This has always been a very complex topic in my mind, the more I seem to think about it, the more complicated it seems.
What makes a good film-maker? Or, to be more specific...what makes a good successful film-maker? Without a doubt, you need contacts to make it into the industry, but sooner or later your film-making talents and your true colours will be revealed- meaning, you must have the technical "know how", but also the good eye and talent mixed with a good dose of passion for the art form. Believe it or not, there is a recipe for success. Some people can create it, some people cant. You can be as talented as you wont, but cannot apply yourself. You can have all the business skills and be a mega-manipulator when it comes to forming relationships with people in the industry and developing a good image, but do you have what it takes to make a good film? Then chance comes into play, what happens if you are born in a desolate country but are so destined to become a film-maker?- Not much hope for you there. What happens when you happen to sit next to Mr. Ordinary on a train, where on the seat behind him was Mr. Famous Film Director? Then again, if you did sit next to Mr. Famous Film Director, gaining that solid contact is where image and manipulation come into play, have none of that- no hope for you.
See, I told you it would become confusing. My choice: To just not think about it.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
What happens when Hollywood meets my town
It's not that often, here, in Australia, to find out that a huge motion picture is going to be filmed around the corner from where you live. However, the weird thing about my town is that a lot of this type of thing has actually occurred to me. It must be how cheap it is to film here, and it does look very American, with our pine trees and American-style cape cod housing. We have been involved numerous times in motion picture, just from living where we live.
But, it is funny how completely obsessed you become over something, just because its happening in close range.
Last year we found out "Knowing" was being filmed here. This is the huge epic about the end of the world, starring "Nicolas Cage" and Aussie actress "Rose Byrne". Of course, I had to find out everything I could about what was going on, finding out when they were filming and where. Turns out I was able to get secret information regarding this from an "Insider". Then there was some hype in the air one night and we found out they were doing a night shoot at a Servo (Gas Depot) on the connecting highway to my town, just 5 minutes down the road from me. Perfect for my obsession, as during the day and other times when they were shooting major scenes, they had crowd barriers miles back. Everyone wants a little piece of celebrity in their lives, and this was rare to us!
Anyway, we drove down to check things out. Yes, they were in the middle of shooting a few small things, but at this point, no sign of Nick anywhere. Apparently he was coming later, some people were even saying he wasn't coming at all. The size of the fan crowd proved to me that there had not been much talk about tonight's shooting as there was only a few people scattered around. After a few epic takes of Rose Byrne screaming after her character's daughter was stolen, we decided to go home with no hope that we would be meeting any famous people anytime soon. Turns out Nicolas Cage is one of the hardest people to get an autograph from let alone meet, so we didn't have much hope at all.
Later on that night we get a phone call from "The Insider", telling us to be at the set around 4:00am. So, we set our alarms and made sure we were. Upon arrival, we noticed the small fan crowd had turned into a couple of very sleepy Nick fanatics holding posters of him. Don't worry, I got the printer happening at 4:00am and we had a couple of posters ourselves.
We asked what was going on and the Nick fanatics said he was shooting a scene soon! And they were right, we saw the guy come out from his tent, prepared to shoot another epic scene. This time it was the beginning of the end of the world, and he had to rush into the Servo and demand to know where Rose Byrne was. Brought a tear to my eye, the struggles.
After the Scene, believe it or not, he came over to us!
We all got autographs and a good 10 minute chat with him, which was amazing. He was just like anybody else, but completely shy. Regardless of his normality, its quite surreal seeing someone you have only seen on a screen in the flesh up close. This only made me buzz inside and look forward to a future in the industry, no matter how long or how hard I have to work to make it there.
But, it is funny how completely obsessed you become over something, just because its happening in close range.
Last year we found out "Knowing" was being filmed here. This is the huge epic about the end of the world, starring "Nicolas Cage" and Aussie actress "Rose Byrne". Of course, I had to find out everything I could about what was going on, finding out when they were filming and where. Turns out I was able to get secret information regarding this from an "Insider". Then there was some hype in the air one night and we found out they were doing a night shoot at a Servo (Gas Depot) on the connecting highway to my town, just 5 minutes down the road from me. Perfect for my obsession, as during the day and other times when they were shooting major scenes, they had crowd barriers miles back. Everyone wants a little piece of celebrity in their lives, and this was rare to us!
Anyway, we drove down to check things out. Yes, they were in the middle of shooting a few small things, but at this point, no sign of Nick anywhere. Apparently he was coming later, some people were even saying he wasn't coming at all. The size of the fan crowd proved to me that there had not been much talk about tonight's shooting as there was only a few people scattered around. After a few epic takes of Rose Byrne screaming after her character's daughter was stolen, we decided to go home with no hope that we would be meeting any famous people anytime soon. Turns out Nicolas Cage is one of the hardest people to get an autograph from let alone meet, so we didn't have much hope at all.
Later on that night we get a phone call from "The Insider", telling us to be at the set around 4:00am. So, we set our alarms and made sure we were. Upon arrival, we noticed the small fan crowd had turned into a couple of very sleepy Nick fanatics holding posters of him. Don't worry, I got the printer happening at 4:00am and we had a couple of posters ourselves.
We asked what was going on and the Nick fanatics said he was shooting a scene soon! And they were right, we saw the guy come out from his tent, prepared to shoot another epic scene. This time it was the beginning of the end of the world, and he had to rush into the Servo and demand to know where Rose Byrne was. Brought a tear to my eye, the struggles.
After the Scene, believe it or not, he came over to us!
