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Archive Thirty-0ne
January 9,
2008 - Yours truly and Steven Spielberg
Mischief and scolding, and a wink and a smile ...
That
heading get your attention? Thought so, but maybe I saw the
opportunity to tie my name to one of today's cinema gods.
Anyway, here's that story ...
When I was
in my twenties back in the late '70's, I took a sabbatical
from college in Texas, and moved to the San Diego area with some
of my friends. One day I talked one of those friends into
going up to LA to Universal Studios. We went and saw all the
tourist extravaganza and eventually got on the tour bus.
Being a bit bored with the whole thing I decided to hop off the
tour and sneak onto the studio lot. My friend wasn't as
adventurous, but relented and went with me. We spent the
better part of the rest of the day working our way into a couple
hot sets. Until ...
You
guessed it. A studio security guy caught us. He hauled
us into their offices and another security character gave us a
good talking to, hinted at calling the real cops and having us
arrested. My friend was not happy with me at that point.
The guards left us alone for a while, but eventually I peaked
around the corner and saw them having a good laugh about it all.
Now was the time to make my move ...
I went up
to them, pleading eyes and all, and very passionately told them
the real reason I had done this, that was I was an aspiring
filmmaker and just had to see how things were done. The
older guy, the second one who had scolded us, sparked a twinkle in
his eyes. Then he motioned me closer into his confidence,
and told me that I was in good company. A number of years
before he had caught another aspiring filmmaker who had been doing
the same thing as a teenager. Needless to say, of course, it
was you know who ...
And then,
about fifteen years later was the chance elevator encounter with
him (which I mentioned in an
earlier post
- 3/31/05 - item 4d ) when I worked at a studio. Of course
he had a lot on his mind, and hardly even noticed my presence.
So much for six degrees of separation, standing right next to me
...
Jerry
January 22,
2008 - New Year Tasks
The
year it all works, all is realized and fun is in the air ...
I've been
busy this month dealing with lots of business related stuff, so
the edit has been on the back burner part of the time. Wow,
we wound up having almost 1500 clips. Lots to play with.
I've talked to a couple editor friends of mine this past month
(they're out of work because of the strike), and they were both
very supportive in suggesting that I do a rough edit myself before
I bring in an editor. There were even offers to look at the
work and present suggestions. Cool. (one of them edits a
major TV series that's been in the top 10 since it debuted, and
has also directed several episodes) ...
Also, been
trying to get enough content together for the new website, which
is behind schedule getting up. We wanted to have a trailer
together to put up, but we may have to do that later. But we
obviously want lots of content to make it worthwhile for everyone.
So it will take as long as it takes ...
On the
distribution front we have had a few inquiries, mostly from
foreign distributors, which is a bit curious. But of course
everyone wants a screener, which obviously we don't have yet.
However, I believe we are going to have all kinds of avenues to
take. I am only beginning to get a sense of the
possibilities here. A couple friends of mine have suggested
that the longer the writers strike goes on, the better our chances
are for a good distribution deal. Not sure if I agree with
that, but I do see the logic, and maybe I'm wrong. I have a
feeling we'll be doing some kind of hybrid distribution.
More on that later, when I can get into some more involved details
...
And as far
as the strike, I'm sure you all know that the
DGA settled right out of the gate, which probably puts more
pressure on the writers. But then the SAG agreement is up in
June. Will it really go on that long? ...
More
interesting reading on the strike:
A Sequel with the Same Ending and
Writers Strike turning into Incubator for Web start-ups ...
Jerry
January 31,
2008 - Post Observations
Edging towards a path to a coherent vision ...
While I'm
thinking about it, I figured I'd pass along some recent
observations while going over all the footage and reorganizing the
progression of some sequences:
a)
Moments; It
appears me that there are probably at least five or six moments
(maybe more?) in
a few scenes that we failed to capture. Mostly reaction
shots to some very specific moments I wished we had gotten.
That is completely my fault. Now granted, they may have been
so subtle for some if we had gotten them, that nobody but me may
have noticed. But there are two specific ones I wished we
had, because it will change those scenes. To what extent is
still to be determined ...
b)
Coverage; Related to above, which will definitely affect the
direction of the final edit. For most of the scenes we got a
master and closeups. On some we also got some medium shots.
