Adona Pjetergjoka
Professor Zoe
IDC 1001H
23 October 2013
A Passion for Filming
Ameer Kazmi’s passion for filming and precise eye for photography has helped him reach and develop his goals thus far in the field of filming. He just graduated Townsend Harris High School and is currently a freshman at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, a well-known arts and design school. Since his early teenage years, Ameer knew he didn’t want filming to be just a hobby, but rather a career. Using hard work, imagination, and a group of good friends, Ameer was able to conduct projects that involved advertising different community events by filming them.
Question (Adona): Hello, Ameer. To start off, can you share some general background about yourself?
Answer (Ameer): Well, for some general background about myself: I was born and raised in New York City; I just graduated Townsend Harris and now I’m a filming major at the School of Visual Arts. That’s pretty much about it.
Q: When did you first become interested in photography and filming? Who influenced you?
A: No specific influences. I started skate boarding first and did that for a while. Then, one day I picked up a camera to start recording my friends’ skate boarding. Also, a lot of my influence came from people who film for skate boarding companies professionally. Once I started getting more into films, narratives, and stuff like that, I picked up on directors; I was mainly interested in directors who worked with their communities. I honestly just went from there and fell in love with filming.
Q: When did you start skate boarding? Also, how are filming and skating related?
A: I started the summer of 2009 and shortly after I picked up a camera. Even though people probably think skating and filming have no correlation, they are actually very closely related. Skate video premiers are the reason why skate boarding has blown up so much; they include feature length films and have actual screenings. I went to a skate video premier last month and it showed me how much skate boarding is portrayed by using different settings in a community.
Q: You mentioned before that you picked on some directors who indirectly influenced you. Can you name a few of your favorite directors?
A: This is a tough question. My favorite directors would have to be Stanley Kubrick, Wes Anderson, Daniel Aronofsky, Spike Lee, and there’s definitely more. These directors are all different, but what they share is their ability to use mediums to portray exactly what’s going on in their heads.
Q: Since you just graduated high school, how do you think it prepared you for filming?
A: Well, my high school didn’t really offer much to cater to my passions since it wasn’t an arts high school, but I met a couple friends who shared similar interests with me. I developed bonds with them and we sparked off of each other’s creativity.
Q: Did having friends that share similar interests with you help you expand on your ideas throughout high school?
A: Definitely. When I was about 14-years-old, my friends and I started a skating company called Deki and it’s still carrying on to this day. I currently have a meeting at a skate shop with the owner of Deki to discuss which merchandise will be put in the shop. It relates to filming and photography because basically all of the advertising done for Deki has to do with films and capturing pictures of different skating techniques.
Q: Did you take any art related classes in high school?
A: One class that I was fond of was called French Cinema, which I took during my senior year of high school. It wasn’t a very professional course, but we screened a few French films and I learned a lot just by observing them. I actually ended up getting an award for French Cinema.
Q: Have you done any projects during your high school career that allowed you to express your filming and photography skills?
A: Yes, one of my biggest projects involved spreading the word about the damage Hurricane Sandy causes last year on many neighborhoods in New York. I did a documentary that was actually filmed at my high school with a few of my friends; it was a good way to use our medium and art form to speak out for our community. We followed the lives of a couple people that we knew from high school who were really devastated by the storm. We filmed them through their neighborhoods to capture the damage. It was a changing experience to see and film firsthand how greatly Hurricane Sandy had impacted those neighborhoods.
Q: What do you study at SVA? Why did you choose SVA?
A: I’m currently in a film foundation course, so I take classes like Introduction to Production, Film History, Narrative to Writing, Introduction to Avid. Narrative to Writing really helps me understand how directors portray their films on paper because I read screenplay writing and literature. Next semester, I’ll be taking Introduction to Final Cut to discover more about software used in the professional world. Next year, I plan on focusing on cinematography.
Q: Why did you decide to major in Cinematography? Also, do you think the classes that you’re currently taking will help you with your major in the future?
A: Cinematography has been one of my interests for a long time because I want to be able to bring the ideas of directors to life. Not only does cinematography include shooting a scene, but also developing it and making it reach out to the audience.
Q: Which class or classes do you enjoy the most so far?
A: I would say my favorite class is Introduction to Production because it’s preparing me for my major; it’s very hands-on and I’m learning the technical and physical aspect of creating a film based on different factors. This class is also helping me discover what I like to do most on set. My Narrative to Writing class is also pretty interesting; it has inspired me to write at home about different films because it helps me expand on my ideas.
Q: Are you currently working on any projects?
A: Yes, I’m working on a 32nd Spot for Vans with an advertisement student on a complete 360-advertisement campaign. It’s going to be submitted to a couple of award associations in the middle of November like ADC and the Cannes Film Festival.
Q: Were you always a filming God?
A: [Laughter] No, I was not always a filming God and I still don’t consider myself that. There’s always room for improvement.
