At a certain point in post production, money will start to just disappear. You are curious as to where this money goes. Into a void. But you are grateful, because if it's not directly siphoning from a wallet, you are okay to let the project exist in that void. As long as you feel something is being done.
I love having professionals in my corner. The reason short films are so difficult are the minutiae of what is good and bad. You HAVE to be an expert at every detail of it, and it's damn near impossible to be taken seriously if you don't have serious people involve. That's why the money flows.
During production is the worst. I recall many a student film where people would throw money at the problem to make it feel less worse. Panic has a way of opening checkbooks. At the end, you sift through the bones and marvel that you've spent what amounts to the living expenses of two years of food and drink. Why? Because you just want it out there. You want the sense of completion. You want to end the constant ups and downs of uncertainty. The world gets to decide then.
You will never get perfection. There's no such thing. Sucks, I know. This is the shit that keeps a lot of people awake at night. Those who make movies and live with it for years understand this sickening feeling that you somehow missed out on a frame. Or a sound cue could've been different. The effects suck ass. Or the sound just blows. In post...this is where you can patch it up. So you don't mind finding funds to do so. Somewhat leisurely. The trick is to balance what you need and what you don't. Procrastination in life is due to prolonging an uncomfortable feeling. We don't change our oil enough, because we have to wait at the lube shop. We ignore that gas smell, because it would mean scheduling some guy to come out to look under your house. And we leave the nuts and bolts of finishing a movie to others, because the less we look at it, the less we feel disgusted with our decisions. It goes into a very prolonged (a little painful) exercise in being creative. Or trying to be creative. A lot of people can remove themselves from this process, if they had assistance. Or if a studio demands a deadline.
I'll be honest, second-guessing every decision does suck the energy from a movie. This is another thing that destroyed many a great idea. You can write a quick story, film it and be done. These have a propulsion to them that's indescribable. Some really good ones are made under duress. If you've ever seen 48 Hour Film Festivals, you can sense this energy. It just moves. And no one has time to think. Or rather OVER-think. Which yields, actually pretty great results. The longer you dwell, the more you get in your own way.
I do my best to fast track as much as I can. Because I get bored easily. The nuts and bolts is DULLSVILLE. I wish I knew what feature directors do to stave off that. I know some could watch their three hour opus as if it were new. Man...what a skill.
Anyway, yeah, money is leaving my pocket. Just dropped off my camera for maintenance. My film camera...that's not cheap. But I need some more life out of it for the next thing. In the meantime, I gotta get more money so I feel comfortable giving it to others...as promised.
I guess the industry mantra of "don't use your own money" is also because you don't want to disperse the energy you have for the project. The more money you spend, you do start to cut corners. Conversely, an unlimited budget also drains some of that energy. Why bother if you can throw a mint at someone else to fix your issues from start to finish.
Money may not mean much to me, or it's really a means to an end. But I understand why others would need it, to give damn about my project. Tally-ho!
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