I make films about people.
Cinescape is the work of filmmaker Alex Popa.
I picked up a camera to understand the people around me, and to help them express things they might not say otherwise. That is still the reason I do it.
I'm a documentary filmmaker based in Glasgow, working across sport, arts and culture. I trained in both film and sound, so I pay as much attention to what someone says, and how they say it, as to how the shot looks. The films I care about most are built around real people, their story, and what drives them. Sometimes that is one person, sometimes a group, but it always comes back to something honest about who they are.
On a shoot I am quiet and unhurried. I will not ask you to perform, or to hit a mark, or to say it again with more energy. Mostly I will just be there with a camera until the room forgets it is running, because that is when people stop performing and start being themselves. The best moments tend to come right after, and my job is to be ready for them.
I take a project from the first conversation through to the final cut, sound and colour. One person carrying your story the whole way, not a brief handed between strangers. Some are a few minutes long, some much longer. What stays constant is the attention: getting close, staying patient, and letting the truth of it come through.
Alex Popa
