(Jake and I's interview for What's Up! Magazine)
Among those in the growing Bellingham film community are two brothers, Jake and Micah Knapp, who have been creating videos for much of their lives and are turning into a burgeoning film company that specializes in music videos as well as shorts (and everything in between).
Born and primarily raised in Bellingham, by the time he was eight, the younger Micah had saved up and bought his first video camera for $500. Inspired by Steven Spielberg after watching the film Jurassic Park, he went to work, enlisting his brothers. “We started out making our own versions of Batman, Indiana Jones and others. We shot stuff all the time, eventually wearing out the camera. I believe Micah sent it back in for repairs with a letter explaining his moviemaking dream, and the camera was essentially repaired for free,” stated Jake. Micah added, “Thankfully, our parents encouraged us to pursue the arts, being fairly creative themselves.”
“The rest was self teaching, reading biographies on filmmakers and studying the movies they made. At that point in time, there were no digital cameras available to us, nor editing capabilities, so all editing had to be done on set and in-camera. I think those sorts of challenges, really pushed us to learn the hard way and ultimately lead to us being more creative,” Micah said with enthusiasm. ” I think in the end, our parents are to blame for what they spawned!”
While Steven Spielberg inspired Micah, Jake’s inspiration was more varied. “For me there wasn’t one main inspiration. I admire the works of Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, The Coen Brothers, Tim Burton, Clint Eastwood, Sergio Leone, and Quentin Tarantino to name a few.”
Since 2001, when the brothers purchased a digital camera and computer with editing software, Micah and Jake have worked on commercials, documentaries, wedding videography as well as some TV. They’re most proud of a couple shorts Rat Juice and their twisted version of Pinnocchio as well as collaborations with Caleb Young and Alex Talevich of LAB Films and Jake’s work on the horror film Taken. That being said, they’re eager to move on to a new project. “We enjoy some of our past work, but being the perfectionists we are, we are very eager to get out some new material and show people how we have progressed as filmmakers,” stated Micah.
In 2009, Micah and Jake officially formed Knapp Brothers Entertainment as they further pursued different avenues of filmmaking. Currently, they’re working on Fanastic Stan Goes to Hell a 35 minute short film, a Yoga instructional video, a music video for The Lumpkins, While We Worked a behind the scenes documentary on the Cliffhouse Restaurant as well as a top secret music video the brothers are very excited about. “Let’s just say that we are very excited about it, and the concept to our knowledge, has never been done before,” stated Micah.
Of the projects, both brothers point to Fantastic Stan Goes to Hell as their biggest source of pride. “We’ve been talking about making it for over 10 years, and it’s a huge undertaking very large in scope, and we’re happy with how it’s coming together, especially for such a low budget, and for the fact that Jake and I pretty much made the entire movie ourselves,” said Micah.
Both brothers see the Bellingham film community growing. “It seems like the film community here is trying to do something – and possibly growing, and we look forward to combining creative forces with other filmmakers and ultimately hope to get our work out there to more people someday,” said Jake.
Micah added, “I think we are inspired by the same types of film, and share a similar approach to filmmaking. I think the film scene in Bellingham is growing as the access to decent digital equipment becomes more readily available. I’m hoping that Bellingham’s film scene will one day rival Seattle’s.”
Bellingham is important to the Knapp brothers,. It’s part of who they are and have become as filmmakers the people, the scenery, their upbringing all play a part in their style and workmanship. “I am so thankful to have been given the opportunity to grow up here,” said Micah. “I wish more people would be grateful for what we have going on.”
For Jake, he shudders at the idea of being part of the Hollywood or big budget film scene, instead working to “make films that are unique and fresh, yet operate independently.” He points to filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, as the great example of the goal. “(I would like to) have my own studio, shoot digitally, make my own music, and edit and produce my own films.” Micah chimed in, “I’d settle with Spike Jonez’s career.”
Both brothers see being siblings as a benefit. “Can’t stand the guy,” Micah said with a laugh. “No, it’s very natural. Together, we represent a complete piece – we’ve worked together artistically since we were kids, feeding off each other and coming up with crazy schemes and ideas from putting on magic shows, to the magic and illusion of film. We balance each other out since Jake is great as a jack-of-all trades, especially on the technical end, and I tend to enjoy the writing and directing aspect of things.”
--Brent Cole
To go to the What's Up! site directly go here.
No comments:
Post a Comment