Filmmaking Update
Today I met with a friend who has an idea for a short film. I honestly was pretty nervous because I haven’t made one yet and although I woke up early I fell back asleep until 10:36am and our meeting was at 11. We just dived in thought and I think we got to a good place. I referenced a lot of things I’ve been reading/listening to as well as the recent Christopher McQuarrie thread.
We set the meeting for an hour and I just tried to listen to the idea and ask helpful questions to get details into notes. We got a pretty good outline together and are working towards a script next. It’s kinda dope we’re just sorta winging it but also have a general idea of what to do. Is this how a movie gets made? We’ll see in a few months!
I think between the both of us we have a lot of friends that can help. I’m not sure exactly yet what my role is in this production but I’m glad to helping and applying what I’m learning to this project. Will try to write and update more as I go through this process.
On the flipside I also turned down an opportunity to shoot and DP/edit a feature this December. I don’t know if I made the right choice because this was a shot at working with a real crew and actors but I just didn’t really get the script. I’m hoping that following my gut is okay here and I can continue to create opportunities for myself.
The best thing that’s happened this week though is my friend and I submitted our short film for review and a pretty famous director gave us a ton of props. I’m a bit in disbelief that this is happening because I tend to feel like I am terrible at everything until proven otherwise. Which I understand is unhealthy. I should have confidence in my skills and continue to grow in a more positive way vs this negative driver.
Last thing I want to mention before I ramble. I grabbed lunch with a friend I made in Hong Kong. He ended up going to film school here although he’s from Sweden. We talked about projects, the industry, and how we’re trying to make stuff and he was super helpful in convincing me that its fine I’m an outsider. Crazy to hear how he had 17 checked bags for a commercial in Europe but my friend and I had 1 tote, 1 backpack and a carry-on suitcase. My friend actually didn’t even have a bag, he just kept his gear in the car. These videos haven’t seen an audience yet but they probably won’t care how we made each of our respective films. No one outside of the industry is watching the shit being like oh yeah they def didn’t shoot in 4:2:2 10-bit or something like that.
I’m not sure what form or nature of these updates should take but I do like the brain dump and hopefully in 10 years I can look back on this writing and think. Well, would you look at that.
Useful links I’ve been given or found below:
Steve Yedlin - Resolution Myths - As I’ve learned more about sensors and photosites this video goes in depth as to why you probably don’t need more resolution. Most stuff is downrezed and then uprezed again anyway. Or people put pro-mist filters on to soften the image.
Geoff Boyle - Does Resolution Matter? Another hella informative and nerdy video but I love this shit.
Christopher McQuarrie on Brian Koppelman’s Podcast - Such a great episode and gave me a lot of insight into their careers and I also learned about Shane Carruth’s career, why Chris still hasn’t made the movie he wants to make, and just the reality of working in this business and balancing it with life.