Weighing the Benefits, Comparing the Costs

     I want to make movies. This, I should hope, doesn't come as a surprise to anyone. But it should also be quite clear to anyone following this blog that I'm doing a lot more writing than filming at the moment. the reason is simple: I can write for free, it costs money to make movies. It seems to be the same problem artists have had since time immemorial. We have beautiful masterpieces (every piece begins as a masterpiece) clamoring to get out of our minds if only we could afford the paint, the clay, the marble, the film. In the digital age its becoming easier for some of us. For filmmakers there are digital cameras, digital editing programs, digital sharing/distribution methods for our films. But even these have a cost associated with them and, at the end of the day, I still need to feed my family.

     At times I feel lost in the sea of video content that's available and more and more people read less and less. Sometimes I wonder if the Harry Potter series would have been so successful if it came out now instead of a decade ago. But still I have stories to tell and so long as I get to tell them I suppose I can't complain.

     It's this drive to create that has made artists through the ages do what they do regardless of their situations. Van Gogh lived in terrible conditions, just so he could use what little money he did get to buy his art supplies. I know I am no Van Gogh, I have no illusions about that. All our creative talents must be developed like any other talent and I am new in this field of film making. But I hope to succeed, to see my stories take shape and have real flesh and blood.

Education vs. Experience

     I'm working on my MA in Producing Film right now. I'm also working on getting a web series into Pre-Production. As I work on both of these I'm constantly being pulled between the two. Now don't get me wrong, I feel both of these ventures are important in their own right (that is, after all, why I'm pursuing both). However, it is a difficult juggling act to say the least.
     The web series I'm working on is geared as an educational/entertainment show much like Mythbusters or Bill Nye the Science Guy. As such I'm learning all about the process of applying for grants and seeking educational sponsorship. A colleague of mine has a fair amount of experience in the educational video production realm, having worked on films for NASA and the like in the past and I hope to glean all I can from him.
     This project has also brought up some questions for myself:

Where am I going with this? 

     This project could stay as simple as a website or grow into an IMAX film or television show. Sure these are pie in the sky outcomes but I want to be prepared for however things play out. If an IMAX film develops, I would be thrilled. The film would take a year or two and I'd have a blast. After it was all said and done I'd be able to move on with my other projects. With a television series, I'm not so sure I'd be as excited. A television show would be nice in that it provides regular, reliable (for filmmakers at least) work. But it would mean a long term commitment. I do love the premise for the series but I also have narrative films I feel the need to make.

How do I still make time to work on Narrative  Films?

     As a web series, the time required to maintain episode output would not prevent me from continuing to work on other projects. And, if I suddenly became involved in a feature film, I could pass the website on to someone else, put it on hold for a time, or walk away completely if it came to it.

Do I want to work in educational films?

    I grew up watching Bill Nye the Science Guy, Nova, Scientific American Frontier and Newtons Apple. I love science and I know that it was much of this educational programing that has nurtured that love. I feel it only right that I help continue the curiosity of the natural world. That is one of the main reasons I want to work on this web series. Nothing thrills me more that looking up at the night sky and wondering about the universe around us as our little planet flies through its dance through space.

     All in all, I am excited for this project and I am working hard to see it succeed. If it does turn out that I spend the rest of my life on this project, that wouldn't be so bad. I do love science, after all.

Quick Up-Date

     Last week there was a bit of confusion about when the next chapter of IMMOLATION was going to be posted and so, to clarify, each new chapter is posted on Monday, before 12:00 PM Pacific Standard Time (PST). Hope this clears things up for all of you.
     Also, I'll keep part 3 up an extra week for those of you who may have missed it.
Feel free to leave comments on the story and how it's going so far.

A Little Space To Roam

     Following in the mode of my last post, I've been looking for ways to branch out as a storyteller in the digital age. I've been doing some research on Youtube, Vimeo, and the internet in general to see where I can settle in and have a place of my own. I know what format I want this new site I'm designing to take and the content I want to create. I haven't found anything else of it's kind but, through my research, I have found a lot of interest in it.

