You may be unaware that I spent a good number of years in film school. Most folks aren’t aware, but yeah, I wasted a lot of money before realizing that 1) writing about film was no way to earn a living, and this was way back when newspapers had full-time staff and 401Ks!! Also, 2) when I migrated from film criticism/analysis to cinematography? I quickly became aware that I am not gregarious enough for industry work.
If you are a people person? The film industry is a lot of fun! If you are not? It fucking sucks!
That said? The time I spent on indie sets and scrabbling about as a grip for TV pilots? Those were some of the best times of my life. You’re given a purpose and you either pass with flying colors, or fucking fail spectacularly!
Also? I learned so much about electricity! Especially how not to use it! Holy moly, Chicago apartments have the worst wiring in the U.S. I cannot tell you how goddamn valuable that is a skill to have.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: unless you have a goddamn good reason to turn down a gig, say yes. There’s nothing like on-set experience and the camaraderie one has when working on a collective effort, especially when it’s a feature film and you’re essentially living with folks you do not know and are thrown into the fray for at least a month for exploitative hours on end!
It is something special and unknowable and you will be hard-pressed to recreate that ever again.
So, this week? This week is all about the texts that made me fall in love with film. (It’s technically a week and then some because I do not know how to shut myself up.)
I know it sounds antithetical, extolling text for what is a visual and aural medium, but I love nothing but to read others be effusive as to what they love, often dictated via screenshots and credits and shared screenings, in whichever way and form they can do so.
So: welcome to Words on Words on Film week, which will actually last longer than a week. Hey, my blog? My rules!