It’s so easy to find a reason “not” to shoot a project.
-I don’t have enough money.
-I don’t have a crew.
-I don’t have a professional grade camera.
-The weather sucks so I can’t shoot outside.
If you keep making excuses or holding onto expectations of what filmmaking should be you WILL lose your passion for visual story telling. I know this for a fact because a little over 3 months ago I struggled to find a reason to keep making movies. It was time to re-evaluate everything I was doing in my life, and truth be told - I had a hard time finding a reason to keep calling myself a director or filmmaker.
However, 4 weeks ago I came to realize the reason I hated my experience as a filmmaker was that I was holding onto too many ideals. Everything I learned in film school about crew positions, roles and responsibilities, gear and budget sizes were providing me excuses not to create. So I decided it was time to get back to the basics. Forget expectations. Forget the “rules”. No more “film talking”, it’s time for “film making”.
Right around this time one of my best friends sent me an e-mail about a filmmaking contest put on by the Edmonton Oilers. We brainstormed an idea on a Friday and went out Monday/Tuesday. It was as if the stars aligned: the timing couldn’t have been better. And do you want to know something? I had more fun during those 2 days shooting than on any project I’ve worked on in the past 8 years.
The flame that barely flickered was back and burning with a vengeance: It was as if there was a dam holding back my creative thought and this project cracked a hole. And as far as I’m concerned, “creating” is one of the most rewarding processes in the world.
Now, I’m the creator of a weekly web-series called, “Board Games Gone Wrong”. Every Monday or Tuesday I get together with a couple of friends and shoot a small scene for Youtube. I only jot down essential visual effects shots (I don’t storyboard). I keep the scripts minimal with the dialogue to guide my friends: I’m more focused on directing vs. writing and I find we usually “discover” something much more organic and funny than I could have written.
I keep it simple gear wise: I use a couple of lamps from my house, a cheap and tacky silver-coated placemat that happens to double as a reflector for fill ($1.25 at a dollar store). My friends clap their hands in front of the lens to “slate” the scene so I can sync my audio and video. It’s nothing spectacular by any means. But you know what? Every week I’m creating something. I’m honing my craft as a director. I get to work with different actors regularly so I’m always learning how to be a better communicator while the camera is rolling. I’m learning to live more in the moment of filmmaking and to tap into finding the “truth” of a scene or story. I’m remembering how collaborative the process really is. And most importantly, I’m having the time of my life!
I’m making the most with what I’ve got for where I’m at in my journey. And the simple truth is that you can too! Or you can let all the reasons of why not to shoot hold you back. The choice is yours.
So my challenge to you is simple. “Write something. Call up a couple of friends. Shoot it. Edit. Mix the audio. Share it with others. Repeat.” Keep doing this and you’ll learn so much more than you would by reading a book or sitting in a classroom for hours on end.
~M
If you want to see my web-series head over to www.youtube.com/RideoutOfHere
“Make a movie every week… Shoot every weekend… shoot a little scene, work with the actors… work on it with sound, looping, put some music to it… and get a response from the audience: See where it’s slow, where it doesn’t work… Learn from that experience and then go out and make another picture the next weekend. Just keep doing it. Make films no matter what anybody says and you’ll be a filmmaker.” - Sam Raimi
