Dark, mysterious and wondrous are just a few words to describe the aesthetic style of Michelle Hernandez. As we speak on a fresh, sunny day, her all-black attire certainly stands out. Hernandez is famously known for her dark-colored wardrobe along with her infamous “Hate” jacket, an ode to the late Joy Division singer Ian Curtis.
Her cinematic presence speaks for itself throughout the community of El Paso and through the CMI (Creative Media Institute) program here at NMSU. Hernandez is currently working on the biggest project of her college career – to show off her filmmaking talents with her upcoming senior project, Lucid.
Lucid is a short film that Hernandez, 22, will bring to life throughout her senior year at NMSU. Lucid tells the tale of a girl named Lucy, who suffers the tragedies and punches of life in a sudden moment. The main character’s tragedies lead her to a vivid subconscious battle with depression and she has to overcome the struggles of being alone with her dreams.
Hernandez has gained many titles and positions while working on Lucid. Her main positions include screenwriter, director and director of photography. Working on the movie, as well as being a full-time student and employee, Hernandez has loads of work day after day. Though getting there may be a struggle, she is willing to make her dreams come true with her new film.
Hernandez’s tenacity comes from her love of movies. Growing up with sci-fi and horror, she knew she wanted to create cinematic stories and characters. Talking to herself as a child, she would often speak with dialogue meant for movies.
“Seeing movies and watching how they make them made me realize that’s there’s more to just being a director, there are a bunch of other positions in a production,” said Hernandez. “I knew I wanted to be part of movies and I decided to become a director of photography because they are the ones that make the movie look good, with shots, lighting, and all kinds of colors!”
Her cinematic career started in high school and she has ever since kept her directorial eye on new filming projects happening in the local El Paso and Las Cruces area. Starting off as a production assistant on various projects, Hernandez acknowledges she has many steps to climb in the film industry.
However, she is never fazed by the comments about the lack of female presence and inequality in movies. “It’s interesting because people outside of the film industry don’t think that women are a big part of it,” says Hernandez “But people that are actually part of the film industry do know that a lot of women are part of productions. It’s just because they don’t show all the people who work in film sets.”
As Hernandez puts on her black leather jacket covered with John Carpenter movie buttons she states, “It’s great to know that I’m a filmmaker and I’m a woman. It’s empowering!”
Lucid will be completed next semester, and with plenty of dreams in her whimsical mind, Hernandez will pursue many more projects in the future.