In most film projects one has access to a limited set of resources, and this is especially true for those who work in independent film. Currently most productions lack funding, people, skill level, or time.  Sometimes a production lacks more than one of these elements or is so depleted in one of these resources that full shoot collapse is inevitable. Most projects lacked funding, which directly impacted our human resource. To compensate for this my primary adjustment has been to work with crews that are multi-talented. This has made getting through short time frame productions possible. In post production extending the time frame has compensated for the lack of funding and people. This is a double edge sword, as projects can experience unreasonable delays, but the quality has always increased dramatically. In pre-production that means acting as a writer, producer, and director.  As well in production, although my primary role has been director, I’ve often engaged with grip/electric, camera operation or 1rst ac’ing, to moving over to sound recordist. In post production I’ve done everything from editing, sound track creation, to VFX. This wide range of activities that are often necessary in small productions often don’t translate to large productions where value is found in being the absolute best in the field at one specific task. With that in mind there are several areas of overlap. The process of film making itself shares the same theories of shot design, exploration of locations, direction of acting, and overall story construction scene by scene. And these are the heart of film making, which in turn gives the audience a valuable experience.

Welcome to the new Nitrate Films website.  As I’ve been working across several mediums of technology ranging form social media, web design, to sound track creation, video capture, and editing I’ve had time to consider how I am using technology.  In our present state much of the technology that we use has a quality of being a double edge sword.  We can use web cams to interact with our loved ones over seas but can also be subject to others watching us. Similar attributes can be seen with social media in general. I have often found myself to be reluctant to adopt new technology due to the vulnerabilities it can create. It seems that we must not forget to not only to choose what technology we use, but also how we use it. In order to do that we must understand how the technology operates, and how others use it.

Nitrate Films has been a long project in the making.  I’ve recently devoted myself to the creative arts exclusively and hope you will enjoy the work you find here. There have been many talented artists that have gone to astounding lengths to make all of this happen, and my personal thanks goes out to all of them.

Sincerely,

Salvador Luna