by Nate Hapke
Film
Artist’s Statement
As a storyteller who enjoys acting, I’ve always loved exploring the different ways we can use our imaginations to build sets around us, and to know the limitations of the space within which we exist as characters.
As a storyteller who loves writing, it’s always a thrill to add a line of scene description that immediately creates a tangible visual for my reader. It’s also powerful to know that it’s my responsibility to inform everything from the empirical level: it’s my work as a writer that inspires the actor to add color to black-and-white copy, and the director to stage the scene.
As a storyteller who loves directing, there’s nothing quite like building the world of a scene with all of the elements that come together in the pursuit of truth, to build an entire world from words on a page through collaboration with my department heads as we work toward a shared goal.
Scene Study came about from a desire to explore these ways we storytellers use artifice to build a world around subjects in the pursuit of truth in performance.
Since graduating from Syracuse University in May of 2014, Nate Hapke has written, directed, and/or produced sixteen short films and his debut feature film Two Dash One One. His film work has received more than 20 awards, and his work in television has made him a three-time Daytime Emmy winner. He is currently in preproduction on his second feature film, an ensemble comedy entitled Surprise!, which shoots in July, and Good Grief, a dramedy short film fully funded by the CNY Arts grant, which shoots in the fall.