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Enzo Besson
@uhurupic
Travel filmmeker based in France
I was lucky enough to have parents who are passionate about traveling and exploring the unknown. They always did everything to transmit this passion for travel to us. As a result, I grew up discovering the beauty of our planet. I was very quickly touched by travel but kept the emotions provoked by travel and nature within me. One day, I took a GoPro and filmed what I was experiencing. This first time filming was in Kilimanjaro, the place that changed everything. I came to understand that video and photography allowed me to express all the emotions I felt during my trips, feelings that I had kept inside me during all these years because they can’t be expressed with words.
"Filmmaking and photography also gave me a new purpose in life."
For more than 12 years, I played in a professional rugby club and pursued a career as a sportsman. My biggest challenge to date has been to turn the page. Rugby and the lifestyle that comes with playing at the top level were everything to me. I spent my days at the rugby club, I ate rugby, I slept rugby… And the day it stopped, I found myself completely lost. Video finally helped me fill the void caused by the end of practicing high-level sport. I was able to immerse myself completely in a new project that thrills me. In fact, I would like to one day transcribe this period of my life into images to create a film that people can find themselves in and resonate with because I am sure I am not the only one who has been confronted with such an event in life.
Playing at the top level of rugby allowed me to develop specific skills such as determination and the desire always to go higher. This has been – and will be – invaluable when it comes to my (young) career in visual creation. The key for me to improve continuously and grow my brand is also to believe in myself, to close my eyes, and finally, to work. Believing in myself because it takes a lot of self-confidence to launch myself into the unknown. When I started with video, I was 19 years old and I didn’t know anything in this field, but I knew that I had the talent and intuition deep inside me. I felt the emotions, the energy, imagined the visuals…
Then, closing my eyes has been the best thing that ever happened to me. There are so many levels in the field of content creation that if I had looked too quickly and too much at what was being done by others, I would have become scared and never believed in my intuition, and even less probably, followed it. And finally, work. Because without working hard, nothing is possible. If I hadn’t spent hours filming or editing, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to make a living out of it. There will be no miracle, everything has to be earned.
Above all, however, I would like to thank the technology and community that allowed me to learn everything about visual creation without going to school. Everything I have learned in video and photography, I owe to the thousands of enthusiasts who share their know-how on the internet. That is why I will always be up for sharing the knowledge that I have acquired until today with others, to help them further as well and contribute to others’ development. I’m still young and I don’t have hundreds of projects I’ve worked on yet, but each of the ones that I did do, has added a new string to my bow.
During one project, which I did when I had just started making videos as a self-employed contractor, I was taught one of the toughest lessons. I was determined to do well, we shot for 15 days and I was excited about the results of my efforts so far. And then during the editing process, my hard drive broke down. I lost all the footage of this project and obviously, because of my little experience, I had not saved it to another location. I learn a lot from my failures; from that moment on I save my projects on 4 hard drives!
"Some more lessons that I would love to share with you, are more technical and strategic. The first one is that to achieve your vision and touch your audience, in my opinion, emotion is the key factor."
I always try to get an emotion from the listener because I think there is nothing more beautiful than to be touched by something. Then secondly, it’s the human factor. I like to “humanize” my content by adding a person to the scene. I like this connection and interaction between humans and nature. To continue on the artistic side, I would say that you have to find the right movement, in the right place, at the right time. It’s a question of balance. It’s something that is very difficult to find but essential to the success of a video. The fourth tip that I feel is necessary to achieve a good video and related to point number one, is to be in the moment. For my reel that won last year on Nomadict, I wouldn’t have had this rendering if I hadn’t been alone with two relatives in a breathtaking location, been present, and then been able to transport myself back to that moment while processing the footage.
Of course, you always need a bit of luck. It’s the last ingredient in a recipe that adds that extra something. For my winning reel, my luck was solitude. But luck is something you have to make yourself, that’s why you always have to try. You can’t receive luck if you don’t take action yourself first, and often that involves stepping out of your comfort zone. Taking risks.
My story till now, the lessons I’ve learned, and the path I’d like to go, made me choose to participate in the ColorPro film contest and submit a video for the theme Taking a leap of faith. This subject matter is something that characterizes my last few years. I felt inspired to create very quickly when I saw I could choose this topic. I am increasingly interested in combining images with personal development. And I think it’s a very good subject that can inspire a lot of people because, in the end, my story can also be someone else’s story. Listeners can identify with my video, with my story, and that gives me extra determination. I like to combine what makes me grow, the failures, the joys, and the fears with beautiful images, and this subject is perfect for that.
From experience, I have learned that you often have to stick to your first instincts. My favorite stories are the ones I make up in my head. I have always been a great dreamer and I always will be. My brain is always creating stories through what I see and feel, and the more I explore, the more new I see and feel and the more stories are being produced in my mind. I feel free in that sense, I can create anything – I don’t think there are necessarily any rules for a story, as long as it is told with sincerity.
"Through the video I submitted for the ColorPro film contest, I wanted to highlight what leaving my comfort zone has done for me over the past few years."
It started in Kilimanjaro, where I first was afraid to leave my comfort zone. By doing so anyway and finding my way through this climb, I understood that I wanted to express my sensitivity and externalize my inner world through video. I found a new goal after dropping my rugby career that made life exciting again. Since this adventure, I have never stopped playing with my comfort. Each time, I never know what it brings me, it can hurt and is scary. In hindsight, however, it allows me to discover and release a power that has made me move forward.
My mom is also an example of how to challenge my comfort zone. She reminds me that pushing through (mental) pain and fear can bring you back on track. A photo I took of her at the top of Mont-Blanc is symbolic to me. It’s hard to believe that a few months before this moment on top of the mountain, she was in a coma. This picture is full of meaning to me, with a touching and motivational story. It is often said that you can move mountains and well, she did it. With the same strong will and determination, you and I can do it too.
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