Giving Up

[hmcindie]

Well it's great that you actually made a feature film. That in itself takes a lot of work.

I really think you should try making a couple of short films where you tackle exactly the issues you had in this feature film. Make a 5 minute short where you really concentrate on lighting and sound. Make another one where you do a simple dialogue scene and concentrate on how to make that work. From moving the camera to simple cuts between lines, where to focus, how to really bring the characters to life. Watch a great film and try to copy it. Learn by doing.

Making one feature film like that will teach you what went wrong, but it won't necessarily get you up-to-date on all the different techniques you could've utilised.

[Stab]

A story that most of us will recognize, sooner or later.

I hate to be the one who will say it here, but it has to be said. This is a classic example of something 99% of the people on this planet have to go through.

There is no child on this planet who dreams about being a carpenter, garbage collector or street cleaner. Almost everyone aspires something like being an artist, a musician, a filmmaker, actor, having an own business, etc. If you ever watched Idols / Popstars etc you have seen how unbelievably many people sign up for such a thing, just hoping to be discovered.

If you ever type 'short film' on Youtube, you can see how unbelievably many people work on things and publish them just to get discovered. We are living in an age with endless opportunities and we are told about these so often that we believe we never ever have to work again because we are so special. The next generation will have to suffer from this even more.
You know why? Because to be able to make money with pure art, one has to be special. And special literally means that only a small percentage of all people can be it.

We are flooded lately with mediocre singers, songwriters, films, painters, 'artists' so much, that most people have enough of it. I think it is even harder to be special now that it was 20 years ago. 

Now, I'm not critizing anyone's skills here specifically, most of us simply don't 'have' it and will have to give up. When we are young we are dreaming big and chasing our goals, but when we reach our thirties and more and more responsibilities show up (house, bills, girlfriends, childeren), we have to make a mentallity change. We can just 'fuck around' anymore, we have to get a stable income. It's that simple.

It's easy to say 'follow your dreams!' Because deep down inside we would all like that. But unfortunately, money is more important than anything else to survive and most of us will need to let go. At least partially.

That's what I did. In stead of pursuing a career as a director, I am now running and expanding my wedding film company. I'm determined to be the motherfucking best wedding filmer of my country and at the same time make well sure my website is being optimized for Google search etc.

It's a good alternative for being a director of feature films in Hollywood. Is it as nice? No. Is it my absolute dream? No. Is it fucking 1000x better than working from 9:00 - 17:00 at Mcdonalds? Hell yes.

I think this is all just a matter of 'growing up'. When I was 17 I believed I would be the next big rock star at a young age. I thought I had incredible song writing talent and that it would just be a matter of time before I was discovered. Turned out I was very wrong and I was just one of the million musicians who think the same and write mediocre songs. Hence, I gave up pursuing that career and music is now just one of my hobbies.

It's hard, I know. But letting go and focus on your real skills and develop a sense of business are the most important things you can do in your life I think. That, and knowing how to communicate with people.

Good luck everyone. I still encourage everyone to go for it, but also to keep a sense of realism.

[Ed_David]

A story that most of us will recognize, sooner or later.

I hate to be the one who will say it here, but it has to be said. This is a classic example of something 99% of the people on this planet have to go through.

There is no child on this planet who dreams about being a carpenter, garbage collector or street cleaner. Almost everyone aspires something like being an artist, a musician, a filmmaker, actor, having an own business, etc. If you ever watched Idols / Popstars etc you have seen how unbelievably many people sign up for such a thing, just hoping to be discovered.

If you ever type 'short film' on Youtube, you can see how unbelievably many people work on things and publish them just to get discovered. We are living in an age with endless opportunities and we are told about these so often that we believe we never ever have to work again because we are so special. The next generation will have to suffer from this even more.
You know why? Because to be able to make money with pure art, one has to be special. And special literally means that only a small percentage of all people can be it.

We are flooded lately with mediocre singers, songwriters, films, painters, 'artists' so much, that most people have enough of it. I think it is even harder to be special now that it was 20 years ago. 

Now, I'm not critizing anyone's skills here specifically, most of us simply don't 'have' it and will have to give up. When we are young we are dreaming big and chasing our goals, but when we reach our thirties and more and more responsibilities show up (house, bills, girlfriends, childeren), we have to make a mentallity change. We can just 'fuck around' anymore, we have to get a stable income. It's that simple.

It's easy to say 'follow your dreams!' Because deep down inside we would all like that. But unfortunately, money is more important than anything else to survive and most of us will need to let go. At least partially.

That's what I did. In stead of pursuing a career as a director, I am now running and expanding my wedding film company. I'm determined to be the motherfucking best wedding filmer of my country and at the same time make well sure my website is being optimized for Google search etc.

It's a good alternative for being a director of feature films in Hollywood. Is it as nice? No. Is it my absolute dream? No. Is it fucking 1000x better than working from 9:00 - 17:00 at Mcdonalds? Hell yes.

