So, we’re only two weeks into the new year, and I’ve failed big time! You know what? I’m okay with it, in fact, I feel pretty good about it…
I’m a sore loser, I’ve always been a sore loser and I’ve come to realize this has been my biggest hindrance in finding happiness in life. More on that in a minute but first I need to talk about that failure.
Early December I took on a filmmaking challenge. 30 days to a wrapped short film. This was it…I was finally going to put everything I’d learned, and all the crap I’ve bought over the past 6 months into use. I was going to crush my first short film.
See Video Here:
I had just wrapped up my semester at ASU, work was finally slowing down for the holidays,
and after 3 drafts my script was mint! And then… as filming commenced, reality hit!
I had no idea how to use all this crap. Worse than that, I had no business trying to act out anything! To put it lightly, it was a freaking disaster.
I fumbled with lights, knocked my head on stands more times than I can count, I forgot to pull focus most of the time and even shot takes as the wrong character… It was bad.
In the end I only made it through about one-fourth of my script in the time I had allotted myself to shoot, therefore, I will not wrap in 30 days.
So why in the world am I at all happy with this? Because I kept going. I knew I was failing, and I went on anyway. In the past I would have gotten rid of all the evidence, sat my ass back down on the couch and forgot that any of this happened.
Not this time though… why? Because I was having fun! Frustration aside I was happy to be working on getting better at something that I knew I sucked at. This is the first time that I can remember being okay with this feeling.
In a way, losing is better than winning because it gives you information. It gives you the opportunity to take a step back and focus on fixing your shortcomings. I will be putting this film out in all of its terrible glory in a few weeks, and you can bet your ass I’ll be proud of it.
If you’ve been on the fence about starting something that you’re afraid you will suck at, do it anyway! Put all of your energy into it and the next time you will suck a bit less!
If cinematography is something that you’re interested in pursuing then I highly recommend you check out WRAPPED in 30 Days taught by Standard Story Companies Kent Lamm, a masterful storyteller. He will arm you with all of the information and skills to knock it out of the park, or you can be like me and learn to embrace failure!
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