There’s More to life than movies....
Over at the House next door theres a conversation between Matt Zoller Seitz & Keith Uhlich. Matt is and was the creator of the blog The House Next Door", which has been a blog of all things related to TV & film. It has many contributors, and it's a blog where you want to go to read some thoughtful reviews & opinions on film & television. It now seems as though Mr. Seitz is headed off to do other things after over 17 years as a journalist. In his conversation which you can hear here Matt and Keith go over their influences and memories of filmmaking as they were growing up. Being I guess around the same age as Mr. Seitz I have almost those same memories. He mentions two films that though aren't significant masterpieces they seemed to have a strong influence in us deciding what we wanted to do or were interested in. The mentioning of the magazine of "Famous Monsters" is also relevant. I wasn't too big of a fan of them, but I had a friend that liked them, and I would buy old copies of the magazine in the comic book shop I haunted in my youth.
Long ago I got a degree in film production, and it was the ONLY thing I desired. Film, and filmmaking was something I enjoyed doing. Of course the reality of filmmaking is far less glamorous then the illusion of what filmmaking really is, and it's a lot of hard work. I remember being on the set at 2 AM watching equipment on location. Not the most glamorous indeed, but it feed the demon in me. What I found out eventually was that filmmaking for me was always going to be about the mechanical. I was a good technician. I could be a PA, a grip, a gaffer, an assistant camera, but no matter how many positions I held it never lead me to doing my own work. I was either too poor or too busy to work on the things I loved. In the meantime life was passing me by. Hence the title of this post. It's actually in the conversation between Mr. Uhlich, and Mr. Seitz, and I thought it quite relevant being it's May and it happens to be my birthday. I listened to the whole conversation, and was fascinated at how some of us wind up where we are now in our life. It's a matter of moments I guess that shape our lives. It's always been about the technical for me, and I eventually perfected that, but I still have problems finding time to do my own work.
Mr. Uhlich mentions to Matt if there are regrets, or that if getting out of journalism is something that Mr. Seitz wanted, and Matt does mention about a story about his lost movie camera. Listen to the conversation and you'll get it, but it hit a chord with me. You see I've always been technical, and I've never lost that camera. I've always believed that it was the work that was important, and the work would lead to better things. Sometimes that is true, and other times it isn't. You NEED to have the PASSION, and somewhere I lost it. Not the passion for filmmaking, but the passion of collaboration. Nothing exists in a vacuum. My film "Deadly Obsessions" wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the many fine men & women who worked on it. Collaboration is what I miss, and engaging and thoughtful collaboration. People like Mr. Seitz and Mr. Uhlich are passionate people, who are following their own star. It's hard sometimes to do just that. Life gets in the way, and that's alright, but you have to know yourself, and know what you love.
Time to refocus & find out what else I can say or do. There is only now, and tomorrow is only a promise. Hopefully I can make that promise worth listening too as Matt & Keith have done and are doing. Thanks guys for the extra wind in my sails. Let's see where this ship takes me now.
Long ago I got a degree in film production, and it was the ONLY thing I desired. Film, and filmmaking was something I enjoyed doing. Of course the reality of filmmaking is far less glamorous then the illusion of what filmmaking really is, and it's a lot of hard work. I remember being on the set at 2 AM watching equipment on location. Not the most glamorous indeed, but it feed the demon in me. What I found out eventually was that filmmaking for me was always going to be about the mechanical. I was a good technician. I could be a PA, a grip, a gaffer, an assistant camera, but no matter how many positions I held it never lead me to doing my own work. I was either too poor or too busy to work on the things I loved. In the meantime life was passing me by. Hence the title of this post. It's actually in the conversation between Mr. Uhlich, and Mr. Seitz, and I thought it quite relevant being it's May and it happens to be my birthday. I listened to the whole conversation, and was fascinated at how some of us wind up where we are now in our life. It's a matter of moments I guess that shape our lives. It's always been about the technical for me, and I eventually perfected that, but I still have problems finding time to do my own work.
Mr. Uhlich mentions to Matt if there are regrets, or that if getting out of journalism is something that Mr. Seitz wanted, and Matt does mention about a story about his lost movie camera. Listen to the conversation and you'll get it, but it hit a chord with me. You see I've always been technical, and I've never lost that camera. I've always believed that it was the work that was important, and the work would lead to better things. Sometimes that is true, and other times it isn't. You NEED to have the PASSION, and somewhere I lost it. Not the passion for filmmaking, but the passion of collaboration. Nothing exists in a vacuum. My film "Deadly Obsessions" wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the many fine men & women who worked on it. Collaboration is what I miss, and engaging and thoughtful collaboration. People like Mr. Seitz and Mr. Uhlich are passionate people, who are following their own star. It's hard sometimes to do just that. Life gets in the way, and that's alright, but you have to know yourself, and know what you love.
Time to refocus & find out what else I can say or do. There is only now, and tomorrow is only a promise. Hopefully I can make that promise worth listening too as Matt & Keith have done and are doing. Thanks guys for the extra wind in my sails. Let's see where this ship takes me now.
Comments