dresses and private lives of celebrities have always to some degree overshadowed the cinematographic values and aesthetics of the movies they appear in. As a result, movie critics are left struggling with a question: Who are the real heroes in film-making industry? Is it the producers, who merge great financial resources with prestigious and talented actors, or the directors who are able to astonish their viewers with their creativity? Although the answer remains ambiguous, there are still many determined producers and directors entering the industry for different artistic and economic purposes.

Isidore Bethel, a young director and freshman at Harvard College, is taking solid steps towards having a permanent name in today’s movie and advertisement industry without deviating from his ideals and unique style. I had the opportunity to ask Isidore a few questions about his developing career in film.

Q: What prompted your interest in animation and movies?

A: I’m coming from a small private high school in Atlanta, in which I’ve had a lot of freedom both academically and artistically. During my freshman year of high school, I decided that animation and filmmaking was something that I would like to do all my life.

In my high school years, I had the chance to take cinematography classes. Between 2000 and 2004, I developed an interest in stop motion animation, using clay and Lego. In 2004, I began to work with objects and record live-action video with actors. For at least four years, I’ve been working with a group of friends who are also into video and animation.

I can’t imagine myself not working on visual arts. When I’m not shooting a movie, I’m usually working on scripts and upcoming projects. I guess it is a way for me to distill what’s is important to me and what I care about most in my life among all other small details. I love to look at my movies and recall the experiences I’ve had when working on each of them. This is not to imply that they are diary pieces, but they all have individual meanings.

Q: How would you describe your work to the viewers who have not yet seen any of it?

A: I’d divide my work into two categories: stop motion and live-action. The production of stop motion movies requires an animation process with actual objects. You go frame by frame to give motion to the objects and you have absolute control over the final image. This is a very insular and individual experience, because all the work is a reflection of what I have in my head.

Live-action movies require much more communication between the director, crew and actors. There is a lot more collaboration as well in a coherent theme. The advantage is that I usually achieve something that I cannot achieve on my own in terms of finding convincing ways to tell a story. The more ways you tell a single story, broader your audience is.

Q: Are you working on a new project?

A: I’m working on a feature film which is almost done. It has been a year and a half. Its called Terminus and I should say that it is really close to the perfect film idea that I’ve had in my mind for a long time.

Q: How are you planning to use filmmaking at Harvard and beyond?

A: I’m definitely going to be a Visual and Environmental Studies major at Harvard and pursue a career on what I like most and what I’m good at. Ideally, what I would love to do is what David Lynch does right now. He makes a lot of money from commercials, which allows him to be free of studio money and devote time to other projects. He is able to work in both worlds and is never bored.

Q: What is your opinion on the Oscars?

A: I don’t think they represent the best films. They are based on politics and who hired who, who knows who relations. It’s more about the show than substance, but it is a good show nevertheless.

Q: Do you think directing a movie is a talent or is it something that you can develop by practicing?

A: I think there are definitely many ways to direct a movie. You can surround yourself with talented people, great writers, famous actors, and a creative crew like Martin Scorsese does. But you have to be a great diplomat to work with all those talented people. You can also be like Andrew Bujalski, and work very intimately with a small crew and unknown actors but still create really good movies. But in either case, I think there has to be talent and passion.

Q: Do you have any favorite directors?

A: Andrei Tarkovsky, Andrew Bujalski, Frank Capra, John Sayles, Werner Herzog, Terrence Malick, Louis Malle, Bernardo Bertolucci, Ross McElwee, David Lynch.

Q: What movies do you think a person should see before he or she dies?

A: The Belly of an Architect by Peter Greenaway: Dense images that don’t get reduced to symbolism. Duck Season by Fernando Eimbcke: An ordinarily beautiful Mexican film about two buddies on lazy Sunday. High School by Frederick Wiseman: A documentary on a Pennsylvania high school in the sixties. Calmly shattering. Killer of Sheep by Charles Burnett: Better than anything you saw at the Oscars and made for under $5000. These are not necessarily my favorite movies, but they are ones that left me feeling weightless.

Pelin Kivrak ’11 (pkivrak@fas) wants Isidore’s autograph as an investment.