Christian Moriarty ... A wizard behind the curtain of "Near"

Christian and I worked closely together from the very start of this film project. We location scouted together ... ran through blocking together ... planned endlessly together.  We were joined at the hip because we had to be. Not only was Christian the DP, he was also the film's editor – and that meant he needed to be dialed into every facet of the story, top to bottom.

We've probably shot over 100 TV spots together, but this project gave us new territory to explore. After all, planning every scene and transition for a 16- minute dramatic short film is a slightly different animal from shooting a :15 commercial. I focused primarily on directing the talent and blocking the scenes, making occasional adjustments to the design of certain shots. Christian oversaw all things camera, owning every camera angle, lens size & dolly move.

What impresses me most about Christian is his unflappable zen-like personality that keeps him relaxed and focused for such long stretches of time. Day 1 was 15 hours long, and he was just as enjoyable to be around in hour 14 as he was getting ready for the day's first shots. 

Christian gets ready to shoot the opening scene where Elena and Alderman are seated on the park bench. Prior to the shoot Christian had every camera move and angle meticulously diagramed to match my blocking.