So, with no more crew members to tap for blog posts, I’ve taken a brief hiatus from editing to usher in my triumphant and glorious return to the keyboard, and I can feel the wondrous afterglow radiating from the 40,000 of you that are tuning in.

I know.  I know.  You just couldn’t wait for me to get back…  big hug.  I’ve missed you too.

When I started this blog, I said I would be honest, and give you this whole thing warts and all.  So after all this, I’ve decided it’s time to share the lessons I’ve learned while going through this whole process.  Hopefully this is going to help some other aspiring film maker down the line.  And I’ve decided to kick it off with the most important lesson of all:

Lesson #1
Love What You’re Creating

Now, this sounds obvious, but through the course of this I’ve had multiple script and story ideas thrown at me from all kinds of people.  Some sound pretty good.  And the one thing I can tell each and every one of them with absolute sincerity is, you had better produce a script and a story and characters that you have fallen in love with, because you’re about to be married to them.

I’ve been hip deep in TYAI for almost 2 years now.  Two years of surrendering every spare moment, to either write, or film, or edit or design or build.  The list of tasks that goes into any film is humongous.  Loving what you’re creating keeps you working on it.  It keeps you editing.  It keeps you trying.  We had 57 filming days over the course of a year.  You better believe loving what you’re creating matters.

Sure you could treat it like a fling.  Sure you could give your story the Wham, Bam, Thank you Ma’am treatment.  And you know what?  It will be apparent to everyone who sees it after the fact. (Ever watched a Michael Bay film?)

Loving what you’re creating keeps you from cutting corners.  It keeps you shooting until you get that one perfect take.  It keeps you scouting for the perfect location.  It keeps you looking for that perfect actor.  If you aren’t passionate about what you’re doing, really, find something else to do. More importantly, it will drag your ass back out onto location to reshoot something you’ve already done, because you know it’s not right, or as good as it could be.

It doesn’t hurt to be a little obsessive.

Almost every day of shooting I wore a Star Wars baseball cap.  Occasionally someone would ask me if I was a Star Wars fan.  I would tell them no.  Usually this would be followed with “then why wear the hat?”.  My answer was always “it’s a reminder”.

Reminder of what? you ask…

Don’t ever kid yourself.  There is no way to be objective when it’s your creation.    So you know what you MUST DO.  Surround yourself with honest people.  People that will tell you shit is shit.  Do this at all stages.  Do it when you’re writing.  Do it when you’re shooting.  And Do it when you’re editing.  If it don’t work for them, it isn’t going to work for anyone else.  And more importantly, just like a relationship, listen.  Really listen.  If the crew you surround yourself with can’t be honest, or constantly blow sunshine up your ass, get a new crew.  And more importantly, let them be honest.  Don’t be defensive.  Let them tell  you why something doesn’t work.   Film is a collaborative process.  Let them collaborate.

The most satifying feeling in the world is showing those people a finished scene that they helped create, and have them genuinely be wowed by it.  These are the people that should be the least impressed.  They were there when it was being done, and if you can get a “Wow” out of them, you know the people who haven’t seen anything yet will be impressed too.

As an indy film, we don’t have the resources that a big picture has, but that doesn’t mean you have to produce schlock.  And plenty of big budget movies are guilty of scrimping on the script.  We don’t need a story… we have production design, or special effects or star power.   Well, If I ever utter those words, any cast or crew member is hereby granted the right to slap the taste out of my mouth.

And I’ll just go ahead and say it, flat out.  The Prequels sucked.  And why did they suck? They had production design. They had star power.  They had special effects out the wazoo… and for all of that, you can watch them and just know, soul deep, nobody was allowed to say “Hey George, this sucks. ”

Thus… the hat.  The reminder.

This all goes back to loving what you’re creating.  Love it enough to be honest with it.  Love it enough to rewrite it.  Love it enough to reshoot it.  Do that, and when it’s all said and done, you’ll love it even more, because you’ll know it’s right.

Hope you enjoyed this.  Please give it a share or a mention.
Or if you didn’t, leave a comment why… I’m all ears.  Really.