Sorry I haven’t written a blog in some time now! Our up and coming short film ‘Fly in a box’ is on hold as I’m waiting for Mr. Watson-Wood to return from LA!... Alright for some!!
In the mean time I thought I would share my thoughts on what I feel is needed if you want to become a director/ filmmaker in the struggles of real life.
Like many others I studied filmmaking at university, which was an amazing place to create the films you wanted to make, with all the benefit’s of time, crew, free kit and of course student loan to pay for your films. A filmmakers dream!
Although this is great, you hunger for this to continue after leaving university, which sadly, sometimes is not the case.
The real pressures of life are thrown on you and you slowly start to loose sight of your dream of becoming a filmmaker and the passion you once felt.
So how do you keep this? How do you stop yourself from falling into a life where you don’t get to do what you love, or have the freedom to make your own films? How do you find the time between working to pay the rent, and the time to tackle a film?.... TRICKY!
Now I guess this works for different people in different situations, but I would like to share my own side of what I think are your options.
I guess you start with working out what you want to be… Do you want to direct features? Commercials? Music videos? Or maybe just create your own films as a hobbie?
Knowing what you want to pursue and what you enjoy making is key in angling your showreel of work in the right direction.
For example, if you want to be a feature film director then you want to start creating short dramas, tackling dialog and performance and slowly getting into longer forms as you progress.
Commercials are about strong visuals, short and snappy ‘commercial’ ideas. Production Companies will look for directors that’s work has gone viral on the Internet, or work that the public are talking about. Maybe a tecnique that hasn’t been done before and think might be a niche for it in the commercial world.
Music videoes are simple.. Make a music video for a band or artist you may know, showing people your talent as a music video director.
Now this all makes sense, but the problem is how do you make your films in the first place??
Like everyone else… you have to work to live, so straight away this will eat at your time. So picking a job that gives you the freedom to still be creative is vital.
Getting a job in the media industry, if that’s film, TV, or commercials is a great place to learn the ways of the industry and gain the contacts you will need one day to help you make your own films.
This can be a very long process; building your way up the ladder over the years, not giving any creative input into the project you are working on and leaving you very little time and money to make your own films. Also, most of these jobs are based in the cities such as London, so all your money will go on rent if you don’t have family that live there.
However, saying this, it leads to contacts; creative people who are interested in the same thing as you, and people who have access to the kit you need, who are also as passionate as you. If you can create a fine line between working like this, not letting the lack of creativity get to you, not using all your time up working, setting aside days or weeks to make your own films, as well as pay the bills, this is a great way to do it.
Otherwise, living for cheap with family or friends, somewhere that inspires you, and making just enough money to create those films you want to make, while working a job that can pay for them, would be a great way to build up that vital showreel that, with enough hard work, will get you to where you want to go.
There is no right or wrong way of getting there. It’s each to their own. However… be careful not to loose sight of your long time goal. Things can take time, money can be tight to start with- paying off that big overdraft or credit card bill can take time. But as long as you don’t get side tracked, and you keep your goal in sight, you’ll get there eventually. Its easy to get comfy, fall into a different way of life and then not even realise that you’ve given up… if this starts to happen, take a step back and change things. If the path you’ve chosen appears to be getting you no closer to creating films… its not too late to choose another one!
JUST KEEP MAKING FILMS!!!
