Interview with Nick Carter
We spoke to Nick Carter, a newly-signed director and DOP at Movidiam Talent about his work, influences, and versatility.
Who is Nick Carter?
I’m a London based filmmaker who makes documentaries and branded content with personal narratives at the heart.
You have a strong background in music — how do you feel this influences the work you do now?
My love for film comes from the same place that my love for music originally did — the love of making stuff. And you can’t make a good piece of film without well thought through sound design. It’s so important to get that right. Even if something is shot terribly, with good sound, people will give it time. However if you reverse that, they drop off much more quickly. Spending time really perfecting a film’s sound design allows the audience to connect with what they are watching in a much deeper way. Good sound can tell a story all by itself — and understanding that as a director gives you a whole other world of possibilities when telling stories.
How about your business background — does this help with managing client expectations?
It’s always important when working with brands that you understand how to talk to them — and having experience working within the advertising world has given me the ability to do that. Understanding what a brand’s objectives are and being sensitive to the fact they are funding the project, so their opinion is not only completely valid, but welcome, is mega important. Ultimately as a Director you’re being employed to deliver a film that works for them. If you’re trying to exercise your creative muscle by going so far left that you’re not presenting the brand in a way that alines with who they are or the message they are trying to promote, you’ve not done your job. So being able to initially have a deeper conversation about the brands own objectives is crucial to producing something that everyone is going to be happy with. After that it’s all about planning. I’m a big advocate of planning every little detail. As there are so many different parts to making any type of film, film sets are widely understood to be industrial manufactures of anxiety — and that is mainly down to bad planning. Taking the client along with you as you plan every step should ensure that there are as little surprises in the final product as possible, which not only manages expectations but keeps everyone confident, focused, calm and, most importantly, happy on set.
How did you make the move into film?
When I left school (which was unfortunately a long, long time ago) after studying photography, I worked in the music industry for 3 years before moving into advertising. So I’ve been in and around film, photography and branded content for as long as I can remember. However I’ve always been someone that likes to be on the front line getting their hands dirty, and commissioning film crews to work on briefs for brands was the exact opposite of that. So eventually I thought enough was enough and I need to fulfil my passion. So I grabbed my camera, quit my job, contacted anyone and everyone I knew that worked in any type of business that required video, and never looked back.
You’ve worked with some incredible talents, and often reflect strong personal narratives — how do you balance that with the needs of a brand?
With the invention of social media there are so many different places and ways that brands can talk to their audiences — and just pushing beauty shots of products isn’t going to get you noticed in a world full of noise. So we need to be a little more inventive — and the best way to create a deeper connection with an audience is through creating a strong personal narratives. For brands to really connect with people they need to feel human and show they have a personality. Thankfully, the majority of businesses I work with understand that and aren’t afraid to reveal the heart and soul of their brand — as that’s what ultimately gets people’s attention.
How do you go about crafting a sense of story in branded content?
As a filmmaker it’s our job to take the seemingly random chaos of life and superimpose a narrative frame on it to show truths that resonate with people. A brand story can have a tight framework and strategy, but it won’t work if it doesn’t have any element of human connection. So you need to think cleverly by drawing attention away from the obvious. The reason why any brand makes film is to bolster their business, but you want the viewer to forget that is the main agenda. Good quality content that just so happens to be powered by a brand — that for me is the end goal.
Where do you see yourself and your work in a year? How about five?
I do genuinely try not to overthink this kind of stuff as every year is so different. Taking the last 12 months for example, I’ve been very lucky with some of the projects I’ve worked on. Some of the opportunities I’ve had I would never have been able to predict. But if I had to say something, it would just be to continue meeting and working with talented people. Making films is my absolute passion. So If I can continue learning from great people, I’m only going to get better at the thing I love doing the most. And that for me sounds like a dream.
Who would you say is your biggest creative inspiration?
As a DOP I love Ian Murray. His work is amazing. One of the key roles as a DP is to create depth within imagery. And Ian is a master at that. His work is so effortless and beautiful. It’s a real joy to watch. I also really like Tom Welsh. Tom shoots a nice mix of music, travel and branded content. His work is rich with colour but always sensitive to the subject matter. He’s insanely good at utilising the way that light falls naturally to create really emotive imagery. And as a Director, I love so many. Sam Pilling is someone I really rate. He’s arguably better known for music videos — DJ Shadow’s Nobody Speak being something that everyone should have watched at least 100 times. However he also produces a lot of branded content. He has a style that just makes his work feel so fresh every time. Ian Pons Jewell is another one. Ian, like Sam, started off making music videos before transitioning over to commercials. But he has completely brought the ideology behind what made his music videos so great over to his branded content work. Everything he does just pushes the art of filmmaking further and further. If he can imagine it in his mind, he can make it into a film — and that in itself is extremely inspiring.
You work as both director and DOP on various projects — how important do you think versatility and the ability to move between roles is in this industry?
Having a solid understanding of what every part of a film crew does and how they work in order to deliver a project is so valuable. As a director I always have a clear idea how I want a shot to look and feel, but as someone who also DOPs, I have the ability to create that scene myself — which undoubtedly helps when planning shots and storyboarding a film.
