I'm Bloated

Did You Know?
The Red Balloon won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar in 1956 and is a short film. Must... see... this... movie...

Because The "Writing Fantasy" Book Sucked Ass And Rambled On About Types Of Creatures And Magic To Put In Your Movie After Claiming To Cover A Broader View On The Genre (ie. "Big" etc.) Which Was What Attracted Me To It In The First Place:
I've been reading this book on writing short films in general instead - haven't got too far into it - but honestly: there are things in it that are just so damn obvious but that I've been far too ignorant of in the brainstorming and writing of short film ideas.

I think sometimes when you're starting out at something like this (filmmaking) and you know that its hard to get anywhere in the film industry you can tend to get carried away with the idea that you have to stand out and be different; try new complex things that nobody has ever done before without getting a handle on the basic elements. I think I can learn a thing or two from Simon and Dennis in terms of both the approach that Simon took with his first couple of short projects (please say you'll finish the Rose and Raymond one :p) and Dennis's recent stating of an intention to focus on developing an idea of a strong non-gimmicky narrative for his next work (not that his past works have been gimmicky, I mean it in the conventional linear narrative sense - without reliance on editing or some of the absurd/silly elements which themselves can be a bit of a cop-out from having to work on something more substantial (ie. like my random film I'm editing on both accounts)).

I think gimmicks can wait. They're just party tricks. The best way to "stand out" is to develop an understanding of fundamental dramatic principles, flesh out characters in believable situations and work towards developing themes and intended emotional arcs for the audience and get good at doing it. That sounds obvious right? Exactly. But the temptation is there to stray into the "oh, man - what an original (read: gimmicky) idea I just got hooked on" territory. Sometimes making something actually worthwhile can be tough and hard and take ages to get right and a gimmicky film by contrast may seem easy, but I guess in the end that the hard work will be more than worth it. Serena and Shuchi talked at the Production Group meeting about how, on average, their shorts take about 17 drafts to get right or something, and I think that in the end you'd be fooling yourself to think that you can get any good at this without the hard yards.

Anyways, this is probably a memo more to myself than anything so as to remind me not to stray into that "easy way out" frame of mind. But yeah, it makes a lot of sense so I thought I'd write it down and who knows.

Now: my movie sucks for a variety of reasons for which I alone take full responsibility (everyone else involved did a fantastic job with the rubbish I gave them to work with). The reasons include, but are not limited to:

1. I didn't do much planning. That was intentional. I needed to judge how much I'll need to do when I tackle something more substantial.

2. Lack of rehearsel. Didn't think I'd need much. But 1765 outside takes before we got it right have led to drastic changes in lighting between shots. It's unbearable and you can't help but notice it. A quicker schedule would have helped.

3. It's stupid, but stupid in the way that could work... only if executed well. So scratch "3." and replace it with:

3. It's poorly executed. This relates to a lack of planning. With the right storyboarding I could have covered all the shots I needed and known that I could present certain ideas through juxtaposing images in post-production. At the moment there are vague hints that are supposed to be much more obvious but which I simply don't draw proper attention to because certain shots needed to connect things just aren't there.

But ultimately it sucks because it's hard to make something good when substance isn't there. With the right elements in place, all these problems would have so much less potential to become roadblocks. You have a strong story, strong themes and strong characters and you'll end up with a strong sense of purpose: and it should guide anyone with an ounce of knowledge in filmmaking as to the right way to go about making something. Maybe not THE best way, but on the right track. So yeah. Time for some hard work. I'll keep working on my longer scripts too because they're my babies, but certainly some thought must go into simplier, less high-concept short ideas.

Did You Know? Redux
32 years and a few weeks ago Led Zeppelin's first six albums were all in the top 100 albums in the States at the same time. This is because Led Zeppelin is awesome. There isn't a Zeppelin or a Who or a Floyd around these days. 70s rock beats all.

You May Have Known:
That a week or so ago, some single by some guy hit no.1 in the UK before it was released, based solely on legal music downloads. A no. 1 with zero sales is a far cry from the days when Led Zeppelin's untitled fourth album never got higher than no. 2 on the record charts yet sold 22 million copies in the U.S. alone.

You Should Know, And I Hope You Do:
That there's a lot more to Led Zeppelin than Stairway To Heaven. Or even Stairway To Heaven, Black Dog, Kashmir and Whole Lotta Love. Houses Of The Holy is a timeless mainstream radio rock song that would be a hit even if first released in today's music scene, and it was recorded over 30 years ago. Awesome. And Since I've Been Loving You features Robert Plant delivering some of the greatest vocals you'll ever hear. And guitarist/producer/principle-songwriter Jimmy Page is a legend.

I'm Bloated
I ate lots of chocolate cake, three marshmallow easter eggs, a few squares of dairy milk chocolate (Cadbury of course), some kumara salad, regular salad, cold chicken, Polish garlic roll, beef pastrami and a slice of camembert cheese since 1pm.

Google