By Maxwell Barvian
Contributing Writer
Dan and Joe Lotz have covered some impressive ground for a pair of teenaged amateur filmmakers. From 15-minute, black-and-white film noirs to vibrant avant-garde shorts, their Youtube channel today looks unrecognizable from what it did a few years ago, when the two would slave over stop-motion LEGO re-creations of “Star Wars” scenes in their basement with nothing but a webcam and whatever other equipment they had in the house.
Nowadays, of course, their projects are notably more ambitious. With influences like Christopher Nolan, Stanley Kubrick and Charlie Kaufman, their films have matured from LEGOs to original shorts about break-ups, sabotage and murder.
It’s not all so serious, though. “Normally (we) tend to gravitate towards crime and drama for a serious film, and then action and comedy for the more short, fun stuff,” the teens both remarked. Their current filmography reflects this; many of their shorter films are scenes that would fit comfortably in an action movie, while others are more comical and freestanding.
Their roles have mostly solidified over the years as well. Dan, 18, is more concerned with the tasks behind the camera: direction, editing, lighting, and cinematography are all his major responsibilities. Joe, more interested in photography than his brother, helps out in the latter two departments, also appearing in front of the camera in many of their films.
They’ve both become more methodical in the process. Dan, for example, reflected on some of the changes he’s made in his directorial process: “For me, I think it was coming to the realization that the camera and the lighting really matter… before, we sort of just set the camera up and there was no thought behind it. Learning how to light and shoot a film are the areas we’ve most significantly improved upon.”
On the more technical side, Joe commented on how better sound equipment has drastically improved the audio quality in their films. Still, the Lotz brothers seem far more concerned with where they’re heading than where they’ve been. Joe hopes to one day become a professional photographer, while Dan dreams of pursuing a career in filmmaking. In either case, considering the impressive progress they’ve made just in their teenage years, both their futures look exceedingly bright.
