juggling

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Permalink Reply by William Judge on May 26, 2008 at 6:32pm

So I'm so sure about filmixer. Is anybody visiting the site?

Permalink Reply by Marco Santiago on May 26, 2008 at 7:25pm

Hello William,

By default filmmaking is a collaborative medium, unless the story requires you to act, light, capture sound, shoot, edit, ect. If the project is small in scope, certainly you can do it all yourself. But why would you want to do this unless your vision is so personal that you find that only you can tell it. There are so many wonderful opportunities for others to help out and bring other sensibilities and perspective to the craft. Ultimately, your vision is your vision, but there are too many highly skilled people out there that are great at what they do at their specialized skill. It's best to bring the best people on board.

If you are the writer, then it is up to you to write the best script you can possibly write. If you want to direct, that's fine of course, but the quality of your script and the passion with which you pitch and communicate your vision should allow you to get the best possible people to commit to your project and help elevate it a higher level than any one person is capable of doing themselves.

In my opinion, if you take on all of the creative tasks by yourself, you shortchange the magic that collaboration has the potential of bringing to the project. There are so many colors and shades that different people can bring to your vision. In the end, it's a very satisfying thing to create something knowing that it's a shared experience, and knowing that you are the progenitor of if all.

I hope this helps.

Marco :-)

Permalink Reply by Phoenix Independent Film Makers Group on May 27, 2008 at 6:32am

I have to agree with Marco. I know it's hard to delegate when you have passion for a story - you're certain that you're the only one who can do it justice. However, most of the films I've seen when the same person does too many jobs turn out to be visual ipecac - nobody wants that. I think it happens because there's too much love for each scene when many should be cut. That's why these groups are so critical. They give you access to others who can help you with getting your project completed - others who, while they have a vested interest - they won't have the same investment in each nuance and will be looking more to the over all film and making it the best it can be from a more objective view.

If the goal is to end up with a movie that others will want to watch - then it's best to bring "others" on board from the get go and get their ideas. One person might be an editor or DP or actor or whatever - but they are also just people, who will at some point be the audience, and their opinions matter. You may or may not take them, for your own reasons, but you should at least know what they are, and you can't do that if you don't start out with a team.

Well that's my two cents for what it's worth. :) Hope it helps. :)Tammy

Permalink Reply by William Judge on May 27, 2008 at 10:51am

Thanks for your reply.
I completely agree with you both. For my day job I work for a company that does not understand this. So I end up a one man show. Quality does suffer because of it and it is really frustrating. With Bodhi Leaf, which produces what I love, it is a different story. There I can bring in others who do this because they have a passion for it.

I was curious to see if others are fighting this battle and have the same frustration.