     The down side to my situation is the same problem I've had in the past with my other projects: Place and Equipment. However, unlike my other projects, I may have a solution available to me. With my other projects, the benefit was all on my side, and therefore made it difficult to partner with anyone else. My ideas, stories, credit, etc. However, with my new project I may have found a partner. I apologize for the ambiguity in all of this. Since none of this is official yet I don't want to start throwing my ideas out there only to see someone else get to them before I can. Also, as my partnership isn't set yet I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch. Suffice to say, they have been looking for content, and I have been looking for a little space of my own to shoot videos (with their equipment).

     Some of the sites I came across during my research have really inspired me so I'll list them below. Some of them are comedic, others are more serious, but all of them have found their place in the current digital world.

Rhett and Link
Ted Talks
Freddie W
Will It Blend
How Stuff Works

All of these have their own Youtube and/or Vimeo channels and other places online that they have found success reaching out to their audiences. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

New Technologies, New Horizons

I saw the film "The Artist" this past week and it made me think of how similar the film business is to the character of George Valentin. As the silent films faded away before the advent of talking pictures, George fought against it. He gambled everything he had on trying to maintain the old ways, and he lost. Times changed and the audiences moved on leaving him penniless and unhappy.
As new technologies gain power in the entertainment industry, it seems the old guard are fighting against them as hard as they can. The internet, particularly, has promised to bring change to the entertainment landscape for some time now and that change is coming now. I marvel how history repeats itself time and again. Just as George Valentin fought against the talkies, so now the movie distribution companies are fighting against the internet.
I spoke recently with a man who has worked in film distribution for the last thirty years. While he agrees that change is difficult, painful and always uncertain, he also finds it exciting and exhilarating. He's working on finding a way to bridge the gap between the old and the new; using the knowledge and experience he has gained over the years working in the industry to benefit from the coming change. He reminded me of the character Peppy Miller from "The Artist". Peppy, while beginning her career in the silent films, embraced the talkies when they came and she soared to the top.
I do not believe "The Artist" came at this time as mere coincidence. I believe Michel Hazanavicius is trying to send a message to the industry through this film, reminding them of the past in the hopes that the future may continue to bright.

Writing

     Now that I'm left with only my night classes I have a lot more time on my hands than usual. The rare and elusive 'free time' has appeared and, as this situation has not confronted me in some time, I've had a hard time dealing with it. Wasting time is easy, too easy. And so, having each day regimented has helped ease the burden.
     I thought back to my old college days and how I would spend all my free time writing and plotting out stories and character arcs. Those days were, I would have to say at the risk of sounding fruity, magical. Stories and characters flowed so easily and it seemed the more I wrote in my free time, the more free time I had to write...and the less time I had to do my physics homework. As I'm now a freelance storyteller it's obvious which side of my conflict of interest won out.
     But I'm getting off the point. With all of this new found free time I've been able to get back into a routine of writing. to clarify, I've always made time to write, but now I HAVE time to write. I've set a goal to write a new chapter in IMMOLATION every week. The plot is mostly together now and I feel I'm in a good place to really begin putting things down in the story.
     The plot for IMMOLATION is more complex than anything I've attempted before so figuring all of that out in itself has been a learning experience. So, in the coming weeks as I post subsequent chapters for IMMOLATION in the WRITING section, feel free to leave comments and suggestions on how I might improve.
     I hope you enjoy the story.

Pre-Production

       Having recently graduated from the Seattle Film Institute's 10 Month 'Total Immersion Program', a few of my fellow classmates and I decided that the best way to keep up our newly acquired skills in filmmaking was to make movies ourselves. Fairly straight forward but so many people wait around, hoping for movies to come to them.
       Any way, this group was the core of the 30 Films in 30 Days project and we felt confident that we'd be able to produce some good films together. The difference between the 30 Films in 30 Days project and the one we are now pursuing is the same difference between an artists sketches and a finished piece. This month we're focusing on the pre-production elements of a short thriller written by one of our members. We're polishing the script, preparing for auditions and otherwise going through the paces to make sure we have as high production value as we can. Filming should begin the last weekend of February while at the same time we'll begin pre-production on our next film.
       All in all, this is a great way to begin a New Year, working on a project with people you know and trust to pull their weight and work towards a unified goal.