cinqque5tion with Gianluca Olmastroni (by: Jovin Tardif)
cinqque5tion with Gianluca Olmastroni
I met Gianluca Olmastroni at the Open World Toronto Film Festival (OWTFF). We had a short discussion in the lobby where I learned about his passion for editing and filmmaking.
1. Who is Gianluca Olmastroni?
I’m a filmmaker and editor. I moved to Toronto from Italy in early 2018 after a taste of the city in summer 2016 on a temporary visa. I’m trying to work my way up the film industry in the post-production department.
For many years, I have been involved in various stages of professional video making. After my Master’s degree in film studies, I decided I had enough with theory and I co-founded and ran Effetto Espanso, a small video production studio.
While my original goal was to produce documentary films, I have also done corporate and creative work. I’ve provided services for clients and I’ve completed self-directed projects. Now that I moved to Canada, I’m focusing on post-production, mostly as a freelance editor.
So my background’s evolution could be summed up like this: film buff turned self-shooter, turned film analysis student, turned entrepreneur, turned… all of the above squeezed into one.
2. Where did you learn how to do film editing?
I started editing my own projects, back when computer memory was measured in MEGAbytes!
I’ve always enjoyed the control that you have after the crazy thunderstorm that is shooting has wrapped. I feel that editing is when you can truly put to use the knowledge of the grammar of film, or the language of visual media in general.
I took courses on a few software platforms over the years, and I learned a lot on the job. I like to think that I absorbed a bit from my favourite films, shows, filmmakers, editors.
3. Gianluca Olmastroni, can you tell us about some of your past projects?
I’ve been editing a few short films lately, as I’m trying to get more and more into scripted and narrative work. I’ve worked on short documentaries in the past, but my pet project (or maybe I should say hibernated pet) is The Wakefield Variation, a web mini-series that I also wrote and directed years ago. I’m always thinking of getting back to it at some point, but I guess that moment hasn’t come yet. It’s a take on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story Wakefield, and I guess it was my first taste of Canada… as the lead cast and story editor were Canadian, even if we shot in Italy.
4. What type of software do you typically use?
It depends on the project. It can be Adobe Premiere, Avid Media Composer, Final Cut Pro X (or even 7!), Da Vinci Resolve, or a combination of these, based on the workflow. Especially when I get to edit narrative content, the story comes first, and the tool I use only defines how quickly and efficiently I can shape that story, not the story itself. If we’re talking offline editing, they all do the same thing, just in different ways. There are technical aspects in a workflow that may make a platform the obvious choice (or another one an absolute no-go) but there isn’t a perfect, Jack-of-all-trades-like one, they are all equally good or bad, in their own way.
5. Gianluca Olmastroni, just for fun. Favourite coffee spot in Toronto.
This is clearly a trick question. I’ll play nice and say Goldstruck coffee in Yorkville.
About the Author
Jovin Tardif
Press/Media What On What’s Good
Storyteller, Conversation Starter,
Writer, Reviewer, Interviewer
and Social Media
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