INTERVIEWER: If there were to be a movie about your life, who would play you?
LEA MOTION: Oh, uh... I would say, since my favorite movie is La La Land,
I would say Emma Stone for sure. But I'm not sure she would be okay to do that! [laughs]
[music]
INTERVIEWER: Hey Lea!
LM: Hey, what are you doing here?
INT: I'm just barging in on you to see if you're able to answer 21 questions for us?
LM: Yeah, sure. Like can I continue my animation? INT: Yeah go ahead!
INT: So what exactly do you do?
LM: I call myself a digital content creator
INT: What are you working on right now?
So I'm making this fun play do animation for B&H, a stop-motion.
[music]
INT: What's your go-to camera and lens?
This one actually the 5d Mark IV, Canon 5d Mark IV, with the 24-70 f/2.8 lens.
But I'm testing the EOS R right now, and I really like it. So I might switch soon.
INT: What's your favorite piece of gear?
LM: This telepod that I always use for behind the scenes. The JOBY telepod.
I love the DJI Ronin-S for having smooth shots.
And this one! Like this Manfrotto tripod with the extra arm that like allows you to film from the top
I love it.
INT: Do you have a day job or his video creating your full time job? LM: Actually, yes.
I have a day job. I'm a software engineer from 9 to 5.
From 5 to 8:30, I'm a mom.
And from 8:30 to, whatever, midnight, one am, two am, I'm a digital content creator.
INT: So do you sleep?
[camera snaps] LM: Not really! [laughs]
INT: What got you into this type of video creating?
LM: Uh... It started very early. Like I've been attracted by filmmaking since forever.
Like my dad was always filming us.
I got my first camera when I was 12, and after I was at college when someone showed me a stop-motion
animation of someone sliding in the floor. I was like staring at him for 5 minutes.
I was fascinated!
And like after that like it was me wanting to try every video techniques. So, this is how I studied.
INT: What was your first camera?
LM: It was back in the time it was a JVC. It's a very old camera, but after for the DSLR, I got my Canon t5i
INT: Where did you learn to edit videos like these?
LM: Uh... so I got in college we had like After Effects class. So this is how I got the basics of the effects.
But after it was mostly online!
Basically, I was like looking to do something like let's say I wanted to clone myself
so I was looking online cloning FX and I was watching that over and over again until
what I had on my screen was what I wanted.
INT: Do you shoot any other type of photo video?
LM: I do actually! I tried to mix a nice tight video with a long format video, like you see in the movies.
So recently we did a project with Ryan Tarrant, which is a broker to promote one of his apartment.
And I tried to mix a long format with--so I did a story board, each angle of the story that we will tell.
And yeah mixing that was like, very, like, it added an interest for me like to try new things.
So I think I will continue to do that actually.
[music]
INT: Do you have upcoming projects?
LM: I have a good one. Actually I'm putting that today!
I did a series of five video for the Broadway show Hamilton,
which is like something that we planned for the past year.
So the planning was that we needed to get all the cast together
So it was like long to plan, but I really hope you will like it
INT: What's your favorite part of your work?
LM: I love that it's short form as video
So you can be working on the project on one week and the next project it can be completely different.
So one week you can be working for Footlocker and the other week for Hamilton. So this is kind of cool!
What's your least favorite?
Oh! Uh...
Would say the one day project like where you have to shoot and edit in the same day or even in the same hour.
So this can be very stressful if you have any technical issues.
But I did it and I also loved it. So I love challenges.
[music]
INT: What's the coolest project you've worked on oh
LM: Oh! I would say Jada Pinkett-Smith was like one of the greatest memory of my life! [laughs]
INT: What was the most challenging project
LM: Michael Kors was one very challenging because I didn't know anything about fashion. I still don't! [laughs]
Uh, but like...
So since I didn't know anything about fashion, I didn't know what to expect
I didn't plan any idea. So this was a challenge to find the idea on the spot.
But it went well at the end.
INT: So change it up a little bit. What are five tips for people who want to do what you do?
LM: Um... I would say be passionate. Be passionate like...
Just create for yourself first.
Like don't wait on any client or anything, just create. Create as much as you can!
Build your portfolio.
If you like brands just like make something for them like...
If you like Canon make something with their lens and send it to them.
Work hard. Work hard, I would say. And it will work for sure.
[music]
INT: What do you do for fun aside from your work?
LM: So actually this is my fun since I have my day job.
This became a job but started as a passion.
So but like I can like pick the the project I want to work on. So this is my fun!
INT: What's for dinner tonight?
Fajitas!
INT: Who is your favorite creator?
LM: Oh, I have so many! I would say Mystery Guitar Man,
Zach King,
Rudy Mancuso,
Are we far away? Those are like the best.
INT: Would you rather use the same camera forever or never have After Effects forever?
LM: The same camera forever.
I cannot live without After Effects.
INT: What's the best piece of advice you've ever received? I?
LM: I would say "fake it until you make it." It's something that helped me, when I studied, especially.
Just like say you can make. Go on a shoot and like you will learn like more and more by doing.
So yeah, "fake it until you make it." It's a good one.
INT: Do your kids think what you do is cool?
LM: Oh, I hope so! They love it actually! We do a lot of stop-motion video together.
So yeah!
INT: If there were to be a movie about your life, who would play you?
Oh! Uh, I would say since my favorite movie is La La Land.
I would say Emma Stone for sure, but I'm not sure she will be okay to do that! [laughs]
INT: So who should we interview next?
LM: Oh, my friend Sam Schaeffer. And actually go, call him now! Like I have to finish this!
INT: Okay! Thanks for answering a question. LM: No problem!