Breaking Through the Structure

A Profile on Local Director: Mariane Laporte

By Jordano Aguzzi

Mariane's goal had always been to work as a professional in the camera department. On a professional film set, there are a multitude of roles and departments that involve numerous workers. The camera department, often a male-dominated realm, had always been Mariane's interest. Through determination and sheer reluctance to be swayed by her gender, Laporte made it her goal to break into the camera department.

Mariane Laporte is a young and ambitious motion picture professional based out of Montreal, Quebec. Growing up in Joliette, Quebec, Laporte moved away from her small town to Montreal in order to pursue her profession and passion of filmmaking. Small in stature but not in ambition, Laporte's skills grew exponentially as she was introduced into the local film industry at the early age of 20.

Prior to her work in the industry, Mariane worked on a few independent films and won awards as a member of the Concordia team in the provincial media production tournament, "La Jeux des Communications." Afterwards, she worked as camera operator on the independent short film, "Four Left on the Chessboard," a black and white mockumentary film set in the late 1960's. Her camera work proved to be extraordinary, and the film helped her gain attention amongst colleagues and professionals in the Concordia film community.

Eventually, she worked her way up in the film industry from a Production Assistant, to a 2^ndassistant camera operator, until now where she works as a 1^st assistant camera operator. The role of 1^st assistant camera operator offers many challenges; you are the go-to assistant for the director of photography, in charge of keeping the film in focus, keeping the gear clean and tidy, making sure the camera and accessories function properly, and keeping lenses clean from dust and dirt.

It is a highly technical position reserved often for people who have worked for years and have grown accustom to the tricks in the trade. Mariane was promoted to this role at the age of 21. As not only one of the youngest, but also as one of the few female 1^st assistant camera operators, she has worked on numerous medium to large scale productions, including multi-camera shoots in which she was responsible for all cameras.

Furthermore, as if work as an assistant camera operator wasn't enough, Mariane has proved to excel as a director as well. Having been the creative force behind Diamond Bones' hallucinatory music video for "Home is Where," Laporte proves that creative excellence also grows out of hard work and discipline to her practice. The music video portrays two mythical dancers in a dreamscape, trying to touch one another but never coming into contact. The music video gained success in the blogosphere, often praised for its hallucinatory dreamscape which matched perfectly with the band's ambient sound.

Using this music video as the foundation for her future work, Mariane set out to direct and write her own short film. Beau Comme Dans Les Films is a personal story set in the late 90's about a young girl attempting to deal with her big high school crush, the boy who she is convinced will marry her. The film is currently in post-production.

As talented as she is in both the technical and creative elements of film production, Mariane co-founded the production collective, Lost & Found, thus proving to be a triple threat in the industry: production, photography and direction. Though the industry is often criticized for being too hierarchical, Mariane has built a solid foundation for growth.