The work on Monday was easy and familiar, with Friday jitters pervading all of my faculties. Unfortunately, the first couple hours of my day was occupied with mailing stickers and a button or magnet to people who responded to Working Class Foodies "Call to Action". Two hours. Between figuring how to export the address list to a Word template for labels and fighting with the printer to produce them correctly, I found a million reasons why I am glad to be in my field of choice. It's busy work, which I don't mind entirely, but no reward was taken from such a repetitious and oftentimes frustrating task. My partner in all this exhibited an air of cluelessness as well, making matters all the easier.
Thankfully the rest of the day was full of substance, and by substance I mean another WCF rough cut. Distractions in my personal life kept pulling me away from a narrow working mindset, but by the tie 6:00 pm rolled around, a majority of the video was logged and the actual rough cut shouldn't take much longer than a few hours. At least for the laying down of the process footage. Monday will be fun indeed!
I failed to mention in my last entry commentary on the compliments and advice Grace had offered me. In terms of pitching a show, I was opened up to this different world of "getting started". All through film school, students learn that in order to get your movie made, you either raise the money and do it yourself, or you shop your idea, script, rough cut, essentially "pitching" it to executives or men with suits and money in the hopes that your dreams are fulfilled. This business is impossible, it's tough, grueling and 90% of the time, people are left with a frown and shattered ambitions. They simply aren't good enough for the silver screen or the tube.
But wait! The Internet has come to save you from obstruction in this wash of communications! There is no guarantee your efforts will be seen by millions, but with an insurmountable amount of effort and determination, that goal is entirely more possible than if one went door to door in Hollywood or New York. As Grace explained the pitching process and how to create a good framework, model, outline, etc for a show or network at NNN, I was opened to this extreme possibility that it could actually happen. Armed with enough brains and creativity, I could have a show at Next New. I'm not saying this is my dream, that the end is definitely there or that it could even really happen, but the concept of starting out with something legitimate so early out of my schooling is nothing short of exciting.
This is all due to the nature of the Internet and its role in mediated communication. With websites like YouTube and Vimeo, there is no excuse why a person can't have their videos and ideas discovered and showcased to the entire world. Who knows who may be watching and what may potentially come of it. The very nature of broadcasting media has been changed, to the point where there is an overload of expressed creativity! How many people have used their YouTube video as a means of fame or success, even if it only lasts 15 minutes? How many people have manipulated it for the greater benefit of music, film, television, etc? After being preached to about the grueling gears of the LA film scene, the Internet scene draws so many irregularities it's hard to keep up. Granted, not everyone becomes famous overnight. As much as the potential is there, the failure is also present. Overloads of videos and personalities makes it hard to distinguish between one or the other and the true art becomes lost amongst the failed dance impersonations, video blogs, funny moments, muffled camera videos. ripped television shows, film clips and on and on and on. Suddenly, advertising becomes more crucial than ever. The very nature of it is changed when considering the internet. But that is an argument within itself, one I've seen both sides to and learn more about as I watch NNN thrive and grow across its YouTube channels.
Did any of that make sense? I hope so. My brain reeled at the thought of my own show, my own production, my own anything at the ripe age of 22. I don't care what I'm doing, as long as it's something I am happy. Keeping my work ethic handy, never forgetting the crucial elements of "making it" and "what it takes", I'll hopefully be ready for my in five short months.
EDIT: Here's the Princess and the Frog video! I'm gratefully credited as "Director / DP"!
The Princess and The Frog Movie Review: Beyond The Trailer
