Artist Feature: Margaret Margeson

Jan 21, 2019 |

Margaret Margeson

Filmmaker/Creative Director

An Atlanta native and student at SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design), Margaret Margeson is taking the photo and film scene by storm. She is a filmmaker and creative director who is inspired by early 20th century art and French New Wave cinema. Margeson works mainly on fashion and music films, directing both creative and visual elements. She has assisted on major films such as The Little Mermaid, The Vault, starring James Franco and Francesca Eastwood, and Lizzie, the newest Lizzie Borden movie. She has also worked as a Rental Assistant for Savannah Film Company, where she prepared equipment packages for films and branded content.

After graduating, Margaret will be leaving Atlanta in July 2018 to pursue her career in New York City.

QUESTIONS

Lucid: For those who aren’t familiar, would you mind telling us a little bit about yourself and your work?

Margaret: My name is Margaret Margeson, I was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia and I currently live in Savannah. I am a filmmaker and creative director, I prefer to do mostly branded content, like fashion films, and I really like doing music videos as well.

Lucid: What is your favorite project or the project you’re most proud of to date? While checking out the content on your website (http://margaretmargeson.com) it was hard for us to even choose one because we liked them all so much.

Margaret: Well, I actually don’t think I have one. I think it’s because for three years I studied cinematography and everyone would be like “I love your work” but I really hated doing it. After three years of really giving it a go, I realized it wasn’t really for me, even though I liked the work that I did. So then this year, my last year of college, I transitioned into a producer/creative direction role. I found that I fit that role so much more, and it was so natural for me to be creating an aesthetic and a concept for film. I think that your first go around, you’re not gonna be totally proud of your outcome, so I think I’m still searching for that project that I’m gonna be really proud of, but I think that’s a good thing because it keeps me motivated.

Lucid: Are there any film directors that you idolized, or once before idolized? For inspiration and/or direction?

Margaret: I think it changes. When I was in high school, I totally idolized Sofia Coppola, like every young girl watching movies. Her movies resonated with me so much, but then I got into college and I didn’t watch her stuff as much anymore. So then, through my classes, like my History of Cinema classes, I really got into old French New Wave and Italian Neorealism, and those genres are drove where I got my ideas from. And I think now I don’t really have a favorite director, I just get inspiration from all the stuff I’ve always watched and everything is what inspires me.

Lucid: When creating a new screen play, do you have any rituals?

Margaret: Yeah, I mean since I’m not a writer I don’t do screen plays per say, but I do come up with the vision or the concept or what the film will be about. I’m such a people person, but normally I have to make sure that I am locking myself away for a bit and really being by myself with my thoughts. I’ll start off by making a mood board, and just pulling everything I think would be good for this concept and putting it all together. Then I will sit on it for a couple of days and keep looking at stuff, and then slowly I’ll start to remove some stufft and narrow it down to something I think is most consistent for the vision of the project. Mostly I just need solitude and to pull my inspiration.

Lucid: Going along with that question, where do you draw the inspiration for your films and photography?

Margaret: I really like a lot of other photographers, like Nan Goldin, William Eggleston, and I watch a lot of fashion films - like I can get into a deep Vimeo K-Hole. My whole life I have always loved French New Wave films; I love the composition and it being in technicolor. All of that always really inspired me. But lately, I’m in an art history class with this professor that totally changed my life and inspired my entire thesis. She just has us come into class, turn off our phones, and we just discuss 20th Century art. I think that exploring those certain ideas that always come up throughout history has been really inspiring for me, and I just try to pull that into my current art. So I think that’s been what’s most recently inspired me the most.

Lucid: Cinematically or photography speaking, what is your favorite film?

Margaret: Well, movies are supposed to make you happy and feel things, so I think from a nostalgic point of view, I would say things I used to watch with my dad like old James Bond movies, and The Sound of Music. We would always watch (James Bond) with my whole family. But I think for me personally, most recently the films that have moved me the most when I’m by myself watching them have been Mustang and Frances Ha. I just feel like I resonate a lot with those films because it’s the same age group. But really Mustang is the best film I think I’ve seen probably ever, it’s really really good and beautifully shot.

Lucid: If you could work with any artist, who would it be? And what would the project be?

Margaret: Since I’ve realized what I really like to do are fashion films and branded content, I think the people who’ve inspired me recently are Nadia Lee Cohen or Gordon Von Steiner. I would just want to watch them come up with their concepts, because they are coming up with things that the rest of the fashion and music industry isn’t really coming up with right now. So I don’t even know if I would want to collaborate with them as much as I would want to just watch their process from start to finish. I think that is what would help me figure out how to develop my own creative process, because sometimes I feel like I have a hard time getting a concise vision in a shorter amount of time which is what you have to do in this industry. You can’t just let (your ideas) sit with you for a couple of months, you’re on a clock. I definitely think I would just like to watch either of them work, and for a project I would want it to be a fashion film or a music video.