I have been artistically inclined from the age of eight, when my dad purchased my first video camera. I began to experiment by making up scenarios and filming my own satirical skits. Whenever I completed a scenario, I would have my friends and family observe my work. Their laughter and enjoyment brought personal satisfaction to me. From this experience I began to grow a large interest towards entertainment and performance. At the age of eighteen I began implementing myself in the acting domain.  With a variety of small roles, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to be part of a production called 'Amityville Curse'. The unforgettable experience of watching professionals fulfilling their passion inspired me to be even more persistent in achieving my dream to work in cinema.

     Over the next few years, I continued watching an enormous amount of films. I began expanding my knowledge on film aesthetics, director’s techniques, and actor’s performance. One film that struck me on a personal level was 'American Beauty'. It used a different ethical and moral approach that was outside the norm of the usual American film. With its complex characters and critical thematic expression, it opened my eyes to see the reality of the world and how human beings have lost their true essence. The experience of the film intrigued me to follow a similar approach of expression in my own projects. My imagination and creativity became more profound helping me develop my own techniques and style. Filmmaking will enable me to express critical interpretations through visual artistic expression and hopefully touch viewers on a personal level. I hope to influence individuals with my artistic work the same way I was influenced from other filmmakers. Sociology has educated me in areas of social relationships, social interactions, and culture.  Within our social environment, individuals encounter conflicts of class, gender, race, and other social issues, which create major social problems. Sociology makes these issues apparent so solutions may be formed. Cinema expresses great sociological themes that define the self, the other, and society. Through the representations of film, individuals construct their identities and create their own sense of reality. Individuals rely heavily on the medium of television to understand the world they live in; therefore it is important to show positive visual images. Misleading images can create false ideologies leading to some of the social problems we encounter in our everyday lives. Filmmaking will enable me to express my ideologies and opinions of the world in a visual art form. Hopefully I may have a positive influence on individual’s perspectives by presenting critical topics in the form of a narrative. I want to illustrate images that represent the conflicts we experience in our environment and avoid misleading representations. It is intriguing to me how individuals are becoming compulsive consumers resembling working machines while eliminating the essence of a human being. With the combination of critical thinking and visual expression, I can attempt to return the human spirit.      

Sincerely Richard Tassé