I'm going to start off the year by saying that I have been guilty of too much talk and too little action when it comes to my craft, which I'm sure that many of you are also guilty of. I am guilty of being an elitist with regards to film over video. I am guilty buying film and sitting it in my fridge and not refining my vision, preparing, and then going out and photographing the world. I am guilty of letting opportunities for free processing go by without harnessing them. And I also am guilty of shooting film and not developing it on time. I am guilty of starting projects and not finishing them. I am guilty of wasting time talking and not going out, getting money, and putting my vision up on the silver screen. And for that I apollogize to my fellow cinematographers, myself, and to my God. I swear by God that this year is going to be different. I am going to live 2005 as if it were my last year alive, as it indeed may be for any one of us. I am thankful for my talents and for my opportunities, which God has given me. And I swear that I am going to try my best to do each and every one of the following things this year. I hope that others will chime in with additions to this list, numbering them so we can see how many resolutions we have for the new year.
1. I swear to have each and every roll of film in the fridge now developed by the end of January.
2. I swear to complete all three of the projects I have in the works completed by the end of this year, instead of wasting all of my time here on the computer, on the internet, in a forum that is about filmmaking, but that cannot in any way further the completion of my projects.
3. I swear to make films, rather than brag about how I am making films.
4. I swear to take good care of all of my equipment, repair all that is broken and fixable, and to either display or dispose of what doesn't.
5. I swear to buy no more unnecessary equipment or unnecessary film.
6. I swear to try my best to make my movies serve some higher goal, rather than being shallow and selfish; I will try my best to create art with the film I shoot, rather than meaningless rubbish.
7. I swear to sweat and toil, and learn by doing and reading, rather than risking nothing and accomplishing nothing.
8. I swear to take the time to light well and meter well, and not go off half-cocked and unprepared, wasting time, money, and resources.
9. I swear to do my best to promote filmmaking for art and to further the cause of motion picture film and the importance of its continued use. I will try to get at least five people interested in 8mm film this year. I especially intend to do my best to make this the best year for Kodachrome 40 in at leat the last two decades.
10. I swear to place making films above television, theatre, computer time, and even school.
11. I swear to take care of my film, preserve it for future generations, and make sure my editing, projection, and transfer do not in any way damage the priceless footage I shoot.
Take Care Everyone. Wishing You All Season's Greetings and a Happy 2005.
~Karl Borowski
NEW YEAR'S FILMMAKING RESOLUTIONS
Moderator: Andreas Wideroe
-
FilmIs4Ever
- Posts: 377
- Joined: Sat Jun 21, 2003 5:05 am
- Location: Ohio
- Contact:
-
MovieStuff
- Posts: 6135
- Joined: Wed May 01, 2002 1:07 am
- Real name: Roger Evans
- Location: Kerrville, Texas
- Contact:
Man, that is such a common story. And funny in a hapless kind of way. It would make a funny movie where some young stallion film maker keeps getting hooked up with promising bands but the bands break up before each music video can be completed and then he has to start all over. He never gets paid, loses money on film and processing, almost loses his girl because he's always broke and pays no attention to her. Determined and desperate, he cuts together one completed music video from leftovers of what he shot of several different competing bands, just to try and get a job with a record company and the music video unexpectedly becomes a hit. Suddenly he has to get these guys together (which all hate each other) if he has any future with this record company. His girlfriend uses his camera to document his misadventures along the way. He fails but the footage she shoots becomes the basis for an autobiographical look at him as a film maker and is the hit of film festivals around the world. He becomes a media darling and the following year no one knows who he is. He then posts a new year's eve resolution on this thread swearing he is going to sell all his equipment and never shoot again. Once away from the computer and his film equipment, he lives the happy, fulfulling life that we only see in the movies. Fade out on irony. The end.downix wrote:I just feel good that I shot something, even if I could not finish the music video due to the band breaking up.