However, there are a few scenes where conditions and time dictated
only that masters were shot. But usually when this occurred,
we got mediums or closeups for part of the scene. So we
shouldn't be in too bad shape there, except there are some beats
we did miss, and places we have no piece of cover to cut to ...
c)
Sequences; Eureka! Guess what, I'm going to need to
rearrange some scenes in a few of the sequences. Playing
with and juxtaposing some scenes can really enhance or detract
from the balance and flow of the story. And so, I'm just
starting to get a feel for how much more dramatic the story can be
and what is needed for the overall tone of the finished film.
Very exciting ...
d) Visual
effects; We have more of them than I realized. This
will definitely slow us down more, because even though most of
them are fairly simple (I think) a few of them will be pretty
complex. I do have a fairly solid idea on how I want most of
these to be visualized, but I'm just not completely sure how to
get there yet ...
e)
Beginning & ending; I see a very real possibility that the
beginning scene will be changed. Not in a drastic way, just
more added to make that opening point more dramatic. The
ending will also be fiddled with, but in a more subtle way.
Partly this is due to a nuance I want to add, but part of it is
also what came out in the footage. Interestingly enough, I
didn't get the idea until I saw the footage. There was a
beat we missed, but it wasn't disastrous, yet it did open up a
possibility that may actually be better for the film in the long
run ...
In
closing, I'm seeing very definitely that it's exactly true that
there are three films you make by the time you are done with the
whole filmmaking process; the one you write, the one you shoot and
the one you edit. (But in addition, I can see that it's very
possible that three different films could come out of the edit,
depending on certain decisions I make in the process.)
Anyway, being intimate involved with all three of these steps has
given me a newfound respect for what we filmmakers have to do to
make all this work ...
Some books
on film editing to check out:
On Film Editing by Edward Dmytryk and
In the Blink of an Eye by Walter Murch, both of which I read
last month, and
The Eye is Quicker by Richard Pepperman, which I'm just
finishing, and
Cut by Cut by Gael Chandler, which I'm just starting. I
think that will do it for me for awhile ...
Jerry
February 11,
2008 - More Post Adventures
Playing with beats, subtext and juxtaposition ...
"Looking at a
first assembly is kind of like looking at an overgrown garden.
You can't just wade in with a weed whacker. You don't yet
know where the stems of the flowers are.” -- Walter Murch ...
"The
film's dramatic moments should always take precedence over the
mere aesthetics of editing." -- Edward Dmyrtryk ...
"The buck
stops in the cutting room." -- Dede Allen ...
"The
development of film technique has been primarily the development
of editing." -- Ernest Lindgren ...
"I never
cut for matches. I cut for impact." -- Sam O'Steen ...
"Film
is really a kind of theater of thought. You're watching
people think in movies, which is the fascinating and completely
unique experience of film versus other kinds of theater, where the
thoughts have to be expressed in words. In film, of course
you have words, but mostly you have thought and attitude, and that
attitude is mostly expressed in the eyes of the characters." --
Walter Murch ...
Now more
than ever I can understand what each of these quotes means.
Before, I could obviously get their meaning on an intellectual
level, but now I can truly feel it. Sure, so much of the
technical function of editing can be left-brain action, but it
also can be such an adventure of creation. And really not
just creation, but one of discovery ...
The DREAMS
AWAKE screenplay was 110 pages with 230 shot headings. We
shot just under 1500 clips with three different cameras over 26
production days. Of those 230 shots there were only two we
didn't shoot, mostly because we figured we didn't really need
them, but also because time and logistics weren't on our side.
And of those 228 shots, 49 of them have special effects elements.
Most are fairly simple (I think), but about 12 to 15 are fairly
complex, and will require a damn good visual effects person.
Take the eight main and supporting characters, plus the numerous
bit and extra parts, along with crew and supporting people, and
that all totals over 100 people who had some kind of hand in this
process and project. Now narrow all that down to one unique,
unified creative vision. One we hope a varied, general
audience can relate to and buy into. Good luck, huh?
