Why I’m making a film a day
- Identity: They say identity comes from what you do often. I’m an actor and a maker, so I gotta do that every day to keep that identity. Kind of like how a marriage celebrant must renew their license every couple of years.
- Presupposition: I don’t have to think about whether I will make a film, the making is a given. Removing the option of not making something means that the only questions I face are What do I want to say? What am I interested in exploring? What excites me? These are also the type of questions that align with my chosen identity.
- Practice: Self explanatory really. The more you practice the better you get. A potter must make many pots
- Failure: All the best stuff comes from failing. The person who gets in the baseball hall of fame for most home runs also has the most strike outs (or something). When you train a muscle to failure at the gym it’s forced to grow to accommodate the new demand.
- Fun: One day I was really not feeling like making a movie. I happened to be flicking through my journal and came across a note from the day I decided to begin this habit. I’d written what would I have to believe in order to successfully make a movie every day? I’d have to believe it was easy and fun and that it is making me better at something I love. I read that and thought- easy I can do that!
- Who’s that guy? I’m very interested to see who I become at the end of this. Who is the type of person that can make a movie every day?
The ingredients of a holiday
I lay on a beach today and the breeze was perfect. The water was perfectly icey and the sun thawed me immediately.
There was even a DJ who played trancey beats that lulled me into a trance of complete relaxation.
I didn’t need to be anywhere or do anything- the only pressing thing on my mind was weather I’d dip in the ocean again.
You know, I think I will
Another language
I’m in France and I realised how easy it is to take a shared language for granted.
I can’t read any signs and people I don’t understand shop keepers.
With this kind of vulnerability comes a massive opurtunitity for growth.
Would I make that?
There are many awesome side effects to making a movie every day. One of my favorites is how it has framed my role as an ‘actor for hire’.
I have the privilege every day to be able to make anything I want to. Any style, genre, length, look, feel, theme- it’s all on the table every. single. day.
I’ve done this for one hundred and eleven days straight now, so I’ve been through the entire spectrum of feelings; from complete inspiration to the very edge of giving up.
Because I get to make whatever I want to and more specifically, play any character I want to and have complete creative control, I’ve found myself increasingly sensitized to acting opportunities.
Instead of jumping at any old audition, I find myself asking a new question:
Would I make this? Would I script this character for myself and put the effort into creating the end product to the best quality I can? If the answer is yes, then of course I want to be a part of an entire team bringing this vision to life. But if the answer is ‘no, I’d probably not do it quite like that’, then I know I don’t need to engage with that opportunity. It’s quite simple actually.
Home is
Converting strangers into friends.
If home is a place where you feel comfortable; where you say howdy to the shop keeper.
Where people know your name and you care about how their day was.
Then you can create home anywhere by opening up to the people in the new place. Leading with curiosity and love. Create your community and make strangers your friends.
Home can be anywhere.
Zoom in
Find the little gem in your art. The bit you love, that felt successful. The bit that other people ‘get’ or are moved by.
Extract is, examine it, replicate it and see if you can sharpen it.
There’s one of these in everything you make. The sum of these gold flakes is a spectacular master piece in your body of work.
It has to rhyme
I’m thinking about how audiences like things they recognise.
The short films of mine that seem to resonate with people are the ones that are strongly referencing something else or that they can easily categorise in order to appreciate.
It has to rhyme.
Solo travel
There’s something very special about travelling alone.
Dining by yourself in an unknown city has a certain romance to it. (You also feel like an undercover food critic.)
These people live their lives here, parallel to your experience of novelty is their experience of the mundane; they know these streets, they may have grown up going to this same restaurant. Their grandma lives up the road.
You’re calling all the shots:
Smiling at strangers. Or not.
Leaving the hotel. Or not.
Connecting to the place. Or not.
Who are you when no one is watching?
The heroic act vs. the system
Seth Godin makes a great distinction in his book This is Strategy.
We often attribute success to some heroic act; a big push or a giant piece of work done all in one night! We like this because it’s kind of obvious; we can imagine summoning all our strength and doing a big difficult thing once.
What’s much harder to perceive is the systematic whittling away day after day: progress is hard to see, it’s easy to succumb to giving up and the eventual result can seem like a universe away.
But committing to a system that works is the best way to get solid results.
Don’t put time into trying to do a giant difficult thing once,
Instead, focus of overcoming the daily resistance to do the seemingly boring thing again and again.
That’s the invisible Hercules.
London is like the Cantina in Star Wars
Everyone from across the galaxy is here.
Buying and selling wares.
Connecting with each other.
Crossing paths.
Ducking into dim pubs.
Meeting characters they’ll never see again.
Beginning journeys.
Uncovering artifacts.
Heralding quests.
Promising treasure.