We all got autographs and a good 10 minute chat with him, which was amazing. He was just like anybody else, but completely shy. Regardless of his normality, its quite surreal seeing someone you have only seen on a screen in the flesh up close. This only made me buzz inside and look forward to a future in the industry, no matter how long or how hard I have to work to make it there.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Meeting Someone Huge
This blog is not what I call a chronological blog.
Chunks of past present and future all posted whenever I feel necessary.
A little about me:
I am 19
I am male
I am a Media student (starting in 3 months)
I love film, music and partying.
...Thats enough about me.
That is something I don't understand about life, everybody is always trying to work everyone else out, asking questions and trying to get inside peoples heads as quick as possible. What ever happened to mystery? What happened to just experiencing life and sparing the questions?
But one thing I do believe in is fate. And sometimes fate may slap you in the face...and ill tell you why.
I live in a small town, with a population of 3200 people. Beautiful scenery, but it pisses down in winter and is searing hot in summer. I don't know how I survive here. Not many people know about this town, its quite secluded from everything else, but is only an hour train ride to the city (which is not that much for us Australians.)
Anyway, last week, on Thursday I think it was. It was just another ordinary night, I had worked that day and was a bit tired. My mum had invited me out for drinks and the pub (I have a weird relationship with her, shes a young mum). Anyway, I declined and said I wasn't up to it without hesitation.
That night I did nothing, just watched TV. How exciting.
Meanwhile, mum was having drinks at the pub with her friend and they started talking to a guy. After getting to know him a little she asked him what he did. He said he directed films. Mum said, "Oh, yeah. Any ones I would have seen?" And he replied with, "Oh just recently directed (a huge movie)."
This was being released in Australia that week. She had just met (A film director), one of the biggest directors of the present day around the globe. His films have grossed more than $2.7 billion.
Turns out he was here for a wedding. Close friends.
And where was I? Watching Family Guy, at home, on TV.
It was fate that this megastar had come to my very small secluded home town, the one night I was going to go to the pub where he was.
And fate slapped me in the face.
Chunks of past present and future all posted whenever I feel necessary.
A little about me:
I am 19
I am male
I am a Media student (starting in 3 months)
I love film, music and partying.
...Thats enough about me.
That is something I don't understand about life, everybody is always trying to work everyone else out, asking questions and trying to get inside peoples heads as quick as possible. What ever happened to mystery? What happened to just experiencing life and sparing the questions?
But one thing I do believe in is fate. And sometimes fate may slap you in the face...and ill tell you why.
I live in a small town, with a population of 3200 people. Beautiful scenery, but it pisses down in winter and is searing hot in summer. I don't know how I survive here. Not many people know about this town, its quite secluded from everything else, but is only an hour train ride to the city (which is not that much for us Australians.)
Anyway, last week, on Thursday I think it was. It was just another ordinary night, I had worked that day and was a bit tired. My mum had invited me out for drinks and the pub (I have a weird relationship with her, shes a young mum). Anyway, I declined and said I wasn't up to it without hesitation.
That night I did nothing, just watched TV. How exciting.
Meanwhile, mum was having drinks at the pub with her friend and they started talking to a guy. After getting to know him a little she asked him what he did. He said he directed films. Mum said, "Oh, yeah. Any ones I would have seen?" And he replied with, "Oh just recently directed (a huge movie)."
This was being released in Australia that week. She had just met (A film director), one of the biggest directors of the present day around the globe. His films have grossed more than $2.7 billion.
Turns out he was here for a wedding. Close friends.
And where was I? Watching Family Guy, at home, on TV.
It was fate that this megastar had come to my very small secluded home town, the one night I was going to go to the pub where he was.
And fate slapped me in the face.
Careers Counselling
What was running through your mind when you went into your careers counsellor's office to discuss your future?
This was what was running through mine.
Ok, what do I want to be?
............
............
............
............
Oh, I could work in an office somewhere. What do they exactly do in offices though, and I really wouldn't like to spend my whole life inside walls?
Maybe somewhere outside then, like a tradesman?...... No...no. No way.
I could be a teacher. Teachers are good, they teach. The kids would drive me insane though I'd probably kill myself in that environment.
Hmmm. Don't really like manual labour so that cancels out a lot of things.
I absolutely hate to study boring things like science so that cancels out becoming a scientist of some sort.
I almost vomit at the thought of cutting into human flesh, so that rules out becoming a doctor.
I could become a filmmaker?
No cons for that.
.............
Apart from one.
.............
How the fuck do I become one??
This is something the career's counsellor agreed with me on.
Dream On, Filmmakers. This industry is a tough one.
Here it is...plain and simple...
What I don't understand, is why I am so attracted to this risky pathway of hell which leads to an almost impossible dream. So in my attempt to battle my way to the top, I have decided to discover why I bother to battle in the meantime. If I blog, I will reach into this confusing mess which is my brain and maybe I will find out what makes it tick.
I want to be a filmmaker. Not just any filmmaker, a successful filmmaker.
(Successful meaning: I will not have to still work part-time on the side of my so called "Film career" to make ends meet.)
How will I do this? With Blood, Sweat and Tears. Lots of Tears.
What I don't understand, is why I am so attracted to this risky pathway of hell which leads to an almost impossible dream. So in my attempt to battle my way to the top, I have decided to discover why I bother to battle in the meantime. If I blog, I will reach into this confusing mess which is my brain and maybe I will find out what makes it tick.
I want to be a filmmaker. Not just any filmmaker, a successful filmmaker.
(Successful meaning: I will not have to still work part-time on the side of my so called "Film career" to make ends meet.)
How will I do this? With Blood, Sweat and Tears. Lots of Tears.
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