Ha, luck has nothing to do with it ...
Beats.
The smallest components of a scene. One of the main concerns
that a director and the actors have is whether they can find, and
then explore, all the beats in each scene. A major scene can
have at least half a dozen. A simple transitional scene
maybe only one, very possibly two or three. While directing
a scene, I was often asked by one of the actors if we had gotten
all the beats. Now for a little honesty. I didn't
always tell the truth. But there was a good reason. I
didn't necessarily need them to hit all the beats for the scene to
work. There could be different interpretations of some of
the lines and some of the beats. But it was of course my job
as director to know them all. In fact, I had them all marked
in my script copy when we shot. If an actor hit three out of
four, or four out of five, I'd usually told him/her that we got
it. Maybe even if we hit three out of five, it would be
okay. It all depended on the scene, what I felt we really
needed, and then whether we had the time to explore it further ...
Subtext. The real meaning of a scene. We've seen
it plenty of times, and experienced it ourselves. The
character says; "I hate you! (I really love you)" - "Get out of
here! (please come over and comfort me)". These are simple
ones. In the dramatic progression of a multilayered story,
what a character says can mean more than two things (and not
necessarily what they're saying). And that can change with
each beat! So in one major scene we could be talking about a
dozen different things, yet we must simplify it for an audience.
If there are five beats in a scene, with possibly three layers of
meaning, did we really need to get it all? In most cases I
would have liked to, so that in the edit we had more choices, but
then again we didn't always have that luxury ...
Juxtaposition. Wiring scenes into unique sequences.
Beats make up scenes. Scenes make up sequences.
Sequences make up acts. And acts make up the whole story.
Each tiny piece builds the foundation, gradually into each larger
chunk, eventually to build the whole structure. Once you've
built the whole story in one rough edit, then you can tweak scenes
and their position. Sometimes repositioning scenes can
greatly enhance the meaning of a scene or sequence, and thus the
whole story. Fine tuning these nuances can sometimes
actually help you discover the beats you didn't always get, thus
creating any needed subtext. Beats, subtext, juxtaposition,
all working together; discovering, creating and unifying a vision.
As long as ...
"Shooting
is like buying groceries and the real cooking is at the editing
table." -- Ang Lee ...
As long as
we got all those groceries. So now, we're trying to cook
that meal, hopefully something we can all savor over ...
Guess
everyone knows by now that the writer's strike is over (For two
different takes, check these out; a
Variety article and a
Wall Street Journal article - was it worth it?). Now
that the DGA and the WGA are in line, we will have to see what
SAG
does. Their contract is up in June. Probably the
strides made by these two guilds will make it easier for them to
get what they want. But being the strongest guild of all,
who knows? ...
Jerry
February 20,
2008 - Exposition & Explorations
Can
you say too much? Can you discover too little? ...
Storytelling. It's what
a film is supposed to accomplish. Right? Exposition.
Misplaced and misused in a film, and that story is dead.
Right? Filmmaking is about showing a story visually, not
telling it around a campfire. Right? So, should a film
be about story-showing instead? Of course it should.
However, there are times in the progression of a film where you
just can't avoid exposition. But if you must use it, please
do so sparingly, judiciously and with a little trickery ...
Yes, but did I follow my own
advice? Mostly, except there are probably three places in
our film that I tread on treacherous ground here. The first
is a two and a half page scene between Hope and Marcus (wife and
husband). The second, a four-page scene, and the third, a
three and a half page one, are both between Hope and Ambrose (the
old sage on the mt.). All three of these scenes involve
discussions that delve into the esoteric arena. Part of the
problem here is trying to give information that is needed for
everyone to understand what is actually going on in the story.
While supported by visual 'information', the trick here is not to
have too "on the nose" dialogue and to leave some subtext "under
the table". Meaning, trying to offer the very minimal amount
of exposition that is needed to further the story without weighing
it down. And also leaving the possibility of another meaning
to the info offered, as in some still 'unrevealed mystery'.
