Being Creative

Ah yes, we get to restart here in 2022. A lot of you out there often ask yourself what it is that allows you to break into the film industry. It's work. Emotional maturity and more work. A lot of people think they put in work but burn out fairly quickly. I think because it is an exhausting endeavor. At least it was when I was shooting. I think a lot of people may find it a bit more social these days. Staying creative and being creative are vastly different. One requires execution. The other, an imagination. As you get older, you tend to get exhausted by "thinking too much." So typically after work you want to crack open a beer and tune out life. As I've said in prior blogs, it is the one who was willing to push through and have a story they MUST tell that survive and succeed. Ron Bass was a lawyer who woke up at 4 AM and wrote scripts until he had to go to work. He co-wrote "Rain Man." If you don't have this level of commitment, it won't work for you. The other thing is, being creative isn't just on the page. If you plan on making movies being creative also means being flexible. I had this conversation yesterday about this. It was about choreography and why it isn't in music videos anymore. To her, she is a trained choreographer and therefore MUST do it a certain way. A trained core of dancers in a music video is impressive. This elevates your production value to immeasurable amounts. She didn't take kindly to me trying to circumvent their skills and just go for a workaround. A workaround is finding a dance corp at some college to come out and have something put on film. Her ears were shut immediately the instant I suggested working around the problem. This is a person who is inflexible and, therefore, does not survive in this business. Yes, the talent I get is not the level she is use to handling. But also her absolute refusal to do anything less may keep her at the high level of talent pool but it negates her from work. Most people hire those who can be creative in problem solving. By the way, I do not disagree with her stance that a professional core is the key. That's a no-brainer. I do disagree that it MUST be polished to a perfect shine. Or at least done by professionals. Her opinion was that you do see the amateurish nature of the project. Yeah. Not wrong. But what if you want that amateurish-ness. See: OK Go videos. Anyway, for me, a lot of creativity comes from doing so much for so little. And the more you can spontaneaously flow the easier your life becomes. I tend to cut enough corners at the right spots (never at the detriment and safety of crew). To get the project done. I sometimes pity those who can't be flexible. Seems why I'm not a Stanley Kubrick enthusiasts. I understand and respect his commitment but I doubt he realized his attempts at getting the most honest and truthful takes came from his abuse. I don't equate creative with being a task master.