Saturday, December 14, 2013

Misfortune and the Future

When I first pitched my idea for Misfortune, I had not given it much thought. I thought it was a great idea, and wanted to see it through, but that was about the extent of it. That is how many great ideas start. Note that I said start ... not end. Who knows how many hundreds, no, thousands of ideas died at that stage. The suggestion stage.
The real story doesn't end there. After that first pitch, I spent a few hours writing a script for misfortune. Then, I had to inform my crew of the first shoot. What had gotten off to a smooth start soon turned into a nightmare of day-by-day scheduling, with me shooting texts back and forth, and calling late actors. Once, my fellow crew members and I even tried to drive to an actor's house uninvited to wake him up.
Some of the best memories from the film making come in the midst of those stressful situations, though. I was so much happier with my camera in hand, shooting film and wondering how the next day's scheduling would go, than I ever was with a whole day to spare and a few bits of schoolwork. I'm strange that way. Give me some task that I want to do ... however hard it is, and I'll do it with enthusiasm. I spent two 8 - hour workdays voluntarily editing the video, even though I'd never get paid for it, and, as it turns out, few people even watched it anyway. But it was worth it.
If I don't want to do something, the opposite is true. What is it that makes doing one page of homework so difficult? I think that the answer to that question is different for everyone. All I know is that I've got to pull through and finish it to the best of my ability. But that's not what I live for. Soon, I'll be working harder than I ever worked at school.
More 8 - hour and longer days will come, but you know what? I'll be happy. My projects will reach completion. The stuff in between a great thought and a great result is effort. In the two weeks of filming Misfortune, I saw that effort was not always painful. It can be incredibly rewarding, and lead to great memories. That is why I push through those tedious moments before my graduation ... because I see the other side. And I want to be there.

If you'd like to check out Misfortune, you can find it under the "Gallery" tab of my website, freedanstudios.com, in "Videos." I hope that you enjoy it and find it meaningful!