Check Out Meg Weck’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Meg Weck.

Hi Meg, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started out my journey in filmmaking at a young age; my parents became friends working at an AMC in the 80s, and introduced me to films from a young age. So I started becoming fluent in the vocabulary of film from the beginning, even if I couldn’t separate what moved me from how it moved me. The first American independent film I saw on my own was Debra Granik’s “Winter’s Bone.” I was in high school and I was impressed that the director was a woman; I still saw the filmmaking process as too technical and beyond my abilities. My Grandfather was a stills photographer, so I somehow felt that that was within reach for me; I took a lot of photos, especially of my pre-professional dance peers.

It wasn’t until I went to college at Tufts University and started taking film studies classes within my English Lit degree that I shot anything myself. There I had a minor in Italian Studies, and went abroad in Copenhagen Denmark, where I was exposed to a lot of Scandinavian, Italian, and Eastern European films. I fell in love with Fellini, Storaro’s work on “The Conformist”, Roy Anderssons haunting static frames, Aki Kaurismäki, the surrealism of “Closely Watched Trains” and the groundbreaking analog “The Celebration”. I started to feel the urge to pick up a camera myself. When I got back to school I shot my first short film, which I was too perfectionistic to submit anywhere and honestly was just me imitating Agnès Varda’s “Vagabond”. I think I copied some frames directly!

I was still convinced I didn’t have enough technical knowledge to work as a cinematographer, but I was confident I could get there. I enrolled in graduate school at USC School of Cinematic Arts where I got my Master’s. It was a bumpy road; we did one year in the middle of the pandemic and I didn’t want to take any cinematography classes online, so once we were back in person I took all of the opportunities I was offered to shoot my classmates’ thesis films. It was great for me to be able to experiment with different styles, learn different cameras, and work with full size crews for the first time. I found a love for shooting documentary as well, and shot an award-winning documentary with a director I still work with now.

Today I’m looking to collaborate on my first feature film. I’m still learning and always watching films.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Of course not; especially as a woman in a male dominated field. I’ve learned that the best way to work is to remember what I love about filmmaking and visual storytelling and reconnect with why I’ve picked such a challenging career path. Something I struggle with is feeling like I have to prove myself maybe more than I actually do; I tend to over prepare, and I’m working on being more flexible- filmmaking really requires being open to possibilities and throwing away rigid ideas. I also have had to learn people management skills, and how to work on a team under pressure. Positivity and openness go much much farther than cynicism and rigidity. I’ve learned, and am still learning, to delegate and have as much trust in my team as possible.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I work primarily as a cinematographer, specializing in narrative work although I also work on documentaries. I think what sets me apart is that I have a good understanding of story, having studied literature and theatre. I work well with actors, and I love to learn about their process. I like to prep in the same way that actors prep for a theatre play; everyone first gets on the same page about what story they’re telling. I can create the most beautiful compositions with the most interesting and new camera and electric equipment, but it won’t matter if the story is empty. I love all genres, but I dream of shooting period films or anything set further than ten years in the past; I love the opportunity to work closely with production designers and rental houses to use period accurate equipment and create a look that both serves a story and transports an audience.

Everything I’ve ever made that I’m most proud of has been thanks to the hard work of my camera, grip, and electric teams and to directors who are open, kind, and imaginative. I’m most proud of my growth in working with people and working on teams. Every project has at least one shot in it that I’m proud of, but making beautiful compositions is the easy part. The hard part is working under pressure, and I’m proud that now I have a good method of mentally preparing for hard days, and approaching challenging situations.

What does success mean to you?
That’s a hard question; I think most cinematographers you ask will point to others’ work as the pinnacle of success, but never admit to their own. We’re a little too perfectionistic to ever feel like we’ve arrived; I think even if I’m lucky enough to have a long career, I wouldn’t ever consider my work as finished; I can always find something I wish I had done differently, or better, either technically or artistically. I think success is when a director is happy with my work and feels that it does justice to their story. I hope to one day move people in the same way I have been moved by cinema and by films, even just one person.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://megweck.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meg.weck/