If all this can be done in a creative, original way, it can
possibly work. Maybe. I'm hoping that what we do in
the edit bay will help us finish the trick. Guess we'll see
down the road ...
Now, on to exploring the
material (story, script, film) itself. I wanted to jump on
the other side of the issue just mentioned, which mainly has to do
with how accessible a film like this is. There are several
mystical principles that are presented through the progression of
our story-showing. Thus the exposition problem, but what
about the opposite? Not being clear enough for the audience
to know what the hell we're doing, where we're going, or what
we're talking about. This became an issue when working with
the actors, especially the aforementioned scenes. It
required them learning long passages of dialogue, some of it a bit
esoteric. Instead of telling them what I wanted, I gave them
very little if any direction in these scenes. They had to
find their own beats, rhythm, cadences and moments of
illumination. The problem with that for them was a mental
one. When actors get in their heads too much, such as having
to memorize lots of dialogue, it means they won't appear to be
reacting spontaneously to each other. So, having me give
them a bunch of instructions would be totally overloading their
'instrument'. I knew what I wanted from them, but I had to
let them find their own way. Organically. If they
asked me something about these types of scenes, I was usually very
subtle, supportive or non-responsive. Once we were past
rehearsing and into several takes, and they still didn't quite
have it, I would offer a little nudge here and there. This
becomes part of the trick in pulling these scenes off.
Because even if these scenes are wordy, and if they are written
well enough, a good actor can make the scene intriguing enough to
pull off. Maybe saying too much, but really not revealing
what you may think. So part of the trick is in the
performance, one that has to be carefully nuanced into existence.
The rest, well, the rest is where we are now. Yes, back in
the edit bay, where the rest of the magic can happen. Where
I'm finding that sometimes the best performance is the reaction
shot of the actor listening to the actor speaking, not the other
way around. And maybe the real paradox is, when trying
not to say too much, we reveal in another way something different
than what we thought and not at all what was the written dialogue.
Will this then, allow the audience to find the true story for
themselves? ...
Jerry
February 29,
2008 - The Magic Moment?
Is it
gold, silver or platinum? Or none of these? Now what?
...
Taking the leap. Today is leap day, and appropriate to the
subject at hand. A director has many duties and functions,
but I believe one of the most important is finding that magic
moment in every scene. He serves as a proxy audience during
shooting, supposedly able to make the judgment that the scene and
those precious moments have been realized and captured. All
the work to get to that point, just to capture those few special
moments. Moments once realized, and then gone, never to
return, no matter how many takes ...
Warning:
social commentary alert. Director as Voyeur? Have we
all become voyeurs? Voyeur definition (French--one who
lies in wait); 1) an obsessive observer of sensational
subjects, 2) person who derives sexual gratification from
observing others, usually from a secret vantage point and usually
in relation to nudity or sexual acts, 3) someone who receives
enjoyment from other people's suffering or misfortune. When
thinking in this context I'm reminded of some of those elements of
Rear Window, Porky's, Psycho and Disturbia
(plenty of other films come to mind). Hhhmmm. Am I
going too far in this voyeuristic, directorial connection?
Maybe, but I still think it has become a strong element in
everyday life in the 21st century, for us all. And what does
that say about us? What are we searching for? Where
does that take us? ...
Anyway, as
a director, one of the hardest thing for me is being able to
stitch all those pieces together coherently with all the right
nuances (after having shot them all out of sequence).
Because like any other normal person, my mood on a particular
shoot day probably filtered my observation for those scenes shot.
I know this is certainly an issue with actors and the continuity
they must keep, but it also can affect a director's ability to be
both objective and subjective, which you must be in those moments
to weight it all out in finding those magic moments. Those
moments that must make up your film. Those moments that you
must pay attention to, be utterly observant, and both passionate
and dispassionate. Or you don't have what you want, what you
need, and what you think you saw ...
Surprisingly, I am seeing moments in clips that I didn't see when
we shot them. But I'm also not seeing there what I thought I
did when we shot them. I guess almost like when you watch a
film several times, and see things later on you didn't see before.
