Darin Moran
Ola's Box of Clovers

The Cinematographer

Darin Moran is from Claremont, California, a small town about 50 miles east of Los Angeles. He has been an avid still photographer since high school. Moran studied photography and design in San Francisco at the Academy of Art University and the Art Institute of California, and took cinema courses at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts.

He began his career by working as a film loader and second assistant cameraman, and learned photographic techniques and artistic processes “by immersing myself in observing the directors of photography, camera operators and assistants at work. They provided enormous inspiration.”

Moran has been working in the camera department since 1994, and has been a member of the Guild since 1997. He is currently a first assistant cameraman. “I love my job and the people that I work with,” he says. “I can’t imagine doing anything else right now.”

The Film

Ola’s Box of Clovers takes place in the interior world of an old woman after her death and follows her granddaughter’s journey to understanding her unfulfilled dreams. The story is told with rod-manipulated puppets.

The director, Genevieve Anderson, created the puppets and constructed the environments. Moran was introduced to her through the film’s producer and his good friend, Tobin Kirk. The 10-minute short was shot in 35 mm format “for the overall cinematic feeling.” Moran used very shallow depth of field to emphasize the puppets and hide some “necessary tricks.” There are four distinct visual feelings Anderson wanted to express. Moran says he achieved those looks with different film stocks and filtration.

Ola’s Box of Clovers has also screened at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival and the Atlanta Film Festival.