I think this is all just a matter of 'growing up'. When I was 17 I believed I would be the next big rock star at a young age. I thought I had incredible song writing talent and that it would just be a matter of time before I was discovered. Turned out I was very wrong and I was just one of the million musicians who think the same and write mediocre songs. Hence, I gave up pursuing that career and music is now just one of my hobbies.

It's hard, I know. But letting go and focus on your real skills and develop a sense of business are the most important things you can do in your life I think. That, and knowing how to communicate with people.

Good luck everyone. I still encourage everyone to go for it, but also to keep a sense of realism.

​You know who else got that speech - me.  Well everyone has had this speech.  Let's see who else - oh right - Louis C.K. who started making short films.

But this is the thing I sense talent in baxter's film - he has something to say, more so than most of online films that are Terrence Malick rip offs or Wes Anderson rip offs or Horror films - I feel that there is something here.

And I'm sure Louis C.K. wanted to quit, but he didn't - he kept going, he got more honest - he found his voice.

If you are an artist, you're going to do your art whether or not "the public" likes it - because you need to - it's a tool - a coping mechanism for life.  A way to process life.

Maybe Baxter can do it for fun and not try to make money off it - that's fine.

Once you "start making money" you get a lot of people telling you to change things.  And that's not fun either.

Shoot your weddings, make them beautiful - do whatever you are doing and make it beautiful - if you have a mop, mop as well as you can.

I spent 7 hours last night regrading two pieces I shot, not because someone asked me to but because I wasn't happy with them.  And I'm still not happy with them, but I am happier.

[ricardo_sousa11]

I get you and feel your pain.

 

I myself am 25, never done a feature film (mostly because I dont think im ready yet), have done a few shortfilms (heres my latest : https://vimeo.com/111478234 ) and I've had ups and downs, where I felt like I could conquer the world, and others where I should just sell everything and move along. But then I realized, I will probably never stop having this "hunger" for filmmaking...even if I dont do anything for a year, I will then watch a movie that will trigger it back.

I now have a job as a graphic designer, will be buying a new camera (Nx1) and start making shortfilms again, it is what I like, so no matter where I am in life, I will keep doing it. One of my biggest problems is of course financing (the hollow was done with around 100€ mostly for gas and what not), and once I get that down, and have some backup/help, I wil follow this full time.

 

Remember, whatever you do in life, is irrelevant, but its important that you do it, because if you dont, no one else will.

[agolex]

 

I think this is all just a matter of 'growing up'. When I was 17 I believed I would be the next big rock star at a young age. I thought I had incredible song writing talent and that it would just be a matter of time before I was discovered. Turned out I was very wrong and I was just one of the million musicians who think the same and write mediocre songs. Hence, I gave up pursuing that career and music is now just one of my hobbies.

 

Who defines what is mediocre and what is not? I find most Hollywood productions mediocre and unbearable, yet they get made. There's a steady decline in people doing their own thing and not worrying about pleasing others, nowadays everything's about tailoring to certain target audiences. People just accept their "fate", forget about their dreams an feel miserable – way to go! If we have no more dreamers and visionaries, art is going to die and with it quite a few others things (which is already happening, if you ask me). There's nothing worse imo than going with the flow if it's against your very nature. Why try to earn more and more, so you can afford the newest gadgets (and ramble on about them endlessly on forums), car, house, whatever instead of trying to live with less and doing more of what you love? Teach kids some modesty and not that they have to be awesomerer and richerer than everyone else. Endless growth will kill you one day, you know?

​To reinforce it with Nietzsche:

"Wer von seinem Tag nicht zwei Drittel für sich selbst hat, ist ein Sklave." (Whoever does not have two thirds of his day for himself, is a slave.)

Sure, the realities in certain regions might be harsher than in others, but I'm quite sure that most of the people on here are at liberty to change something. If they so choose, that is. If you wanna race into oblivion, no prob, your call. Oh and don't forget to teach your children the same, you wouldn't want them to be failures who don't even own a BMW by the age of 30, would you?

[QuickHitRecord]

 

 

[agolex]

Nuff said.

[Geoff CB]

 

 

​Thank you so much for this, turning 28 tomorrow and worried about where I am in life. This is great

[Jonesy Jones]

 

 

​This was great. Who created this and how do we see part 2?

[Cinegain]

​This was great. Who created this and how do we see part 2?

​Well apparently it's from a series: 'Delve - video essays'.

So... that leads to http://delve.tv/essays/ which leads to http://delve.tv/the-long-game-part-one/ where it says ' Watch Part Two here '. Which leads to http://delve.tv/the-long-game-part-two . Which tells you 'Oops! That page has disappeared...'. But given the Vimeo style video, you just search it up at Vimeo, https://vimeo.com/search?q=the+long+game , et voilá: