Over the next few weeks we will be adding to our blog a series of bio stories to let our readers get to know our staff a little more in depth. This first article was written by Assistant Project Manager here at Motion Source, Sara Costello, about Motion Source's Creative Director Craig Bass. As the newest member on our team Sara will be interviewing each team member of Motion Source and will share her stories on our blog.
Meet Craig Bass, Creative Director at Motion Source
Craig Bass, co-founder and Creative Director of Motion Source, has been creating his own films since he was 6 years old, with his grandfather’s VHS camera, filming anything he could get a lens on. As he got older, with the help of his friends, Craig created all kinds of cinematic masterpieces that he would write and direct, some of which he still has footage of today. That fascination for film followed him as he grew up, getting inspired by films like Crimes and Misdemeanors and Capture the Friedmans, which pushed him in the direction of documentary filmmaking-an obvious choice for a man who has always been passionate about telling people’s stories.
“I want to affect people…..to make them feel something,” he told me, trademark La Croix in hand. “For each video we make, I want to fully express somebody’s message or goal.” According to him, we’re not only creating an incredible marketing tool for your business with our films, but a piece of art. “ Film is a superior art form that fuses all other art forms together. If you think about it, it does. You’ve got speech, writing, you have music, performance, visual arts, motion arts. Everything, all rolled into one. I personally am fascinated by exploring every facet of what can be done on film, and I feel that that’s one of our strengths here at Motion Source-we are always willing to try something new with our filming and push the envelope in our concepts, in order to give our clients the best product possible.”
Once we got back on track, Craig explained to me how he then started working as a freelance videographer when he met John Scaletta, who would eventually be the other co-founder of Motion Source. Starting as just the two of them 7 years ago, with Craig doing all the filming and editing himself, Motion Source was able to grow into the company that it is today, thanks to his creative direction and support. Our company specializes in a fusion of filmmaking for the real world, allowing our customers to jump into the world of video marketing and get ahead of the game. Our clients, both from the Chicagoland area and all over the word, are able to push their business forward by using our videography skills to get the kind of attention and online presence their business needs. “Luckily, we’ve got an incredible group of videographers and editors, and a production team that keeps us like running like clockwork. We all love what we do, and it makes going to work every day so much more than just having a job.”
When he’s not at Motion Source…….he can be found watching foreign films no one else has ever heard of, the majority of which are Asian dramas. Surprisingly, though, he watches, “far fewer movies and television than a normal person, which may seem ironic but I’d rather be doing stuff.” This “stuff” usually means playing guitar and creating music videos, which is especially important to him. The music videos he creates for Motion Source are some of his favorite projects he’s done.
What’s your favorite movie?
“Personally? I don’t know. It changes all the time.
I think Jurassic Park’s one of my favorites. I remember reading the book as a kid, I went to work with my dad one day and read the entire thing. It’s a great story, the way it’s shot is brilliant, because Spielberg is really a brilliant filmmaker. It has great characters, and I think the computer graphics look better than what we have today, even though that movie is close to 20 years old.”
Any other ones?
“The movie that made the biggest impact on me as a child was Labyrinth, and it terrified me. That’s an important film to me. A lot of foreign films. Anything that Darren Aronofsky does, I think he’s the most brilliant western filmmaker currently. He’s amazing. Everybody’s always taking about Roger Deakins, he’s brilliant, but there are so many other visual artists out there doing equally amazing work. Matthew Liabatique is so creative in his cinematography and so interesting in the way he puts visuals to use. And the last great movie I saw was Metro Manila, and that is a heartbreaking film. A very, very good film.”
Quick quirks?
“I do a really good Gollum impression. (He does.) I was a Little League All Star. (Hasn’t been proven yet.) Also, my favorite food is sugar. (Has definitely been proven.)
To Learn More About Craig Visit His Bio Page Here: http://motionsource.com/craig-profile