We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Pavel Gazdyuk a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Pavel, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
Work ethic is very important in the film industry and I feel like it’s one of those things that cannot be taught at school. You can most effectively learn that from personal experience. You can find out about the general ethic rules but because every time you come to set to a film set you deal with different people, different characters, different attitudes, different experiences, different backgrounds, and different cultures, especially in LA where there are so many people from all over the world. So sometimes those general rules don’t apply to everyone. You have to adjust.
I learned my work ethic from being on film sets and watching other professionals do their jobs. I also learned that half of success depends on people you know. The film industry is heavily dependent on people, and your success depends on what relationships you have with those people. So at the very beginning of my path, I figured out that I have to be not only a good professional but also simply a nice person to work with. By absorbing what other people were doing at work, and how they would communicate with each other I taught myself how to develop my personal skills. It’s important because most of the time people just want to work with a friend or a nice friendly person.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am a cinematographer with a strong documentary background. Now I am into fiction movies and music videos too but still, my documentary experience dictates what I might look for in this form of art. I look for realism, true human emotions, and visual metaphors that are present in everyday life, details that are available to every person who is curious about this world.
It took me quite some time to figure out that I wanted to become a cinematographer. I started out by shooting short documentary videos about artists, entrepreneurs, and people who are really passionate about something when I used to work in Moscow, Russia where I am originally from. That type of work helped me pick up different ideas from the artists who would share them with me. Those ideas developed and inspired me to become an artist too.
I think cinematography is a very abstract form of art because you can only direct or give clues and ideas to people about the movie they’re watching. You certainly do not give any answers to the questions that life might have for you. What I love about this profession is that it doesn’t have a destination it’s a lifetime journey that makes you observe life and people, their emotions, observe nature and city life. And the most valuable thing about it is that you can share it with others, and influence them to take their own adventure.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
It is well known that cinematography is a very technical job. That is where it starts. It’s the basis of this profession, and as soon as you master the technical skills, you can be confident about your style and vision. By vision I mean the way you see things, and what things you pay attention to. But besides technical skills, you have to be curious about life, about the world, about the truth. Obviously, there is no general truth. There is only your truth and that’s what makes you unique as an artist. To develop your vision, you have to look at the world through other artists’ eyes. It could be paintings, movies, photographs, literature, poetry, architecture, design, fashion. Things that happen in nature are also a form of art. Everything is connected. Besides these two qualities, I would say physical abilities are very important. Sometimes you watch a movie, and you just wonder how they managed to pull off something like that. You could be the best professional and inexperienced cinematographer, but sometimes this job demands a lot from your body and mind. Sometimes it feels like a sport. When you have to overcome yourself mentally and physically. You have to be ready for these challenges on every level.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
The Visual Story by Bruce Block was eye-opening for me when I first read it a few years ago. It describes in every detail all the elements you could have in a frame. The author talks about seven visual components: space, line, shape, color, tone, rhythm, and movement. Basically, it’s like a big formula that you can apply to any kind of virtual work that you do, from still images to graphic design and visual art. But most importantly, it not only lists the visual components but also describes how a shape or a shadow can influence the story. How you can use visual elements to make your statement as strong as possible and support the emotion that you want to convey.
Contact Info:
- Website: pavelgazdyuk.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pablo_honey/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pavel.gazdyuk
Image Credits
Rahul Biruly
