If You Remain Ignorant

 Experience in the filmmaking world is wisdom.

Sometimes you'll find that the older guys impart the young with a lot of it.

The more you are on set, the more you understand why it is run the way it is.

A lot of young people today, especially those who shoot on celluloid, really seek out experience. Because it is a craft that isn't taught in their schools.

We all want to be unique. We all want to learn. Sort of.

There are a handful who go at it rather recklessly. Which is great if you are under the age of 20. As you gain more experience you gain more insight on the ridiculousness of the industry. As none of it will make sense. I feel that young filmmakers tend to gravitate towards getting more onset experience. This will give them the "crash course" into the realities of it. Which I wholeheartedly endorse.

Because it isn't like what you see in press kits. It's not (always) people talking about how nice it is to work with whatever they're co-stars with (Dustin Hoffman apparently is nothing like he is in interviews). Or how they're having fun (it's not fun, it's work...sometimes it's fun...if you're in charge...and even then, you're stressed).

It IS a lot about learning how chaos can form a cohesive product. That product happens to be an emotional tale. Director/Writer Christopher McQuarrie back this up in a podcast in regards to this. We are all banded together to find that story and tell it well.

A good storyteller is what filmmaking is about. That's it. Simple. The complications come in juggling so many different disciplines to achieve it. And none of it can be just...good enough. A good storyteller is rewarded with fame and riches, sometimes. But also can be banished to the dark underworld.

This place is also gripped with fear. If you don't feel fear, you are an idiot. And this place isn't for you.

Fear creates. Fear focuses. Fear motivates. You handle it the best you can.

For those who say they don't have it, they have THE most fear. Or they're deeply broken people. Or they're dumb.

To me, without fear you are ignorant. Which is why sometimes I tell younger people, their greatest asset is their ignorance. They move forward regardless of what is around them.

Actors live in ignorance. Which is why when they snap back into the real world...it's sometimes shocking. Because they can't get the response they want by the "dialogue" they spew. They get a REAL reaction. Which is baffling if words are written for you.

In the case of directing or writing...same. I know growing up, I use to watch movies all the time. And I'd use a line from a movie in real life...which didn't work out well. Because real people react as they would, NOT as you would write for them. Your expectations of their reaction is seldom correct. And it is disarming. Something of a control thing, no?

It's not bad to remain a little ignorant. That's why most people make movies. To learn something they didn't know before. I was always curious why someone who has a passion for something explores something they already know. I think it would make for a boring movie. Or if an actor does the same role over and over again. Seems they would just go through the motion.