I spent most of my day editing again. I was either editing a movie, or watching a movie. The more I watch movies and the more I work on mine the more I realize it’s what I’m supposed to be doing. Nothing gets my insides bubbling like a good film can. Of course the right answer is Jesus is #1…I’m not arguing that. I’m talking about outside of that. I’m so excited and thankful to have the passion I have for storytelling. I think artists have it the best, because art comes in almost every form…so nothing is left outside the realm of possibility. I’m grateful to have an interest and passion for all forms of filmmaking. Not just the larger roles normally spoken of like directing, writing, cinematography, or music…but production design, costuming, producing (often left out of the mix when films are talked about), sound design and foley recording, ADR, etc. All of it interests me because each would be dead in a film without the others to support it. A great story without great direction is worthless, and if it isn’t shot well it suffers, and if what your pointing your camera at is boring then your film becomes boring, and if the music doesn’t flow with the emotions of the story it wont make maximum impact and on and on it goes. It’s all one, all unified…nothing left by the curb, nothing more important than another. It’s all the same. There is nothing more exciting than to know what your purpose in life is, and to actually be doing it and seeing it happening is a thrill beyond anything I can describe. Film is not entertainment for me, it’s life. So much of who I am and what I know comes from the “entertainment” I grew up on and in the films I’ve discovered throughout the years. It’s been said by secular folks (not even by Christians) that filmmakers are in a way…preachers. They project what ideas/thoughts/philosophies that they have onto the screen whether it be in symbolism or whatever…it’s there.
I think this is why I feel so strongly about creating good products. I feel so incredibly passionate about what a film COULD do, that resulting in anything less is unacceptable. Making movies for profit doesn’t interest me. Would I like to make a living doing it? Of course I would! Getting paid to do what you love is the dream of anyone. This mentality has come across in debates between other believers when it comes to making just fun family films. I struggle with that because it would be fun sometime to just do an action movie or something like that. But the more I think about it (and this is just my position), the more I realize how short my life is. You only get to work on so many things, and then your dead. If you had the opportunity to work on 30 films in your lifetime…all of which were financial successes and met their audience, and out of that 30 only 1 of them was missing the gospel…would you want to stand before your creator and say “O come on Lord…29 out of 30 ain’t bad!” I wouldn’t… I would rather say “Lord you gave me X and I did as much as I could with it!” I can’t imagine having a budget spent on a film that doesn’t grow the kingdom, although many would argue what that actually means. Regardless it’s just a personal conviction I have. We have to be careful where we spend our time/money…and not get snagged into the trap of “it’s just for fun this time.” Just my position, do with it what you will.
I’m at about 20% lock on Standing Firm. That basically means 20% of the films edit is in it’s locked state, not to be touched again (unless there is something I missed, but this is a pretty final position to be in). We will chop at the bit locking more and more scenes as time progresses. After scenes are locked I’ll go into the sound to start tweaking and balancing the levels and such to get a more completed properly mixed soundtrack. ADR also needs to be inserted and mixed after that point. To be at 20% feels pretty good. I opened up an old edit file today to look at it and man have we come a long way! Seeing the completed cut as it was at that point I can see why my gut used to sink when I opened it. So many problems, scenes that needed reshoots at that point, ADR needed and not recorded yet, gaps in the story we had yet to fill, etc. So much uncertainty…and to be here now with a much more solid and rounded plan, lets just say it feels great.
G’night. Tomorrow starts another work week…hopefully the 4th of July in LA is as fun as it used to be back home.
