this past semester i had the honor to direct yet another final production in one of my production courses at university. to date it is one of my favorite productions i have been able to take part in, but this project most definitely stretched me in almost every way possible: i wrote the script in one night (with pints of coffee being ingested), our crew had an extremely limited amount of time to spend in pre-production to prep for principal, and i had to think through this story differently, unlike i had ever done so before.
the class itself was all to do with experimental storytelling and creative/abstract ways of telling a story. when i entered the class i was extremely excited as this was a course i have been waiting to take for a while, but the moment it began i felt completely overwhelmed. i felt like every idea i came up with wasn’t good enough, it didn’t stretch my storytelling abilities, it didn’t challenge my cinematography skills, and overall it wasn’t as creative or abstract as i would want any of my pieces to come out.
it was a difficult process. the concept for the final changed at least four times over the course of two weeks once we actually began story development on it. i was near going insane by the end of the process, what with no solid concept, a hashed together storyline, and a deadline for both looming. eventually my team was able to settle on a concept and from there i was able to dive into the story at hand.
the concept scared me ever so slightly; it wasn’t overly spiritual based, but it did have the makings and potential of being so. which terrified me. obviously, for those of you who follow my posts and have known me for a while i am not one who likes to “over-spiritualize” films. i believe in strong storytelling and that’s it. i dont believe one’s film should be simple in form or structure, and i think a great film is one that makes you think about the deeper part of who you are and who we are as a society. so with that understanding i set out to make something that did just that, while still maintaining its original message.
as i said i wrote the script over the course of a sunday evening, spending at least a good six hours on the short four page script. i wrestled with finding balance between the concept and its audience, looking for ways that the two might coincide and connect with one another. i struggled with character development, and finding a story to be told among all of them. in the course of that six hours i consumed more coffee than i think i ever have, changed the story itself at least twice, and still was able to get a few hours of shut eye.
after it was pitched to the group they liked it. there were obvious areas that needed further development and plusing up and i was able to welcome them whole-heartedly, which is a huge step for me as a writer. the rewriting process took about a week and half and went on as we moved forward into pre-production which made for an interesting work flow among the group. all the way up until a week before principal we changed and tweaked parts of the story as say fit, and still to this day i know it made for a far better film before hand; even if it was a difficult and long process.
once we made it to principal the story took flight. while we only had a little over a month or so to pull everything together it flowed, for the most part, as if we had had three to work with. the actors were perfect, the crew was prepped, and the shots flowed just as i imagined them to do. it was stressful at times with time crunches and last minute change ups but overall it was an amazing experience to film all nine of our scenes in the course of four days, non-stop. by the end of it we were all exhausted and every last one of us put in 110% which is truly not an exaggeration of any kind. i was so proud of our crew and it was one of the easier and more enjoyable sets that i have been on while in school.
for myself i walked away from the project extremely happy because of this, but also for what this film taught me about cinematography and storytelling. i’ve always looked at a film and considered coverage just a means to an end to convey a scene which tells the story, but it was on this project that i began to think as each individual shot as its own story to be told. as i began to consider this kind of storytelling, making the overarching story line a meta narrative complied of multiple stories being told at once, all kinds of ideas for shot choices flood my mind. i started considering each shot for its composition, angle, and action, asking myself, “what does this one shot tell us about the character within the frame? it was no longer a matter of coverage and putting a series of semi-related images juxtaposed together, it was a matter of telling a story, shot by shot.
this was a huge step for me as a director and as i began to think through each shot, critically thinking through its value to the greater story i was able to compile and consolidate our set ups. and when we reached post it was scary and amazing to see how easily each shot fell into place. never have i directed something where the edit came together EXACTLY like i saw it play out in my head. overall we were able to stick to about 95% of my original vision for the sequence and that is something i have never been able to say about any of my productions.
all and all it was an amazing experience and the story is one i truly do believe applies to all of us, even if you wouldn’t call yourself a member of any specific faith; our passions help make us who we are. they give us life, they bring us joy, and they help us release the deeper creativity found within each of us. a passion and talent is a terrible thing to waste, and even though it is easy to let the hectic and fast paced consumeristic life style of cooperate america steer us away from what we love, you must always fight to follow your creative passions, no matter how difficult it might be. because when we discover our passions and let ourselves in essence become one with them, we begin to find a deeper meaning to life; we begin to find ourselves.