Is that the truer nature of us, or the varied ability of the
observer? I'm beginning to wonder that about myself, but
also trying to avoid second-guessing myself. Hhhmm, do I
need to become a better voyeur to be a better director? Or
like leap year and leap day, does lightning only strike in a
bottle, once in a while? When we just happen to be standing
in the right place, at the right time, to capture it? ...
Jerry
Comments --
My Spring & Summer Workshops and Plagiarism -- 3/5
Hey Everyone,
I am booking my Spring and Summer Tours and I've just learned
something interesting. The workshops I teach are especially
popular right now. Aspiring filmmakers and film students
really want to learn what I have to teach. How do I know this?
Because my work has been plagiarized.
A colleague sent me a note over the weekend telling me about a
fellow who is advertising that he is teaching a Guerilla Marketing
and Self-Distribution Workshop. The description of his
workshop was lifted word for word from the description I have been
using for the last 3 years. If someone else out there is
teaching the same thing that I have been teaching for the last few
years it must mean that this is a subject that students want to
know about.
What happens when your movie is finished? It's not just about
getting in to film festivals anymore, and hoping to find a
distributor. The marketplace is constantly changing and
filmmakers have to keep up with it. I have been self
distributing my films for years. I have watched all of these
changes and had to adjust.
Now we use MySpace and Facebook in our marketing, sites that didn't
exist a few years ago. What should you put up on YouTube or ifilm?
How do you drive traffic to a website? Micro cinemas keep
popping up (and disappearing), as do internet distributors.
What is a good deal and what isn't? Should I try and release my
film theatrically? I love to talk to students and filmmakers
about these changes and how to navigate the distribution mine
field creatively. Students love what I have to say, and most
faculty agree with me after they've heard my workshops.
Kelley,
www.angryfilmmaker.com
Comments --
The Magic Moment? -- 3/6
The camera can focus and isolate a scene. An
actor can be much more subtle and is why stage actors do not
always make the best actors for film. It is why I prefer looking
at a monitor than directly looking at the actual action.
Morris L.
March 10, 2008
- Why Drama?
Entertain, educate, enlighten?
...
Do we have
too much drama in our lives? And why do we have this
insatiable desire for so much of it? Has it always been that
way? Or just now because we have so many more tools and
avenues to explore that facet of ourselves? Or are we
overdoing it, and creating more drama in our lives than is
healthy? And finally, does any of this matter? ...
These are
all things I've thought about for awhile, and have had discussions
with others about. I'm not sure there are any hard and fast
answers, just issues we get to explore as we watch the way our
world and the human experiment unfolds and evolves. Some
believe that storytelling goes as far back as man does, and that
visual communication actually came before verbal (cave drawings
and such). So it does seem the need has always been there,
but probably in the beginning such communication was mostly about
very basic survival. And I'd even bet that those first
stories around a caveman's campfire was about how he just escaped
the grasp of some horrible predator. And naturally, given
our tendency for embellishment, those stories were probably quite
mesmerizing to listen to, however exaggerated they were. Obviously, as we evolved so did
our stories and our ability to express them, eventually creating
whole mythologies that cultures looked up to for direction and
understanding of their world and themselves. But I can't help thinking now
that we are over-saturated with drama, 24/7 everywhere around us.
This a bit funny coming
from a storyteller, huh? ...
Well,
whatever the psychology, mythology, spirituality or sociology of
the phenomena and motivation behind storytelling, it certainly is
a strong force to reckon with in our modern world. So we
might as well be resolved to that. But I still think we need
to keep it all in perspective, as I believe it has grown so
powerful to actually be affecting our behavior. The argument
for we storytellers has always been that we are only reflecting
and communicating what is going on in our culture. True
enough, but I also believe that now the mirror reflects the other
way, and people are becoming much more influenced by this 24/7
storytelling. Not such a revelation, but what next?
Virtual story brain implants? I mean, why rely on our own
imaginations to dream? Not only to be inundated during our
waking hours. Let's just have these implants for our
sleeping hours so we don't have to weight our brains down.