Roger
http://www.moviestuff.tv
-
TomFoolery
- Posts: 64
- Joined: Wed Apr 14, 2004 7:07 pm
- Location: Detroit
- Contact:
I just finished a short film on super 8, both with a Nizo 801 and super 8 pin-hole! Planning my next project, which will test every fiber of my being. Claymation, shot on super 8, coupled with computer animation (rotoscoping shot film). I’m a gluten for punishment.:lol:
All that is, is light.
-
MovieStuff
- Posts: 6135
- Joined: Wed May 01, 2002 1:07 am
- Real name: Roger Evans
- Location: Kerrville, Texas
- Contact:
-
Nigel
- Senior member
- Posts: 2775
- Joined: Sat Oct 05, 2002 10:14 am
- Real name: Adam
- Location: Lost
- Contact:
Try to take less Narrative work and move into more Spot work. I am going to make a big marketing push after the first. It will be an update to my whole "Corporate Image". Everything is going to be tied together from letterhead to reel.
Then I am going to do a huge get out the word campaign to a whole new customer set. I'm on the war-path!!
Other than that 2004 was pretty good to me so no complaints. 2005 is looking even better as of now I am booked solid from February through May. The biggest issue is that it is more of the same--Narrative:(
Good Luck
Then I am going to do a huge get out the word campaign to a whole new customer set. I'm on the war-path!!
Other than that 2004 was pretty good to me so no complaints. 2005 is looking even better as of now I am booked solid from February through May. The biggest issue is that it is more of the same--Narrative:(
Good Luck
I plan to actually get my many recent reels of super-8 telecine'd and make something out of it!
Tim Drage
films - http:///www.spiteyourface.com
noise - http://www.cementimental.com
"It's cheaper to shoot someone with a gun than a film camera." - amishman35
films - http:///www.spiteyourface.com
noise - http://www.cementimental.com
"It's cheaper to shoot someone with a gun than a film camera." - amishman35
I've just finished my first film. Just under 2 minutes, colour and b+W, silent. It's so crappy I can't be bothered composing music to go with it.
Next year, I plan on making 5 short super 8 films, of increasing duration and quality. In camera editing, non-sync sound (voiceovers, reaction shots, silhouettes....).
The totally silent approach is very difficult to pull off unless you are making more conventional narrative films (where audiences have a ready made context to understand the visuals by). But I can't afford sync sound, so the non-sync approach is next. Write proper scripts, record the sound track first, then shoot meticulously to illustrate the words by.
We'll see how it goes.
Next year, I plan on making 5 short super 8 films, of increasing duration and quality. In camera editing, non-sync sound (voiceovers, reaction shots, silhouettes....).
The totally silent approach is very difficult to pull off unless you are making more conventional narrative films (where audiences have a ready made context to understand the visuals by). But I can't afford sync sound, so the non-sync approach is next. Write proper scripts, record the sound track first, then shoot meticulously to illustrate the words by.
We'll see how it goes.
-
TomFoolery
- Posts: 64
- Joined: Wed Apr 14, 2004 7:07 pm
- Location: Detroit
- Contact:
That is interesting what you said about sound, sonickel. My last film was the first without sound. A decision that was hard to make, after working on a soundtrack for a long time. It is just more successful silent. Once I decided it would be silent, I found it to be very freeing. I know this all depends on your genre and style, and even though the use of sound is an important element that makes film a unique art form, the absence of sound can be even more powerful. Just something to think about.
Oh, and I also resolve to submit to much more festivals. A process that I do not like and always drop the ball on.
Oh, and I also resolve to submit to much more festivals. A process that I do not like and always drop the ball on.
All that is, is light.
roto
What are you using for rotoscopy? Just curious b/c Bob Sabistan (who made the rotoscopy device/software they used for Waking Life and now on the Philip K Dick thing they're doing now) is a friend of mine so I'm around the rotoscopy crowd here sometimes.TomFoolery wrote:Claymation, shot on super 8, coupled with computer animation (rotoscoping shot film).