Today we’d like to introduce you to Micah Smith.
Hi Micah, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in a small midwest town, Manhattan, KS. I like to say that the first thing I figured out a computer could do, besides turn on, was edit videos. It was a journey from my dad’s old iPhone 4 to now a RED Komodo. I still remember getting my Panasonic GH5 when it first came out feeling like I was a “legit” filmmaker. I saw the depth of field that a real sensor, albeit a tiny, micro-four-thirds sensor, wanted to point at anything. I started up a small video production company in my hometown and began shooting web content, weddings, and a few live events. It was a ton of fun.
I felt like the next logical step was to go to film school. I toured the likes of USC, Chapman, UCLA, and others. I finally decided on Biola University, which at the time was rated as a top-40 film school in the nation by Variety Magazine and has since become an even more renowned film program. It piqued my interest and after touring it, I was sold. The faith, the friends, and the filmmaking were all there. I feel like I was set up for so much success from the very get-go.
I got to meet countless incredible people there who encouraged and motivated me creatively. I was mentored by some of the finest people I’ve ever met there and wouldn’t trade that experience for the world. Also, it was beautiful. The summer before senior year, I needed an internship but instead got freelance work in Nashville, TN, which is where I moved for an entire summer and did nothing but freelance PA’ing, Cam op’ing, and gripping. It was a wild time that set the stage for me to move back the next summer after graduation with a full quiver of new connections and opportunities in the new city I’d just fallen in love with.
Fast forward to this last summer, I came to Nashville with a paid internship at one of the premiere production companies, GearSeven, and stayed on afterward as a rental coordinator, where I’m now working part-time, and shooting super fun side projects and launching my new production company, Rodeo Visuals. I honestly have so far yet to go, so much to learn, and so many people I want to work with, but as far as I’m concerned, that’s fuel.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I think, like every journey, there are highs and lows, but I’d consider myself abundantly blessed to have had, what I’d call a providentially smooth ride to where I am now. To tell you the truth, I never seriously had a lot of self-doubt, which I’d credit my parents and friends with, in that they never said I COULDN’T do it. That’s been a lesson I’ve tried to carry into every venture I’ve undertaken and it CAN be done.
It might just take an incredible amount of work. I’d say that the biggest struggle for me was honestly deciding, with finality, that Nashville was the right choice. I left a lot of opportunity in LA to pursue, effectively from a fresh standpoint, my life in Nashville, which I’m very grateful for, but that meant, ultimately, losing proximity to a lot of friends who I still hold dear to my heart and opportunity to pursue other cool creative projects.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a freelance Director of Photography. That’s been the name of the game and I have no intention of slowing that down. I’ve always loved shooting and I think I always will. I started Rodeo Visuals because I wanted a name to associate my work with more than just my name, as well as an entity people can tie me back to, but ultimately, it’s just an excuse to make more fun projects. From a young age, I’ve always loved the stylistic choices of Edgar Wright, Matthew Vaughn, and Martin Scorsese, which I think has greatly impacted my work, the way I shoot, and the way I color.
I’ve always loved moving images and, as a cinematographer by training, it makes me excited beyond all measure to get to look at a piece of work and say, “That looks cinematic.” It’s just a feeling you get when you take some lights, take a camera, and represent a beautiful part of a person, a story, or a feeling with cinematic imagery, and in that way, that’s how I love visual storytelling. I love getting to carry that into a project, whether it’s for a music artist, a piece of branded content, or for my buddy in Dallas whom I do a lot of video work, it’s all about powerfully telling a story visually and being impactful.
What’s next?
I think it’s OneRepublic who has that song, “Future Looks Good,” and I feel so abundantly blessed to say that there are so many exciting things coming down the pipeline. I feel like that song is, in so many ways, an allegory for me, and honestly, anybody who works hard sets their eyes on the right priorities and executes it. Rodeo is such an exciting new chapter and I want to work with some awesome companies, brands, and people. (Side note, I love shooting action sports and have a soft spot for boxing, so, who knows? Everlast, where are you at? Hahaha!).
But seriously, I just see the landscape of media in general changing so rapidly and being so inclined towards high-quality production. I can see an enormous demand coming to a city like Nashville for high-quality content, but content that’s not unnecessarily overblown with a 20-person crew and, frankly, not too expensive for people who might not be interested in hiring that type of production. I think about the movie “The Creator” and how they, at times, had a crew of six people on set. That’s mind-blowing to me.
It’s why I like to say, in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way, but also seriously, “LA visuals, Nashville style.”
Pricing:
- For example, if you plan accordingly, a basic, single-camera music video only has to cost $1,000 or less.
Contact Info:
- Website: rodeovisuals.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_ms_visuals_/?hl=en
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/micah-smith-a32a2718a?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
