{"id":1977,"date":"2021-08-05T11:28:09","date_gmt":"2021-08-04T23:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/?p=1977"},"modified":"2021-09-22T12:06:23","modified_gmt":"2021-09-22T00:06:23","slug":"ruby-harris-user-showcase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/ruby-harris-user-showcase\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruby Harris &#8211; User Showcase"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ruby Harris is a young director based in Auckland, New Zealand. Ruby moved to Berlin at 18 to work within the film industry, getting an internship at the production company <a href=\"https:\/\/soilfilms.com\/\">Soilfilms<\/a>. Now, Ruby is back in New Zealand, and has directed on various projects such as <em><a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/375601280\">Triple Scoop<\/a><\/em> (2019), <em>Call<\/em>\u00a0<em>Edith<\/em>\u00a0(late 2021), and her new short <em><a href=\"https:\/\/rubyharris.org\/films\">Pet Day<\/a><\/em>, out now via Someday Stories\u00a0 We spoke to Ruby ahead of Pet Day&#8217;s release about what her filmmaking journey has been like.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Filmmaker Focus: Ruby Harris (Director of Pet Day)\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TipE4jVew2U?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><b>What made you want to start making films?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I started filmmaking with my best friend in primary school wanting to be a female version of<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FArZxLj6DLk\"> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Flight of the Conchords<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. I bought my first camera when I was 7 and we would film everything on it! My favourite was the slow-mo water fights and the horse videos.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2119\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2119\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2119 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/0008_-c-300x236.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"236\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/0008_-c-300x236.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/0008_-c-150x118.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/0008_-c-1024x806.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/0008_-c.jpg 1894w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2119\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ruby Harris by Nicole Brannen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><b>How did you get into filmmaking and learn the skills to be a filmmaker?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I never had a eureka moment. I\u2019ve always loved photos and videos and learnt by doing. I never expect to be content with anything I make but hope to have a quick moment of pride in what I have done and move onto the next. It\u2019s all just practise and being lucky enough to learn from the people around me.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When I was 18 in Berlin I got an internship with a female-led production company and that opened my eyes to actually being able to have a career in what I love not just as a hobby. They also taught and inspired me that filmmaking could be led by strong creative femmes telling important political stories from personal experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>What\u2019s your filmmaking process like?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It starts with going to therapy! Then comes the ideas. I think about the types of films I want to watch and from there work out what stories I feel comfortable telling. I have to feel strongly about a story before I commit because I end up spending so much time with it. The best feeling is having a team of people for a film who inspire you and bring their strengths to the project to make something everyone can be proud of.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>How do you find inspiration?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I find inspiration from the people around me and my own experiences. I find inspiration while doing simple things like driving, swimming, listening to music, having a drink with a friend, walking and hanging out with my wh\u0101nau.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>What are your favourite technical elements for while you&#8217;re shooting?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I love cameras and wide angles. I love using natural light and aim to make things look good and part of the world we are creating.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2126\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2126\" style=\"width: 747px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2126 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_6889-1-1024x814.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"747\" height=\"594\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_6889-1-1024x814.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_6889-1-150x119.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_6889-1-300x238.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 747px) 100vw, 747px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2126\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dining room BTS by Ruby Harris<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><b>Favourite previous projects?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ZREmKORfWNI\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018Bones and Blood\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">music video for Vanessa Worm was a highlight. Conan Hayes and I filmed it in a week with $160 for fuel, a camera and some fabric in the snow in Dunedin.\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018Call Edith\u2019,<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> a short doco on Edith Amituanai was a special project of mine, working with a year 10 photography class to explore the ideas of images and consent. Edith is also a big inspiration for my own work, especially how she works with people, her humour and her photographs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>What is <\/b><b><i>Pet Day <\/i><\/b><b>About?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pet Day<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a story that follows two best friends preparing for their schools pet day, when their step-dad has a reaction that the kids don&#8217;t understand to it. It was inspired by my own experiences, and I intended to make a film that shows how parents past experiences can affect their kids without either of them knowing or having control over it. I wanted it to be grounded with kids and horses but to touch on that confusion when your parents act a certain way and you don\u2019t fully understand why or where it comes from.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>What stage of production is it at?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I handed in our final edit of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pet Day<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> last Friday (mid-June). Next is the sound mix, grade then screenings! I&#8217;ve been working on it for about a year and a half now, so it&#8217;s quite a relief for it to be coming to an end now. It&#8217;s been a really special process, working with the kids was awesome and we had an amazing team for the filming process who just brought the skills and personality. Our release\u00a0date for Pet Day is Weds the 22nd of Sept on Someday Stories\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/somedaystories\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/somedaystories\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1627344233946000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFQTCzYeEuAf4vGRsM5D5bBIAsc-A\">Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/theoutlookforsomeday\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/theoutlookforsomeday\/?hl%3Den&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1627344233946000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHzDYiU58PkTSk1Wm2Wdf7xkYE5gA\">Instagram.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2121\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2121\" style=\"width: 747px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2121 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/cast_and_crew_wrap_day2-1024x611.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"747\" height=\"446\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/cast_and_crew_wrap_day2-1024x611.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/cast_and_crew_wrap_day2-150x90.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/cast_and_crew_wrap_day2-300x179.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 747px) 100vw, 747px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2121\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cast &amp; Crew Wrap by Marianne Escalante<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><b>What equipment did you use?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We shot <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pet Day<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on a Sony FX 9 camera, using older Mamiya lenses, then I did some of the pick-ups on my own Sony A7 III.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Are there any certain stylistic themes you used while shooting?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I wanted to keep the viewers feeling as in the world as possible, so that was using quite eye-level shots parallel to the horses and the kids, without too much movement that wouldn&#8217;t happen organically. The colours are quite true to how we shot it, it was late Autumn so it was beautiful golden light and the grass was on it&#8217;s way out &#8211; so it was just as natural as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Why do you believe that colour grading is such an important step when making a film?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I love the grade, it&#8217;s like magic. There&#8217;s so many different parts that you never get to see, but it just brings it to life. You finish the edit and then you take it to the sound and get&#8217;s a whole new life and level of depth, and then you take it to the grade and it gets a whole other life again. It links it all without you realising and without the viewer necessarily knowing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Do you have any plans for future projects?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I want to expand the themes in Pet Day and work on a longer-form version of it as a series or a feature. I guess I want to make films I want to watch. I also want to learn to fish, write a horror film, and I owe some kids help to make their films, seeing as they all helped with mine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/fb.watch\/8ab9orIk1z\/\">You can watch\u00a0<em>Pet Day<\/em> here via Someday Stories.\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0You can follow Ruby on Instagram <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/rubyrubyharris\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">@rubyrubyharris<\/span><\/i><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">or check out her website<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/rubyharris.org\/\">here<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ruby Harris is a young director based in Auckland, New Zealand. Ruby moved to Berlin at 18 to work within the film industry, getting an internship at the production company Soilfilms. Now, Ruby is back in New Zealand, and has directed on various projects such as Triple Scoop (2019), Call\u00a0Edith\u00a0(late 2021), and her new short&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/ruby-harris-user-showcase\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Ruby Harris &#8211; User Showcase<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[136],"class_list":["post-1977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-user-showcase","tag-user-showcase","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1977"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2181,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1977\/revisions\/2181"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}