Some reflection on filmmaking and creativity in tenet-like form I shared on social media late last night:
Suit the medium to your personal predilections. If you have a short attention span and an eye for the natural environment, present rapidly and find subjects outdoors. Make it yours by form and content.
Strive to unhinge filmmaking from its commercial enslavement. Think of film as musicians think about music in a conservatory. Regard novel theoretical thought and study with due respect and attention to stave off mindless repetition and convention.
Two hours of engagement is two hours of engagement. They who can maintain sufficient interest at the lowest cost wins all the marbles.
Never settle when you don't have to. What you do not spend time finessing may end up bouncing around in the halls of eternity. Not always a desirable prospect.
Get and remain as organized as possible. Filmmaking, like much in life, is a constant struggle against ever-increasing entropy and disorder. The central agent(s) should be fundamentally unobstructed and anchored.
Refrain from sensation in order to understand and produce sensation. The all-important conceptual schema behind a product or experience is often hard to see and rarely as initially intoxicating as the consumer-level surface appeal. See through it.
Love and respect carefully chosen collaborators. They are because you are and, often times, they're the only crucial human support beam in precarious circumstances.
Depth of technical skill is more valuable than breadth in nearly any industry but if you're on your own, the latter takes the cake. A jack-of-all-trades carries with them the considerable advantage of greater independence.
Creative acts of great time and effort can always be accomplished by a single person. Such endeavors can also, in turn, attract potential collaborators and other pivotal support. Anyone can start from virtually nothing with this in mind.
Fight tooth and nail against film's technocratic hegemony. At this point in time and with the right mindset, the camera in your phone is infinitely more powerful and liberating than any amount and variation of professional-grade equipment.
And with that, I was out! 😴