DIRECTOR - CINEMATOGRAPHER - FILMMAKER
Hi! I’m David Murillo, a Spanish/Chilean director and cinematographer.
If you had told me when I was little that I would be moving to the other side of the world away from my family to study art, I would have never believed you. Luckily, unexpected things sometimes happen, and now I can confidently say that I can’t picture myself doing anything other than film.
I genuinely love making movies, the whole process, from writing to editing. I’ve done it all, and I love it all. As a director, I love sharing with people the way I see the world with my films, taking very personal aspects of my life, and finding a universal value in them that everyone can connect to. For me, the most important goal when making a film is to challenge the audience and force them to step outside of their comfort zone. I believe that when things are intentionally left unexplained, or maybe just a bit vague, people are more open to finding different interpretations of what they saw, making them connect on a much more personal level to the artwork. That is why I love doing experimental films because they allow me to focus on the emotions that I want to convey than on following a conventional movie structure. That said, I feel comfortable with and have directed in a wide variety of genres, from comedy to horror.
I grew up watching many subtitled American movies, so I always appreciated it when the filmmakers did not rely on dialogue to show what was going on. When I started shooting my own films, I tried to find ways to tell things visually. In fact, most of my earlier films have no dialogue. This fascination for visual storytelling made me dive into the art of cinematography, which ended up becoming my area of emphasis when I got accepted to Chapman University’s film program. Just as I enjoy telling my own stories, I love using the camera to help another director tell theirs. And even when I don’t work as a director of photography, spending my weekends on film sets working as a camera assistant, gaffer, or even grip is one of my favorite things to do.
I feel very fortunate to be able to work on something I am so passionate about. Filmmaking is and will always be an integral part of who I am. Just thinking about all the challenges ahead makes me incredibly excited for all that is to come!
