Making Mistakes / Experimenting

“That’s the beauty of the 10-minute projects here - you can try anything out and see how it looks on the big screen.” - Petru [rough quote]

"It's time to take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!" - Ms Frizzle (The Magic School Bus)

This weekend I had my directorial debut. It felt like it went really well. The actual experience was so awesome and everyone on set was fun and respectful, which I think makes for a great professional set. People also helped each other out, roles overlapped at times, but I didn’t mind. Everyone, at some point, was a runner or a production manager or an assistant director or a camera/sound assistant or what do I know. And maybe that’s unprofessional, but things got done (usually ahead of schedule!) and we all genuinely enjoyed making the movie. 

And what’s the point of doing it if it’s not fun? I suppose there are times when you have to do things that won’t exactly be enjoyable but are necessary. I have come to terms with the fact that it is important to make storyboards with the cinematographer, even though it can be tedious and I don’t like being told that my idea for a certain shot is impossible or breaks the 180-degree rule. And calling actor after actor to leave messages and a lot of that pre-production stuff is not nearly as exciting as the actual on set directing and post-production editing. But now I know they need to be done and once I see how they fit into the entire project, they become exciting.

On set, Dev asked me if I was going to do a remake of my movie when I return to Canada. My initial reaction was “what do you mean, this one is going to Cannes”. Because why not? I am a natural, I have great instincts, I don’t need to be taught anything, I don’t need to make any mistakes. 

And therein is the whole point of school, especially folk high school. We are not here to get good grades, to impress people - we are here to evaluate our every step so we can learn as much as possible. I plan to make as many mistakes as I can while I am here, because that’s how I learn. 

So this past weekend, I tried things out. Some of them I think will work really well and other things might not. But as Petru told me, I can try it out  my way and see how it will look on the big screen in Big Bear. And as Dev suggested, I could do another version back home when I’ve become a little wiser. And then that version will of course go to Cannes, TIFF, Sundance, Berlin, etc. But for now, I am here to make mistakes. Ones that I will learn from so that, when it counts, I won’t fuck up and, instead, make brilliant film!

Perhaps I can use this to excuse my horrible boom operating this past Thursday...