The storytellers can just tell us (or actually show us) how to
dream. A brave new world? Master storyteller as master
propagandist? Could that actually happen? Drama can
certainly emotionally attach us to a more objective concept that
might not normally resonate with us. Could it be that we all
just actually being slowly brainwashed, but don't know it?
Naahhh, we're all too smart for that. Drama entertains,
educates and enlightens us. Right? ...
Jerry
Comments --
Disc Makers Releases Latest 'Ultimate Guide to Releasing
your Film on DVD' -- 3/12
Disc Makers, the nation's leading independent
media manufacturer, has announced the release of Version 3.0 of
its popular Ultimate Guide to Releasing your Film on DVD.
The new Ultimate Guide, written by award-winning filmmaker Brian
Felsen, gives independent filmmakers valuable tips for creating
their next DVD project and launching a successful release
strategy. The Guide includes tips on authoring; replication vs.
duplication; getting your film into film festivals or into limited
release screenings; how to secure distribution or do direct sales;
and how to get a buzz about your film. The Guide shows filmmakers
how they can easily author and manufacture a professional-looking
DVD, no matter what their budget, to promote their work worldwide.
"DVD is more accessible than ever today for the indie filmmaker,
and our goal in creating this Guide was to make the transition to
DVD as simple as possible for the entry-level artist yet
informative and meaty enough for the experienced professional",
explains Felsen. "With the Ultimate Guide to Releasing your Film
on DVD, we have created a one-stop resource guide for any level of
independent filmmaker."
For more information on Ultimate Guide to Releasing your Film on
DVD and the services available for independent filmmakers, please
visit
www.discmakers.com.
March 21, 2008
- One for the Ages
A prolific, yet seemingly little known screenwriter passes on
...
Malvin Wald
passed away earlier this month with little notice, after reaching
the ripe old age of 90, but most of you out there have probably never heard of him.
I know I never had when over twenty years ago I had the privilege
of meeting him. I barely recall the event, though I do
remember him. I believe I was at a week-long writing
convention/workshop event, and he was on one of the panels.
I had found out he had been a late replacement, as it seemed this
scene really wasn't his cup of tea. He was quiet, unassuming
and very normal. I do remember the event seemed to be quite
a bit about the hype, glitz and biz of it all, and barely about
the real craft. I don't remember him saying a whole lot on
the panel, but a small number of us cornered him after the panel
(while most swarmed the other more business savvy panelists).
I believe it was because he seemed so different than the others.
He was a hard-working writer who toiled in front of his typewriter
(remember those?) every day. He seemed to care for the work
and maybe it was that feeling that we embraced in talking to him.
To be honest I don't remember any great words of wisdom from him,
just that he was a smart, dedicated and real writer who did it
with all his heart and soul ...
A few more
words from and about him. Enjoy ...
This is Malvin Wald Speaking -- In October 1942,
I was a sergeant in the Army Air Force located in Santa Ana,
California. Because of a ruling by General Hap Arnold that all
people with film experience were to be transferred to Culver City
to a new unit called the First Motion Picture Unit of the Army Air
Corps, I was transferred there. When I presented my papers,
the personnel officer to whom I presented them was Lt. Ronald
Reagan. He squinted at me and he said, haven't I seen you
somewhere before? The truth was this. In 1939 I was the youngest
writer at Warner Brothers and John Huston very politely invited me
to join the writer's table in the commissary. The only actors
admitted were Humphrey Bogart because Bogey carried on a good
conversation, and Errol Flynn, because he told us all about the
high school girls he was seducing...
Alternative Film Guide -- Screenwriter
Malvin Wald, who
received an Academy Award nomination for The Naked City,
Jules Dassin’s 1948 mix
of neo-realism and film noir, died Thursday at a hospital in the
Los Angeles suburb of Sherman Oaks...
Classic TV History Blog -- Malvin Wald, a television writer I
had interviewed at length for my oral history project, died on
March 6 at age 90. Malvin was a marvelous spieler.
Everything he said seemed to have a hook and a punchline, like he
was pitching it to a story editor as a possible assignment. You
could tell immediately how he managed to amass all those hundreds
of writing credits, and why he needed to take on a succession of
junior writing partners just to keep up with them all...
