I adapted a short story by Charlie Huston entitled "Twitch and Spray". Matt, Ryan, Trevor and I hung out late at BXL over the course of two nights and filmed it. It's definitely my most ambitious bit of filmmaking to date. And therefore the most likely to lead to disappointment.
I sent a link to the video to Charlie and asked if he wouldn't mind if I kept it posted on YouTube. He sent me the following email:
"Good work. The budgetary and schedule limits are evident, but I don’t think they really hurt you other than in the sound mix. Overall, a really good piece of guerilla film making. Give my props to all involved.
As long as you’re not making any $ off the thing I’d be happy to have you leave it up, but I do need to have a quick work with my lawyer (yeah, I know, lame) to make sure it’s cool. I’ll let you know if there’s a problem, otherwise, play on.
I’d also like to link it to my site. Any chance you’ll be able to improve the mix before I do so?
Best,
Charlie"
For some reason I was a little dejected by his response. I'm not really certain what kind of response I was expecting from him - "HOLY SHIT!!! That's the most amazing fucking video I've ever seen!!! You must MUST MUST make all of my books into movies!! No other filmmaker alive has your eye or talent!" Ridiculous, huh?
All in all he gave a positive response and for that I am grateful. He also helped me to take a more critical eye to my work and try and put my film making into perspective.
The video cost about $35 to make. And for a thirty-five dollar flick it's pretty fucking impressive. However, there really isn't any kind of market for $35 home movies regardless of their awesome-itude. Which makes me question my commitment to continue pursuing this silly dream of mine. I have an idea for one more short film that I'd like to attempt and then I think I'm going to drop off the face of the planet and devote all my energies into finishing this feature film script I'm working on and getting that actually made.
Besides - I've really been out of sorts the last few months. Sometimes I look in the mirror and I don't even recognize the face staring back at me. I've burned bridges with people very near and dear to my heart and I fully appreciate the fact that I must start making some healthier and more positive life choices.
"Your life has only as many pressures as you create."
We dig our own holes. And we, all of us, are responsible for cleaning up the mess we make by doing so. It's damn hard. But it can be done. One day at a time.
Rebuilding,
Kyle
Hey, yo! I have been trying to contact you, but I can't seem to get in touch via email. I know there is always the phone, but my damned phone is on the fritz and I've got to baby it, which means it's really only good in emergencies.
ReplyDeleteHit me up. I miss talking with you.
Late
Persue your passion. If the making of vids/films is the passion, let others write the screenplays. check out the short stories on Kari's blog or my "Gems" on my blog to see if there is a good challange for you.
ReplyDeleteAny bucks - fame- etc, will come in its time. Time for prioritizing your passions...some may have to be put on hold while the hotter take first seat. I promise it will work out. Not everyone looks at your work with your eyes or ears. You have a pretty thick skin. Use it.
First, your website (kylepierson.com) appears to be down, and it was only luck that I remembered the URL to your blog.
ReplyDeleteSecond, the author apparently really digs what you've done. I stress that because it doesn't appear to me that you've really grasped that point. He didn't dig the audio quality - not that it matters, neither did I (it was quite difficult to make out what they were saying) - and the video (at least on my computer) was too dark - to the point that it was difficult to make out what was going on in most frames. You could chalk these items up to you being a shitty filmmaker, or you could chalk them up the fact that you are working in the medium of the Web, and you won't be able to control how your audience experiences your films as you would in "real" filmmaking.
I thought your special effects were quite good - to the extent that they are hardly noticeable at all. I thought your lighting was good also. This does not negate my thinking that it was too dark overall - I distinguish the two separately. I thought you lit your shots well, you just made the overall effect too dark in the final edit - at least for my display, it seems.
And your sound mix was well-done, in a sense. While the effects and level of the dialogue were drowned and washed out in the end, to the point that I had real difficulty in making out what they were saying, as a filmmaker and audio engineer I can see what all you put into your sound mix, and you did a great job.
As is the case with both the audio and visual hangups that I (and apparently the author) have, they are merely artistic (or maybe even purely technical) issues where an audience disagrees with the filmmaker. I know that sounds like horseshit, but it's not. My point is, if you intended for the scenes to be too dark to see, and the dialogue to be too garbled to understand, for some artistic reason, that reason was lost on myself, and possibly on the author as well. If, however, you were unaware of the garbled audio and overly-dark video, it is simply a technical issue that could easily be corrected after testing.
As for your later comments about life's work, checking out, and other things, I have to say this:
To be an artist for purely selfish reasons, you must be either very lucky or very willing to not make a profession out of it. Otherwise, you must learn to balance your art with commercialism. If you want to make a purely artistic piece, then it shouldn't matter what anyone else on the planet thinks of it. Period. If, however, you want to make money from a piece, if you want people to give you their money and their praise, then learning to adapt your artistic visionry to appeal to your audience, and, just as importantly, not see this as "selling out." If you are going to do something for the approval of others, be willing to adapt for their approval, and be willing to do so enthusiastically.
There are two kinds of successful artists in this word: Those who are purely selfish (and extremely lucky), and those who can learn to balance their art with their commerce. And it would seem that most artists who are one way, always want to be the other.
I think you are tremendously talented in the visual arts. I have unending faith in your abilities as a story-teller (first) and filmmaker (second). your technical growth as a filmmaker over the past two years is quite astonishing from any viewpoint, and it's healthy to take a step back on occasion and appreciate that for yourself.
Without making this about me, you know that you and I suffer from these same faults, and same talents, and you know that I shout my advice and observations to you from an equally deep hole very close to your own. But I also know that you and I can see the same light far above, and we are making are separate climbs in parallel, and I hope to stand there next to you when we finally reach the top.
-j-