Anna Kuzmina: I started as a visual artist. I went to art school, then took private lessons and got into college. I was getting better at drawing but I was very frustrated that I couldn’t fully translate the beauty of the world around me. When I picked up my first digital camera I instantly felt a relief. It became a medium to capture the ideas that my mind conjured. Movies were a huge influence too. Movies like “The Bow” by Kim Ki Duk and “Dolls” by Takeshi Kitano inspired my first personal photography projects. Arthouse films challenged my perspective on what I thought I already knew. Films are a powerful storytelling tool and that made me want to be a filmmaker.

Kuzmina: There were a lot of people who impacted my artistic journey. My mother, Svetlana, always decorated our photo albums before we even knew what scrapbooking was. That’s where my love for vision boards comes from!  She scripted and directed my birthdays full of games and entertainment within a modest household being my example of how to create a script, direct a project, and problem-solve with limited resources. The Impressionist painters and their vision of color, and ability to capture a moment in time impacted my attention to the magic of a sincere candid moment. Lars Von Trier’s films challenged the norm I knew and made me question it. My drawing teacher, Sergei, taught me that it doesn’t matter if I have a talent, I can learn anything and through practice and consistency be excellent. My dance mentor, Safi, taught me how to understand and work with my mind and body to be able to dance. My husband, Justin, showed me how to take my editing skills to the next level and always has encouraged me to pursue my creative ideas.

Kuzmina: Ever since the pandemic, there has been a noticeable increase in the use of dance in brand videos. Marketing strategies have been leveraging the wide audience reach of dancers by sponsoring their content creation. It’s a great way to showcase a brand in an organic engaging way. One recent example of this strategy is Gap's viral campaign taking over Instagram with #LinenMoves. I collaborated with a talented dancer named Jai’Quin on her #LinenMoves. Here's a breakdown of our process:

After the edit, we used Frame.io, a platform where clients can review videos and leave comments at specific moments for any necessary changes. And here is the finished product!

Kuzmina: When I started transitioning from static image to moving image I kept reminding myself that I don’t have to stay still. A huge difference that video work has from photos is that we can capture motion going in 5 different directions: closer to the subject, away from the subject, around it, looking at it from above, and looking at it from below. These directions can be categorized under 6 camera movements: zoom in/out, tilt, pan, track, and arch. Each of those movements creates a different feeling for the audience. These are just a few movements to name! ;-)

Kuzmina: The word “tableau” refers to a picturesque grouping of persons or objects, creating a striking scene or a representation of a picture, statue, or scene by one or more persons suitably costumed and posed. It’s usually easy to recognize when the scene has a very striking composition and one distinct motion.

Every year in collaboration with House of Chow we create the #UnapologeticallyAsian Campaign for social media to celebrate AAPI Heritage Month. This year we had the opportunity to work with a group of dancers to utilize the “Tableau” technique.

Using the “Tableau” technique felt like a perfect introduction of the dancers in the final edit of the video.

CREDITS

🔻Artistic Director & Conception: @yvonnehchow 🔻Creative Direction: @aknouveau 🔻Featured Dancers: @hovie_nguyen @nikki_dolly @shanna_slimboogie @yvonnehchow @brenda.bklyn 🔻Cinematographer & Editor: @aknouveau 🔻Photographer: @cirstyburton 🔻BTS Photographer: @peteralegre 🔻Documentary Film Crew: @ziyi_zhhh @justinekaneda 🔻Stylist: @matsine 🔻Supporting Stylist: @raphaelanyc 🔻Make-Up Artist: @danilaw_mua 🔻Lighting Assistant: @kevin_qian_tho 🔻Set Design: @kevin_qian_tho @yvonnehchow 🔻Production Leads: @bhagavan_angulo @abby_enak 🔻Production Assistants: @_audreychou_ @zimmi9 🔻Venue: @culturelablic

Kuzmina: I spend a good amount of time defining my style. When I begin prepping for a project most of the time after talking to a client I already have an idea. I find images that exemplify the lighting mood and/or color palette close to what I envision.

To develop our sense of personal style, when looking at images created by others, my suggestion is to ask questions like: What do I like about this image? is it lighting, is it composition, genre, etc?  Answering those questions will begin to help us develop our artistic signature. To ensure we’re not copying the images that we were inspired by, I think the most important part is to add your own experience.  Creating personal projects is going to help generate those valuable experiences that will become a foundation for our originality.

Kuzmina: Today more and more sets embrace continuous lighting to accommodate for video and photo. I'm going to share how we achieved this beautiful gradient look for our collaboration with House of Chow.

For this 2023 campaign, we’ve decided to pay tribute to the House of Chow logo by incorporating a sunset-inspired gradient. Yvonne Chow and I have been collaborating on the #UnapologeticallyAsian campaign since its inception in 2015. Yvonne is a choreographer, dancer, advocate, and founder of House of Chow.

We brought together a team including an amazing designer Gardrenia Zhou, two skillful MUAs Timothy and Jocelyn, and of course my other favorite collaborator photographer Yeka Gyadu.

After releasing the series of reels on the House of Chow Instagram account, engagement increased by 200%. We were thrilled!

Kuzmina: I can’t live without  Google Calendar. As a freelancer, I’m a producer and creative at the same time. It takes being organized and motivated. I have different calendars color-coded for different parts of my life. Meetings, deadlines, and work schedules all go into my calendar to help me with time management.

Kuzmina: My number #1 piece of advice is to create a space in your life to have a practice. By practice, I mean the way you train in your art. It means it’s safe to experiment, mess up and fail. I find that having a safe practice like that is crucially important for creativity. I look at it as a 3-year-old learning how to draw. The little wiggle thingy is “perfect” because it’s the first step to drawing a straight line. Growing older I’ve felt like I’m not allowed to make wiggly things anymore because I am a professional with over a decade of experience. Through creating a practice for myself I was able to reconnect with my learning spirit. In my practice, I strive to let go of expectations and to create work for the sake of figuring something out and not the result of it. Easier said than done but I recommend it to all creatives!

-----------------------------------

Stay #InTheLuupe 💌 Subscribe to our newsletter to get conversations with today's most inspiring creatives and stories on creative culture sent straight to your inbox.