We often think we do what we do because we want to be happy. In reality, we do what we do because we need to be fulfilled--a very different thing. We don't really know what will do that, if anything even can, and for every single person it is individual and private. But it drives us. More than a goal or even a dream. Maybe it is the essence of life-force itself?
I always reflect on the realization that if we make things easier, it'll be easier to make schlock too. It's common to think that because filmmaking was hard to do back in the day, that's why we had so much "golden age" good stuff. But the reality is, at the times that bread such genius as Jacques Tati, the rest of the world was laughing at The Three Stooges. I've realized that both sides of the coin must exist at the same time. The cream rises only above the milk below it. And there is always a lot more milk than cream.
So as we change the system so that it is easier to create and get our creations seen, we'll have to put up with a lot of less than stellar stuff filling the void as well. But if we want the stars to shine, there's got to be a lot of dark sky around them for contrast. But we need a night sky with stars, don't we? So we keep looking in the dark for them, and smile when we find them and see them twinkle.
All of that is true. I also think there comes a time -- the Kobayashi moment -- where there no longer is comparison, the the great is so far beyond the rest in all ways, it is an entirely different thing. We must enter an era where we trust our taste and our instincts, where we are willing to ask for more and demand better, when we refuse to tolerate that which is being served and refuse to give up our seat.
Get out of my head Ted. Yes, the great paradox, we are at once alone and not alone. I lived for the first half of my life living alone. It was very very seductive until it was almost fatal. Who knew a bottle of Tylenol wouldn't kill you? An incredibly wise Korean psychiatrist saved my life. Actually gave me a life. So now I'm alone but have the compulsion to want to bring others in. Case in point starting my first documentary at 62 as not just making a film but the distribution, the audience building as an integral part of the process. Then recently attending a screening of an amazing documentary and discovering the Video Consortium and now starting one in NJ. Building (really discovering each other,) a community. This has added to the delightful path this film has taken me on. It's at it's core really for me but wonderfully a thing in itself that has attracted others to it all to our mutual delight.
We often think we do what we do because we want to be happy. In reality, we do what we do because we need to be fulfilled--a very different thing. We don't really know what will do that, if anything even can, and for every single person it is individual and private. But it drives us. More than a goal or even a dream. Maybe it is the essence of life-force itself?
Thanks Ben. That is precisely what I am/was curious about. Let me know if you find any answers!
I always reflect on the realization that if we make things easier, it'll be easier to make schlock too. It's common to think that because filmmaking was hard to do back in the day, that's why we had so much "golden age" good stuff. But the reality is, at the times that bread such genius as Jacques Tati, the rest of the world was laughing at The Three Stooges. I've realized that both sides of the coin must exist at the same time. The cream rises only above the milk below it. And there is always a lot more milk than cream.
So as we change the system so that it is easier to create and get our creations seen, we'll have to put up with a lot of less than stellar stuff filling the void as well. But if we want the stars to shine, there's got to be a lot of dark sky around them for contrast. But we need a night sky with stars, don't we? So we keep looking in the dark for them, and smile when we find them and see them twinkle.
All of that is true. I also think there comes a time -- the Kobayashi moment -- where there no longer is comparison, the the great is so far beyond the rest in all ways, it is an entirely different thing. We must enter an era where we trust our taste and our instincts, where we are willing to ask for more and demand better, when we refuse to tolerate that which is being served and refuse to give up our seat.
Get out of my head Ted. Yes, the great paradox, we are at once alone and not alone. I lived for the first half of my life living alone. It was very very seductive until it was almost fatal. Who knew a bottle of Tylenol wouldn't kill you? An incredibly wise Korean psychiatrist saved my life. Actually gave me a life. So now I'm alone but have the compulsion to want to bring others in. Case in point starting my first documentary at 62 as not just making a film but the distribution, the audience building as an integral part of the process. Then recently attending a screening of an amazing documentary and discovering the Video Consortium and now starting one in NJ. Building (really discovering each other,) a community. This has added to the delightful path this film has taken me on. It's at it's core really for me but wonderfully a thing in itself that has attracted others to it all to our mutual delight.