Filmmakers

So I did the E-Reserve readings (I figured out how to do it from home!!!) and I really liked this quote from the first reading: "I got crazy about movie immediately and I decided to make movies that same night...." Apparently she got inspired by Jean-Luc Godard, and off she went into the business, with no prior interest. Within a year she had gotten a film made, and three years later, she was recognized for her work. it says she went to film school and traveled to Paris at a theatre school as well. Once she decided what to do, she ran and did it. I think film is a passion quite like that. I did the same thing. My entire life I had no idea what to do with myself. I had never even considered film, because as interesting as I found movies, they seemed to be in a world all their own, and making one never seemed possible. If there is one thing I've learned though, it's that you have to have passion for this medium. Alot of people settle on film because they think it might be fun to be famous, or maybe it seems like less work than a science degree in its stead. But true filmmakers are those that realize the hard work behind it. They set goals and do whatever they can to realize them. Even if they are sidetracked for a few years, or arent' recognized for several years, they press on. I've had the same troubles when I started out, but I also had the same goal- get out and make a film! Practice, connect, learn, work! Film is exciting, but it's also incredibly hard work and takes much focus and diliberate intention.

The other quote I want to discuss is this: "I think it's the same, narrative and non-narrative. I've done both, I know it's exactly the same. When you do both, you know you are dealing with the same problems anyways."

I like this quote. As much as I hate experimental film, I have come to see that many of them do in fact have a narrative. Perhaps I am coming to a turning point. No, I may never like experimental film, but I think Akerman is correct in this. After all, just because you don't like one film doesn't mean you won't like another. I hate drama usually, but I loved Phantom of the Opera, and a few others as well...you can't lump everything into one category. A filmmaker has artistic decisions to make at all times, whether Hollywood film or experimental. You have the same basic decisions to make, the same locations and actors to deal with, and sometimes even a script to write...as wel as the age old hated budget. These things relate between both types of film. You are dealing with the same storyline ideas, basic concepts, and thought processes of the films, whether narrative or non-narrative. Perhaps experimental could be called a new genre of film, just like a horror film, a documentary, family, or drama. Then again, that leaves out their many differences as well, perhaps even dumbs the very idea of experimental films down...but at the bare bones issue, they are essentially the same.