Film

To expand on my post yesterday this project has been hard on me so much that I have had to consider if this is something I want to do. What I have realized is that I am unprepared technically to work on films and that for the next three or four years I need to focus on school and an apprenticeship somewhere.

I was told by several people early on that film school was unnecessary and that you could succeed in the industry by just working on sets. While this may be possible for a few most people who make a living doing this go to school. If you do not have technical knowledge of the equipment you are using on set you will spend all your time on set playing catch up with everyone else, this makes learning on the job difficult to impossible.

Treebeard

Today's quote comes from J.R.R. Tolkien by way of Treebeard.

"I am not altogether on anybody's side, because nobody is altogether on my side"

A friend of mine saw this and suggested I use it for my blog. It's a fun little quote that speaks to me. I have been at odds with mainstream thought on large issues for some time now and it's rare to find someone who agrees with me. Even more so lately. On my very first film I was surprised to find that most of the students my age on the project held similar views to me and when I went out to Colorado with them to film several other films I learned again that we were very similar. In fact I have run into many actors and crew members who are very Libertarian in the film industry. I was surprised at first because I had been told growing up by evangelical leaders that everyone in the film industry where godless liberals but I have found that to not be the case.

Art and Propaganda

Today's quote comes from George Orwell.

"All art is propaganda... On the other hand, not all propaganda is art."

Art is propaganda because the artist is presenting his views of the world and making arguments about how reality works. The argument is made whether the artist means to or not; even documentary filmmakers choose what footage to show and how to narrate the footage.

Jedi and the Truth

Today’s quote comes from American writer Neil Gaiman.

“Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and adventures are the shadow truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes and forgotten.”

This is exactly why I got involved in making films. I want to tell tales that will be immortalized in the medium of film. Film has an incredible ability to influence what people believe. For example during the 2001 census in England and Wales 390,127 people put down Jedi as their religion. In fact in most areas of England and Wales the number of people who identify as Jedi is higher than those that identify as Jewish or Buddhist.