A Pep-talk for Getting Started

So the things that get me started on making a film are largely based on things that haven't worked before. I get an idea I am excited about, I think on it until it starts to come together, and then I procrastinate over fear from my past failures. I have never made anything on my own, that I don't cringe when watching days after completion. 

How do you get past this? The only way I have found is to accept this as reality and move ahead as if this will be the one I'm not going to be embarrassed by. In forging ahead, I try to pin point a few things that didn't work last time and change the approach on the newest film. One of the reoccurring problems I've had making films is boredom. Stop-motion, hell animation, is a long drawn out process. I heard once that tim burton prefers live action because he can be done with three movies in the time it takes for one animated one. So little old me, by myself? Its' gonna take at least a year, probably longer. What idea do I have that will be as fresh and exciting a year later? None.

Some people have said that unless your idea is good enough to keep your interest you shouldn't make the film. I disagree. I think if that is the case, the only films out there would be over thought, overworked bores. I have listened to songs that are great songs. I listen to them over and over for a month. After a while I can no longer hear them as I did in the beginning. Is it because the songs now suck? Were they not worth creating because I am tired of them? There is already enough out there t discourage film makers without some unrealistic expectation for film concepts. If the idea feels right, and you are not high or drunk, I think its a good idea. If you can't get it out of your head, do it.

I use other things to trick myself into continuing on the film long after the idea or story is a little stale. The best technique I have found so far is to compartmentalize the process, and leave each as open as possible. When I direct a commercial or music video, my goal is to communicate my ideas to other artists so that animation can happen in a shorter timeline. Thats a bit of a simplified version of directing, but it works well enough for this rant. In my own work, I try to only make decisions on what I have to and leave as many decisions open as possible. This way, six months down the road, I get to enjoy the creative process and come to everything fresh, instead of putting the peg in the predetermined hole for a year. 

Part of this blog is a way for me to keep track of the journey when I look back at the end. I have a script,but have not casted or recorded voices, nor have I storyboarded anything. I did however start making puppets. Ass-backward? Yes! But fun!