About Aesthetica
Aesthetica works to create new & original content capturing the client’s image & vision in a way that is pleasing, concise & informative. It is a multi-hybrid business offering services to individuals, artists, small business, and corporations.
It is said that specialization is the key but Aesthetica challenges this notion because we believe that one medium informs another. Filmmaking can inform photography. Documentary projects can shape event & wedding video. Motion graphics can enhance commercial video. Portraiture can loop back informing how films are made. When ingenuity, small powerful cameras and sound recorders combine with powerful computers & ground breaking software, the result is a world of possibility. It all comes back to the basics anyway: lighting, composition, storytelling – capturing the essence of what is real.
Sure, it’s a challenge to keep up with constant technological and creative innovations in a variety of mediums. But the effort to meet this challenge is feeding a period of intense innovation – one in which we are able to do things at a moderate budget that a few years ago would have been extravagantly out of reach. And now we can project these images, films & videos around the world. Kleven says, “This capacity is something that, as recently as my own childhood, would have been impossible for an individual or small business. It’s a good time to be alive.”
Michael Kleven, founder of Aesthetica:
Michael’s career started with an early interests in theater and photography. His early experience on the stages of Bellingham High is theater and choir kindled his interest in dramatic action and narrative. His work on the visual side began with 35mm film cameras donated by family members. Michael took this opportunity to capture the wildlife of the Nooksack River Delta and Yellowstone as well as events in and around Bellingham High for the yearbook. Eventually Michael he earned a degrees in theater at Western Washington University. His favorite playwrights include William Shakespeare, Sam Shephard, Edward Albee and Tennessee Williams. At Western he first got his feet wet as a director, directing Sam Shephard’s Buried Child. One of his most interesting experiences was portraying a Venetian officer in Franco Zeffirelli’s Otello. The film, starring Placido Domingo, was produced in a Venetian castle on the Isle of Crete in 1985.
Over time his interest in directing film grew into a reality. Kleven graduated with honors from the film school at Seattle Central Community College. He recalls, “We were sent into production the very first day. The program was very intense, teaching all aspects of film production, writing and pre production, editing and the other aspects of post production. We were basically kept in a 24/7 production cycle for 2 years. A wonderful boot camp experience.”
Michael was an early adapter of DSLRs for cinema and video. He likes that the cameras offer the potential for image quality which rivals systems costing many thousands more. He remains excited about other camera systems as well. He has trained on the RED 1, Arri Alexa and Canon’s new C300. He works constantly to stay up do date with technological changes in the industry. Story, sound, editing and performance are also elements of equal or greater value.