Harvey
Denoff -- Screenwriter Malvin Wald died last Thursday, March
6, in Sherman Oaks, California, at age 90. I first got to know him
casually when I was a student at the University of Southern
California’s Cinema Department, where he taught part time...
Wow, this
blog just passed another milestone this week. It's been
three years since my first posting. I wonder how long I'm
going to keep doing this? ...
Jerry
Comments --
JSF Call for Submissions -- 3/26
The Journal of Short Film invites you to submit
your short film for consideration in Volume 12 (Summer 2008). The
deadline is fast approaching (May 6th). The JSF - a DVD quarterly
published since 2005 - has an open and free submissions process.
Steven Bognar will join the JSF as a guest editor for this
volume. Steven is perhaps best known for making the epic feature
documentary A Lion in the House with Julia Reichert in
2006. He is also a teacher, producer, and Sundance regular. His
most recent short film was Gravel. Past guest editors with
the Journal have included Sam Green and Deborah Stratman.
The Journal continues to be a leading advocate for short film. It
has published 110+ filmmakers from 10 countries. The volumes
continue to be diverse collections that include every kind of
short film: narrative, documentary, experimental, animated, 3-D,
and the uncategorizable.
For more details, press, rhetoric, film descriptions, and the
official blog, visit
www.theJSF.org.
March 31, 2008
- A Filmmaker's Role
Troublemaker, visionary, mouthpiece, maverick, narcissist,
humanist, teacher, entertainer?
...
Do we
filmmakers have a function, a service to provide, in our society,
culture, world? Or are we just full of our own
self-importance? Do we shine lights, or promote confusion?
Do we help our world or do damage? Do we know, or can we
know? Does it really matter? I believe it certainly
does. Let's explore this a bit ...
I think
it's possible that we have the ability in choosing the role we
want to take on. And could that actually imply a certain
uniqueness in what we do? Could that also mean, an implied
responsibility? Or are we in this only for our own
self-gratification? The work of filmmaking alone is complex
enough, but to analyze our motivations opens another level of
complexity that many would just as soon not ponder.
But, let's do ponder ...
I guess
I'm big on responsibility, and consider the opportunity of being a
filmmaker as a special privilege. Privilege, as in better
than everyone else? Of course not. No, privilege as a
humble honor. Filmmaking, as is something I'm lucky enough
'to get to do'. A privilege I want to honor and to do the
very best I am able. Trite and corny? Hardly, not when
lots of people (hopefully) get to see my point of view on whatever
my film is projecting to them. Not when a group of people
are forced to pay for what I have to say, and then who knows how
much they may be influenced by that. Very possibly, not at
all, but at least I got to get it out there. How many of us
really get to do that? On the other side of that, sometimes
there are others who don't seem they should have that freedom as
much as they do. Never one to advocate censorship, just one
to complain about the misused and irresponsible use of such
freedom. Should I judge another filmmaker's use of his/her
freedom? Why not? Doesn't mean I'll scream it to the
rooftops. I usually keep most of my opinions to myself
anyway, so no problem. Everyone has the right to be an
idiot, and I applaud that right. Doesn't mean I'm going to
pay much attention to it ...
In the
end, as I've said in previous posts, I feel we should leave this
world better than we found it. And if we find ourselves in
the important position to do so, on whatever scale, it is a prime
responsibility to take that on with passion and force, and do
whatever we can to help this wounded place heal. Wow, maybe
I've defined the definitive role for a filmmaker. Healer?
Or maybe that is how I see my role. I've never really
thought of it that way until now. Maybe the subtext of my
life, of my true motivations? Reflecting on that, that does
seem a bit grandiose. I would never feel like promoting that
I have the proper prescription to heal anyone through film.
But very possibly, I could see myself opening a window to allow a
little more light in on...whatever, for an audience to take a look
for themselves, at themselves, to see if that healing is something
they may need to do for themselves. Let the audience decide,
for we give them way too little credit to 'get it'. Other
than that, I don't know what else we filmmakers can do.
Popcorn, anyone? ...
Jerry
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