Hey all,
So I'm in a bit of a pickle that is causing me a little stress and thought maybe I could work out a little of this anxiety with some of you guys by discussing it. For the last several years I've done mostly auto/motorcycle documentary stuff and I'm pretty good at that. I'm really comfortable filming a vehicle and doing an interview with someone. Well I've always wanted to do a narrative as I have written a couple so I started seriously considering it a while back. Then I thought, hell why not, I got to do it for the first time, sometime right?
So I figured it would never happen b/c for one, I have no one in my town I know that does this, friends, family, actors, actresses, etc. I'm basically a lone wolf unfortunately. I've tried connecting with other filmmakers when I see an ad on CL or something and we might start talking but then they flake out which is frustrating. Anyway, the most frustrating thing for me is that I need people to pull this off, it truly is a team effort.
So I talked to my oldest friend, scared he would make fun of me for it, but to my surprise he wanted to help, which was cool. Then I put an ad out on CL stating what I was trying to do with my first short film and waited. I got a few responses but no one really seemed right. The I got one from an aspiring actress finishing her film degree at the local university so that really caught my attention, plus she wasn't too bad to look at which is always a plus (no super model or anything though
I have no idea how "good" or "bad" she is acting wise, but I figure since I'm new I best be happy that anyone is talking to me lol.
So we corresponded back and forth and I sent her a copy of my short film that I altered to fit more a 1 actress role instead of needing several actors. I did this for the main reason that I feel like if I don't get started on this sometime it will never happen, it will just fall into the "someday" category. I met with her and she seemed excited to do the short, which surprised me just b/c I don't have the most confidence at this point b/c I'm new to a narrative. She was really nice and I basically said I'm worried about myself being able to pull it off the way I want, or making big mistakes, etc. She basically just said even if it doesn't come out right it is experience and we can always try again, which was really awesome.
I guess I'm just trying to get some confidence from those of you who have been through this, being new and inexperienced with your first narrative. I know how to make cars/motorcycles look exactly the way I want, but doing this with a fictional story and an actress scares the crap out of me b/c I'm scared it is going to be a major f*** up or something. Plus I don't want her to feel like I'm wasting her time, but it is like the old "chicken or the egg" riddle, I need experience, but don't know how to get it without trying first.
Any advice would be much appreciated, as I've always wanted to do a narrative and this is a good chance to do it, but am getting cold feet b/c I hear that voice that says, "what do you know about doing this stuff...stick to what you know...cars" and it screws with me. Looking forward to any discussion.
So I'm in a bit of a pickle that is causing me a little stress and thought maybe I could work out a little of this anxiety with some of you guys by discussing it. For the last several years I've done mostly auto/motorcycle documentary stuff and I'm pretty good at that. I'm really comfortable filming a vehicle and doing an interview with someone. Well I've always wanted to do a narrative as I have written a couple so I started seriously considering it a while back. Then I thought, hell why not, I got to do it for the first time, sometime right?
So I figured it would never happen b/c for one, I have no one in my town I know that does this, friends, family, actors, actresses, etc. I'm basically a lone wolf unfortunately. I've tried connecting with other filmmakers when I see an ad on CL or something and we might start talking but then they flake out which is frustrating. Anyway, the most frustrating thing for me is that I need people to pull this off, it truly is a team effort.
So I talked to my oldest friend, scared he would make fun of me for it, but to my surprise he wanted to help, which was cool. Then I put an ad out on CL stating what I was trying to do with my first short film and waited. I got a few responses but no one really seemed right. The I got one from an aspiring actress finishing her film degree at the local university so that really caught my attention, plus she wasn't too bad to look at which is always a plus (no super model or anything though
I have no idea how "good" or "bad" she is acting wise, but I figure since I'm new I best be happy that anyone is talking to me lol.So we corresponded back and forth and I sent her a copy of my short film that I altered to fit more a 1 actress role instead of needing several actors. I did this for the main reason that I feel like if I don't get started on this sometime it will never happen, it will just fall into the "someday" category. I met with her and she seemed excited to do the short, which surprised me just b/c I don't have the most confidence at this point b/c I'm new to a narrative. She was really nice and I basically said I'm worried about myself being able to pull it off the way I want, or making big mistakes, etc. She basically just said even if it doesn't come out right it is experience and we can always try again, which was really awesome.
I guess I'm just trying to get some confidence from those of you who have been through this, being new and inexperienced with your first narrative. I know how to make cars/motorcycles look exactly the way I want, but doing this with a fictional story and an actress scares the crap out of me b/c I'm scared it is going to be a major f*** up or something. Plus I don't want her to feel like I'm wasting her time, but it is like the old "chicken or the egg" riddle, I need experience, but don't know how to get it without trying first.
Any advice would be much appreciated, as I've always wanted to do a narrative and this is a good chance to do it, but am getting cold feet b/c I hear that voice that says, "what do you know about doing this stuff...stick to what you know...cars" and it screws with me. Looking forward to any discussion.
Last edited: