Just Starting Out

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ProfAnonymous

About 6 months ago I thought of a funny (to me) commercial idea, so I bought some camera equipment (Canon t3i, lenses, boom mic, tripod, lights ect.) and read a couple books on filmmaking. As such, I began my journey of a new hobby of filmmaking.

As I began filming my commercial, I got some negative feedback on my commercial idea. Not what I have shot, my actual idea. The idea was more of a "parody" or more accurately a "satire". People are calling it offensive, rude, un-imaginative. I paid someone to do the V.O. for the commercial, and after receiving the script, they cancelled the job.

After so much negative feedback, I have stopped working on this project as it might be too offensive for most people. Now I am lost as what to do. I have no vision of what to work on next in my spare time. So I guess my question is, how do you pick what you are going to work on next? Is there a video competition or something I should strive for?

I'm just lost I guess. Any suggestions?
 
I've got to be inspired.

I had a great idea today, something that I believe I can get people to "share" on Facebook. Wrote a 2 page script in a couple of hours and hopefully I can film it next month.
 
So what happens when you aren't inspired? Say, the day before yesterday? Do you just not work on anything until you do get inspired?

Since I am so new to this hobby, I feel like I could still be creating small videos to get better in the craft so that when I do get inspired, I will be better at the craft. I have no idea what I should be doing.
 
ProfAnonymous said:
So what happens when you aren't inspired? Say, the day before yesterday? Do you just not work on anything until you do get inspired?
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It's different for hobbyists than it is for professionals and those who aspire to a career in the entertainment industry. If you're a writer you write every day (TV screenwriters have to come up with really good stuff EVERY WEEK; that's their job!). If you take weekends off (most of us don't, however) there are 260 days of work. If you only turn out good stuff one day a week that's still 52 good days each year. And the more you do it the more good stuff you create.

Proficiency takes lots of practice. If it's just a hobby, that's fine, but you still need to follow the practices and protocols that professionals use if you want anything resembling quality in your work. Otherwise your projects will just be additions to the millions of unwatched amateur shorts on YouTube and Vimeo.
 
Alcove Audio said:
Proficiency takes lots of practice. If it's just a hobby, that's fine, but you still need to follow the practices and protocols that professionals use if you want anything resembling quality in your work. Otherwise your projects will just be additions to the millions of unwatched amateur shorts on YouTube and Vimeo.
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So if I understand you correctly, you are saying because of the difficult nature of the trade, go big or go home?

I didn't write the script with the intentions of other people seeing it, so it's not pretty. here is the link: https://app.box.com/s/eutp56xoc2g98n6ew5ew

It is supposed to be a satire on the pharmaceuticals and how people take so many anti-depressants only to just to commit suicide. Also I am attempting to mock how many side effects all these pharmaceutical have on people. I am in no way attempting to say people should ACTUALLY commit suicide. However, like I said, my feedback was very negative giving the subject material...
 
ProfAnonymous said:
As I began filming my commercial, I got some negative feedback on my commercial idea. Not what I have shot, my actual idea. The idea was more of a "parody" or more accurately a "satire". People are calling it offensive, rude, un-imaginative. I paid someone to do the V.O. for the commercial, and after receiving the script, they cancelled the job.
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I have no idea about you but I can tell you what I do.

This isn't Hollywood and we are learning, not making returns for investors. I take a creative vision, play with it and make it good. Sure, there is a creative process where thoughts are honed and refined but as the writer / director, my choices are my choices. I have my goals, my vision, know that I am just learning and want to put this down in film.

Henry Ford always always said he did not listen to his customers before making the Model T. The reason he gave is that they always gave him the same answer - they wanted a faster horse. I have a similar mentality - I want to work out what could work that no-one has seen before.

So I just go out there and break some rules, push the boundaries and inevitably make tons of mistakes. But so what? If I was afraid of making mistakes and listened to everyone else, I wouldn't have shot my first short. Hell, if I listened to the nay-sayers out there, I wouldn't get out of bed in the morning.
 
ProfAnonymous said:
Since I am so new to this hobby, I feel like I could still be creating small videos to get better in the craft so that when I do get inspired, I will be better at the craft. I have no idea what I should be doing.
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You just described it. Maybe pick a scene from a favorite movie or tv show and try to recreate it - or do a very different take on it. Anything to give you a structure in which you can practice the craft so that when you do have an idea that you're inspired by you are better able to execute on it.

my feedback was very negative giving the subject material...
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I actually think it's a good idea - it's clear to me that it's satire, and I think there's a compelling argument to be made for it as a valid take on pharmaceutical marketing. It's always going to be a touchy subject for some people though, no matter how you treat it. It's really up to you to decide how much it matters to you that some people will be completely turned off by it.
 
Oh my gosh. Hell, the narrator made me laugh out loud at first, and then the rest continued to amuse me. I can see why people might not want to touch it. And let's face it: it is pretty much untouchable, isn't it? But that doesn't change the fact that it's clever and pretty funny. It's just black humor.

However, the world and people being what they are, my fear would be that if you actually made such a film and exhibited it on YouTube, or whatever, you might end up having to lawyer up.

There was that lawsuit years ago against Judas Priest.

From Wikipedia:

In the summer of 1990, the band was involved in a civil action that alleged they were responsible for the self-inflicted gunshot wounds in 1985 of 20-year-old James Vance and 18-year-old Raymond Belknap in Sparks, Nevada, USA.[25] On 23 December 1985, Vance and Belknap, after hours of drinking beer, smoking marijuana and allegedly listening to Judas Priest, went to a playground at a church in Sparks with a 12-gauge shotgun to end their lives. Belknap was the first to place the shotgun under his chin. He died instantly after pulling the trigger. Vance then shot himself but survived, suffering severe facial injuries. Following numerous complications, Vance too passed away in 1988, three years after the suicide pact.[6]

The men's parents and their legal team alleged that a subliminal message of "do it" had been included in the Judas Priest song "Better By You, Better Than Me" (a cover of the Spooky Tooth number) from the Stained Class (1978) album. They alleged the command in the song triggered the suicide attempt.[25] The trial lasted from 16 July to 24 August 1990, when the suit was dismissed after the judge ruled that the so-called "do it" message was a result of an accidental mix up of background lyrics.[25] One of the defence witnesses, Dr. Timothy E. Moore, wrote an article for Skeptical Inquirer chronicling the trial.[25] The trial was covered in the 1991 documentary Dream Deceivers: The Story Behind James Vance Vs. Judas Priest.
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Thankfully, the judge dismissed it. But, I wonder...

It's not like I have a clue if you would actually be vulnerable to such legal problems. I am not a lawyer, and I am not well informed!

But I would be surprised if that wasn't a danger.

Then, unfortunately, we probably do need to consider our moral responsibilities with something like this. Might it encourage someone to harm themselves? And yes, it may be hurtful to those who have been touched by
suicide
. I'm not necessarily saying things like this shouldn't be written, spoken, sung, filmed, etc. I'm only saying that sometimes self-censorship might be for the best or prudent, as much as I loathe censorship. It's just something that thoughtful artists who have a conscience have to struggle with, consider, and weigh. I don't know the correct answer.

Anyway. Don't let the negativity of others drag you down, generally speaking. Sometimes others are right about our ideas or products having problems or not being good. Sure. But your script is good! I think. It's quite clever. But, apart from quality, it has other obvious...challenges going for it.

And sometimes it's our family and friends who are the most discouraging or negative about our aspirations.

But in this case, they're probably not being negative about your writing or storytelling itself, per se, or your dismissing your skillfulness. They're probably responding to the troubling subject matter and message.

If you don't pursue that would-be film, and I am not saying that you shouldn't or should, one way or the other, I'm not too worried about you. Because if you can come with such a clever idea and write such a clever script, I'll bet you can come up with others...and maybe some that are less fraught with..."thematic difficulties."
 
You could start shooting stock footage while you decide. Helps your camerawork a lot and will give you a digital inventory to sell licences for online if you so choose.
 
richy said:
My fear would be that if you actually made such a film and exhibited it on YouTube, or whatever, you might end up having to lawyer up.
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And this is exactly why I chose the username that I have on these forums. I initially thought about posting the video on YouTube and trying to be "anonymous" about it, but at this point, I don't think it would work. The only other thing I can think of is putting a fat disclaimer at the beginning or end saying I in no way intend for anyone to commit suicide. But we all know, disclaimers don't actually stop you from being sued. Besides being sued, I also think that I could potentially be fired from my job.

Thanks everyone for the positive feedback. I've been trying to think of something else to do, but nothing has gotten me as excited to film than this commercial. Maybe I should just do it. We only live once right?
 
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