Let’s Make a Film Together!

19 Apr

As I considered post topics for this week, my gratitude for all who loyally follow my blog arose; thus, I thought I would take a moment to THANK YOU!

FollowMyFilm.com has definitely been rewarding, especially when I hear back from readers.  I admittedly don’t do a great job inciting conversation with my posts, so comments and feedback are always a treat.  That is why I’m going to make an effort to write more conversational posts from now on.

Rather than primarily make statements via posts, I’m going to think out loud and ask questions more often, especially as I work on my newest film project, which I will post about next week.  Your thoughts and insight will not only be helpful, but exciting to hear as well.

For instance, I’m going to ask for feedback regarding the characters and plot in my script.  Then, when it comes time to previsualize the film for directorial purposes, I’d love to hear your thoughts on cinematic elements such as costuming, color scheme, and camera work.

The more I work on films, the more I realize that I absolutely love the communal aspect of the art form.  So I want FollowMyFilm.com to be a way in which I can connect with other cinephiles and create together!

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Why Americans Want Happy Endings

3 Apr

I’ve recently been watching the films of Yasujiro Ozu, titles such as Early Summer and An Autumn Afternoon.  Although not as popular in the West as his Japanese contemporary Akira Kurosawa, Ozu was highly acclaimed and a box office success in Japan until his death in 1963.

Ozu had many strengths including a mastery of composition and narrative structure; however, what I appreciate most is his ability to capture mono no aware.  Although a literal translation in English does not exist, mono no aware is a Japanese concept adeptly translated by author Donald Richie.  During his audio commentary on Ozu’s film,  Early Summer (The Criterion Collection, 2004), Richie translates mono no aware as “…putting up with things and celebrating the fact that you are putting up with things.”  It’s when you find a rightness with the way things are, a place of absolution, even satisfaction in seeing things continuing as they must.

Mono no aware is invariably sad because our aspirations often want something different.  On the other hand, if we value how things must be, then it’s a good thing.  Mono no aware becomes a resigned form of sadness with a touch of happiness.

Us Americans like to feel happy after watching a movie, not sad – ever hear, “Nobody likes a sad ending”?  As a result, most American movies have happy endings without mono no aware, without a touch of sadness.  This not only contributes to superficial escapist fair, but, more importantly, it robs audiences from a deeper encounter with life.  Mono no aware is much more complex than mere sadness; there is infinite beauty within it.  Everything comes at a cost and, even if painful, that very cost ought to be celebrated as an integral part of life.

Mono no aware exists all around us.  A child celebrating her 8th birthday is a time of joy, but sadness as well due to her inevitable loss of childhood.  A wedding is a time of celebration, but also of loss to the bride and bridegroom’s parents.  Even seemingly mundane things like sharing a meal with friends or a stunning cloud formation must come to an end.

Mono no aware is a beautiful part of life that needs to be included in American films more often, even those with happy endings.  In my favorite Ozu film, which centers around a daughter’s marriage, the wedding itself is not shown at the end, rather, we are left with her lonely father in his empty house – a most beautiful and satisfying ending, indeed!

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Gotta Sharpen My Dull Brain!

27 Mar

Cooking is my penultimate passion, which is why I have my three primary knives routinely sharpened.  Dull knives are dangerous, ineffective, and downright frustrating.

Filmmaking is my ultimate passion, which is why I must have my brain routinely sharpened.  Like my knives, my creativity often goes dull with use.  I get tired, lazy, and develop bad habits.  Cliche begins to abound and, worse, I begin to believe I’m a lot better than I really am!  This is dangerous, ineffective and downright frustrating.  

Fortunately, it’s not hard to sharpen the filmmaking mind these days.  Here are some of my favorite ways:

Criterion DVD commentaries: unlike most commentaries where the cast and crew simply think out loud and share inside jokes, Criterion DVD commentaries feature eminent film scholars, critics and thinkers who have almost always thought through what they will discuss.

Insightful Blogs: There seems to be more blogs than humans; nonetheless, there certainly are diamonds in the rough worthy of your email inbox.  My favorites are Robert Genn, Seth Godin, Ted Hope, and fellow filmmaker/cook, Tom Provost.

Revival Movie Screenings: unfortunately not available everywhere, revival screenings of classic films truly inspires.  You get to see films on the big screen, the way they were meant to be seen.  My beloved theatre in LA is the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.

Seminars: though filmmaking seminars and panel discussions have become a dime-a-dozen, some remain to be the real deal, full of insight and wisdom.  My two favorites in LA are Thomas Ethan Harris and Mark Stolaroff’s No Budget Film School.

Books: these too are a dime-a-dozen, but a careful Amazon search can lead to gold.  My go-to books have been Transcendental Style in Film by Paul Schrader and Cassavetes on Cassevetes by Ray Carney.

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Speak Up. Don’t Be Silent. Encourage!

20 Mar

Juli Jackson recently searched the internet for “filmmaker encouragement” and came across my blog post, The Gift Every Filmmaker Needs.

In the comment section, she wrote, “I completely agree that silence is discouraging.  It wasn’t until I read your post that I even realized I was feeling discouraged because those close to me have been silent.”

Why are we so often silent with one another?  Even if we subjectively don’t like something, there often is something objectively valuable we can encourage.

I suspect our increasingly competitive, win/loss way of life has something to do with it.  In other words, like money, encouragement is viewed as a limited good, so the more we give, the less there is to receive.

What does this have to do with filmmaking?  Everything!  Encouragement fuels creativity; it emboldens it.  My Mac dictionary says, “To encourage is to give active help or to raise confidence to the point where one dares to do what is difficult.”  Can anything be more beautiful than that?  Imagine, with a few words you can “raise confidence to the point where one dares to do what is difficult.”  And, no doubt, independent filmmaking is difficult – extremely difficult.

Ironically, I have received the least encouragement from my filmmaking peers.  You would think they would appreciate the challenge and my need for encouragement; however, with the limited good perspective, it’s no wonder they rarely encourage; they want to ensure there is enough for them.  Like a small pepperoni pizza at a large party, they dare not offer me a slice…

But isn’t a need for encouragement a sign of weakness?  Does a bona fide artist, someone “called” to create need encouragement?  Yes, absolutely!  Encouragement is an essential human need, like food and shelter; it is bread for our soul, it warms our spirit.  Sure, we can survive without it, but we cannot thrive without it.

Let’s encourage more.  Let’s not be silent.  Take a moment or two everyday to applaud effort, even if you subjectively don’t like it.  Spot the objective goodness and encourage it.  Imagine: with a few words you can “raise confidence to the point where one dares to do what is difficult.”  How beautiful is that?!

You can find Juli and her recent film project here!

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Sacrificing for the Best

15 Mar

Why is doing the best thing often the most difficult thing to do?

I suspect it’s because “the best” is transformative, and transformation calls for sacrifice, and sacrifice is difficult.

However, making a sacrifice does not necessarily need to be difficult.  If one genuinely prioritizes what is best, then giving up things to achieve it will be a lot easier, if not a joy.

In the end, I’m discovering that our prioritization of values ultimately determines our actions and, conversely, our priorities are evident through our actions.

So when it comes time to sacrifice for the best, it will be a lot less difficult if we truly prioritize what is best.

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