In videos that last less than 15 seconds, Marisa Huang and Ava Iranpour aim to show that an educated young woman can be free from social constructs through a combination of music, theater, cinema and fashion.
“It’s this unique approach to art where we combine everything. It’s like a new form of cinema,” said Iranpour, a fourth-year political science student.
Through their self-founded production group, Lyon Entertainment, Iranpour and fourth-year communication studies student Huang make short, Vine-like films that explore feminist themes.
“The idea of feminism in our work is not the classic idea of feminism,” Huang said. “(Our films emphasize) the independence aspect of it.”
Since they started last year, Iranpour said she and Huang have made about 10 to 15 films together using their cameras and iPhones. Currently, they are working on a series that features voice-overs conveying the messages of the films. One of them, entitled “Prologue,” will come out Friday with a video called “The Winter Special” on their Instagram and Tumblr pages.
In “Prologue,” a scantily-clad Huang poses around the St. Monica Catholic Church. Iranpour said “Prologue” was inspired by people who use religion to justify their shortcomings. Iranpour said the film aims to show that women can be free of religion if they choose to be.
Some of their films, like “Prologue,” touch on controversial topics. Although Huang and Iranpour were given permission to film in the church, they said they felt uncomfortable filming the video because some of the church’s patrons were unhappy with their work in the church.
However, Iranpour said that she and Huang continued to film.
“Our response to that, of course, was that we should have the freedom to express our beliefs as well,” Iranpour said.
For “Prologue” and their other films, Huang and Iranpour said they usually spend about a week developing a concept and only a day filming and editing.
“(The films are) like short clips of scenes, so we can call them ‘scenes of expression.’ We like for them to be short, because … it captures your attention, it gets the message across, and it’s not redundant,” Iranpour said.
In their films, Huang and Iranpour mostly feature their friends. Iranpour said they try to explore filmmaking beyond its aesthetic value by featuring their models’ personalities instead of just their looks.
Huang said they try to push their models outside of their comfort zones. They filmed one movie for Halloween, called “The Intro,” in their bathroom and covered Julia Hamilton, a fourth-year anthropology student and Photogenics LA model, in fake blood. The video depicts Hamilton alone and distressed while talking about love.
“Although she’s distraught, she still manages to express those emotions into a piece,” Huang said. “She’s still able to communicate because she’s strong.”
Hamilton said that Huang and Iranpour work differently from any other directors she’s previously worked with.
“Afterwards you feel like you’ve experienced something new,” Hamilton said. “They’re not in it for the money. They’re not in it for the fame. They’re in it to tell a story.”
After the release of their new series, Huang and Iranpour said they want to continue making films that explore feminism, society and their personal experiences.
“We are doing this because of a passion for it. We enjoy doing this, and we will take the business as it comes,” Huang said. “We’re not out there searching to climb ladders.”