Creativity Squared: Why Structure Gives Creative Freedom to Matt Samperi

Matt Samperi is a Sydney-based cinematographer who is passionate about bringing good ideas to life on screen through collaboration with other creatives. His goal is to always craft the most beautiful visuals he can to best capture the story being told, in order to inspire, challenge and entertain audiences.

He is also an executive producer at Mint Films, a tight-knit team of filmmakers fuelled by collaboration who believe in telling impactful stories beautifully and effectively frame by frame, with passion, precision and care.

Person

Like many creative people, I’ve always loved the pure joy and wonder of making something out of nothing.

I enjoy getting hands-on, I find it more motivating than staying fully conceptual. I get particularly excited when being creative involves learning something new - whether a small skill, or a whole new discipline.

Since I was young, I’ve dabbled in stop-motion animation, editing, VFX, and 3D. I’ve also played music most of my life, these days mainly guitar; it is one of my greatest joys. At some point, I fell into cinematography and realised it was an amazing blend of visuals, being hands-on, an endless list of new skills to learn, collaboration, and storytelling.

I always try to see the world through the eyes of others. I believe we’re only as strong, creative, fruitful, and successful as our ability to be selfless and empathetic. I’ve found my life and my creativity works best the more I hold it lightly and lay it down. I don’t pretend to be anywhere close to perfect at this, but I strive each day to try to live it.

I think creativity is both innate and learnt. No matter how good your talents and natural inclinations are, there will always be more ways you can refine them, let alone all the experiences, stories and lessons you have to learn to become well rounded.

By nature, I’m not the most organised or routine driven person, it’s a skill I’ve had to learn. I used to think creativity only truly worked when unabated by structure and discipline. I had to learn the hard way that structure actually gives freedom to creativity. Defining your goals, purpose and limits will actually enable creativity to flourish.

Product

In no particular order, here are a few criteria that I think mark an idea or piece of work as ‘truly creative'.

• It has to be unique: the idea has likely been done a million times before, so it needs the unique factor. It takes creativity to take something standard and make it special.
• It has to make me think or feel something (preferably both): I think the power of creativity is the reflection, introspection, conviction and conversation that it provokes.
• It has to be bold: the world is overrun with bland executions of mundane ideas. True creativity is bold, it is unafraid and stands out.
• The execution must be excellent: whether it’s the articulation of an idea or the output of the final piece, it must demonstrate a refinement and mastery of the craft
• It has to have a purpose and a voice: I think creativity without a purpose or a voice is just an exercise in craft. I’ve always found that the best creativity is trying to express something. Whether that’s an explicit sentiment or a more abstract feeling, this is the kind of creativity that stays with you.

For me, this criteria has evolved over the years. My bias is towards work that betters the world and helps others, so that likely skews my perception of true creativity more towards how it impacts people.

There’s no reason you can’t create for creativity’s sake - heck, this is often where the best musical experience happens! But even then, I think it still ticks all of the above boxes.

With huge disruption and changes upon us, I believe our best creativity is yet to come. The looming challenge of unfettered access to an oversaturation of generative content will surely lead to our best ideas and executions yet, to combat the mundane and the repetitive. 

Process

I’m really fortunate that the majority of my creative work is made alongside my lifelong best friend, business partner and creative collaborator - director Andrew Seaton.

We spend most days sitting next to each other, meaning we get constant opportunities to discuss life, watch other creative work, make continual Simpsons references and collaborate on active projects together. We have over 35 years of memories and shared life history together, which informs both the way we work and what we create. I think our situation is somewhat unique and we try not to take it for granted.

As a cinematographer, this makes for a pretty special opportunity to be at the inception of most projects. If a brief comes in that we’re pitching Andrew to direct and myself to shoot, then we get to collaborate on ideas, techniques, reference and inspiration from the get go.

Our process typically involves interrogating the idea and the proposed execution quite thoroughly, asking ourselves how best to tackle it from a filmmaking perspective. We will always do our homework, looking up how the idea might have been done well (or not so well) in the past, and of course finding as much reference material as we can in the form of other ads and films.

We honestly love platforms like LBB, which give us a constantly curated selection of the best work to serve as inspiration. We of course also love Shot Deck and Film Grab, with the vast array of reference images they provide. We both also have lists in our Notes app of films and shows to watch, as well as already watched. This can sometimes be the best starting point.

Press

I grew up in the northwest of Sydney - about as typical suburbia as you can get. My mum is an artist, my dad worked in TV, and there’s a lot of creative people amongst my extended family - musicians, designers, photographers, artists. I think this not only made creativity front of mind, but also hugely validated it for me (compared to some friends who never would have been allowed to entertain the notion of pursuing a creative career).

We started Mint in 2008. We were able to ride the wave of the DSLR revolution, creating films that looked a million bucks but didn’t cost anywhere near that. I did a little bit of study, but I was fortunate to hone my craft on the job, especially in the early years of Mint where I developed my foundations as a cinematographer. I love this about the film industry - there’s no rule book and no single way to make it. Some study, some apprentice, some follow a family tradition, and each way is equally valid.

In terms of the impact of external factors upon creativity, I think I thrive when I have time, space, and structure to be creative. This has been one of the major growth points for me over time, because I’m naturally a last minute, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of person, and so I often creatively shoot myself in the foot if I’m not intentional about the process.

The older I get, the more my life experiences are starting to shape my creativity quite sharply. I’m finding myself more invested in the values and heart behind pieces of work, and more motivated and willing to pour myself into such work. I’m constantly rediscovering the surpassing value of collaboration and that I’m only as good as the team I’m surrounded by.