There wasn’t much to report today, until a movie. For those that know me, they know movies changed my life and continue to do so. Art overall seems hardwired into my skull, like a curse I can’t shake. I say a curse because at times I get taken away with it, to an unhealthy level. I did it during Standing Firm, in the first few months of filming. I let my passion for the best overtake my sleeping habits, eating habits, etc. I became much heavier than I am now, highly stressed, completely fried in every way. I won’t do that again, that’s for sure. Today I got a small taste of what my favorite films of the past had given me, bliss. All of my favorite films either during the entire thing or in many specific moments gave me a sense of wonder I can’t explain. That is the reason I watch them again, to revisit that wonder. You know a film is good when it sucks you in completely. You’re 100% focused on it, every frame is recorded and every sound rings in your ears. Most of the time it’s not just because it’s a brilliantly crafted sequence, but because it holds a specific relatable circumstance that mirrors one of your own. I saw American Beauty today, for the very first time. It was awful and somehow great, dirty and clean, beautiful and at the same time disgusting. One moment in particular amazed me because it fit where my life currently is and fleshed out how I feel. Give it a look:
If you don’t find that speech amazing, there is something wrong with you. I’m that bag, and at the same time I’m the boy filming it. Of course that “force” he speaks of is God and the wind pushing me is his Will. We’re all plastic bags out in the open being thrown about by God’s Will, or in this case…wind. If a filmmaker wants to know what great storytelling is, they need to look at films like this. Not because they are dirty, immoral in almost every way possible, but because the rights within the wrongs and the do’s in-between the don’ts hold the key to what a film really needs to have to be great. For instance, in American Beauty…it’s full of nothing but fornication, wrong behavior, evil people, where 99% of the film shows all these things to be right and honorable. The average Christian would simply turn a film like this off (and granted it’s no kids film) instead of letting the real purpose of the film reveal itself to them. If you reached the end of the film you would see in the last 1% that none of these actions in the end were shown to do anything good for the characters, but instead destroyed everything for them. It’s funny to see Biblical principles about sin expressed in a secular film. The twists within the story were excellent, the performances memorable and the lessons profound and life changing.
I worked on the edit today and nailed down one more question mark scene…the scene in the church. It needed much less than I thought to work well, just some attention that’s all. I’ve basically been working from the outsides in as I’ve tweaked the edit. The last 30 minutes of the film is in excellent shape and is by far the strongest of the film. That makes me feel great because I know that it will end with a bang. The first 30 minutes is strong as well, and the film opens with a visually stimulating sequence that I’m most proud of. I think the opening and the ending are the greatest examples of what I could in the future if I had a bigger budget, and less jobs on set to do. I’m really excited to see what God throws me to work on in the future. That leaves 30 minutes in the center to be worked on in the next week. A lot of it is pretty well off but the very center of the film is where the most work is needed. It includes many scene changes, flashbacks, and some extremely important emotional moments of the film. If the middle doesn’t work, then the opening and beginning don’t mean much. Here’s hoping that everything falls into place. There are two voice overs missing from the film that will need to be recorded as well as a few shots to get. I won’t reveal what they are but they don’t involve any people, just objects. A small addition will be added to the climax of the film, possibly the last shot of the film…to make it twice as good as it is now. We’ll see how it works, and if it doesn’t we’ll keep the original ending which is great to begin with.
That’s about all I have to say on my day. 
Lots coming down the pike in the next few months, God has been Gracious.
