Hello my friends! This post will be multifaceted and dynamic! And yes, I have to explain why I've been gone from this publication for three years. It's not something I'm either proud of nor concerned about, because the reasons make sense. Obviously we've had a pandemic but we've also had a period of babies growing up and being in between film projects. I now have a nine, six, and three year old, all being homeschooled, which has been really fun! But now, its back to my endeavors, and much has changed here.
Pilgrim Update
"Pilgrim" has been a difficult to crack nut because it is not altogether a currently producible project. It will take a mountain of travel and production design. So similarly to my first feature film journey, which some of you may be aware of, the unavailability of essential project resources is a bit of a discouragement. This has brought me to, as previously mentioned, the project jumpstarting technique of "proof of concept" shorts. Not to mention the fact that local crews where I live are typically not up to snuff to do such a dynamic project.
Pilgrim takes place in European and middle-earth-style fantasy locations, such as New Zealand, Iceland, Norway, Tunisia, or Patagonia may serve well, but not the subtropical environment I'm currently bound to. However a stint to a Pacific Northwest, or Smoky Mountain location may work for much of the project.
Additionally, with the success of the Dallas Jenkin's crowdfunded series "The Chosen" I have simultaneously found myself being interested in an episodic series which features new chapters and locations in each episode, as opposed to the difficult to structure story that was taking place before. This was always, apparently, an invariable reality forming because in every new scene, a new unique location was forming as imagined while writing the script. So this was always an incredibly diverse visualscape of challenges for the main character "Pilgrim" to face, and the story was reflecting this more and more as I continued writing. This is becoming a long-distance goal for me as a result.
The Conservative New Wave
While recording for my new podcast "The Film Bar Review," Tim Mannix and I kept returning to this concept that conservative filmmakers (which I didn't used to think of myself as) needed to understand a slew of challenges if they wished to form a new film movement. Outfits like The Daily Wire, Conflix Studios, JC Films Studios, as well as many Faith-based production companies, have been growing in influence, though only The Daily Wire has reached a certain critical mass of popularity and timeliness. The challenges have only grown as we see just how far the influence of conservatives on the culture has fallen. But Tim and I have attempted to communicate our knowledge of the depth of Hollywood's corruption as well as the necessity to understand how new film movements form through history.
The French New Wave is probably the best example of how a film movement we need can coagulate into something real. But I have included my own flavor to the discussion on why copying their movement is fool-hearty, and only by understanding the reasons behind why new film movements happen can we understand why this is. Making a new movement was necessary in Europe in general after the war decimated the industry there. Luckily, they were smart enough to understand that technological advancements from the war (war correspondence and film journalism) made this far more possible than ever. As is generally the case, technology always transforms art into a new medium with new limits and new tools, but the story tends to remain consistent, as it finds new life within this growing new medium.
In this case, conservatives must utilize the new filmmaking technology in ways that the current industry has failed to fully do. Technology such as DSLR cameras, easy audio tools, social media, drones, volume studios, game engines, iphone shooting, and improvised or scriptment-assisted scene building can be vastly useful to a new movement. It becomes more an effort of efficiency and mobility, reducing the size of crews, using internet collaboration when it makes sense, and improving workflows in post which serves to build communities and fanbases online first, then locally, and then on to a community screening model of distribution, which has mostly been overlooked during release of films.
But this is all very technical, and as we examine the French New Wave we cannot ignore the reigniting of personal, intimate, relevant stories to the forefront instead of the vast, colorful, impersonal epics that was making cinema lifeless for the French in the late 50's and early 60's. This was not the same in the United States, but it was nonetheless very similar in effect. So the New Wave was just as much a "content war" as well, and its important to remember this, because then we have to ask, "What are the unique challenges we deal with today, similarly to what they dealt with back then?"
I'd say the answer is that lifeless Hollywood propaganda pieces, money-grab remakes, and superhero films are ubiquitous now. So an effective response to these cynical, lifeless, heartless chum-buckets (also called "content") can happen if we give people what they "need" instead of what the market says they "want", of course the market doesn't know what people really need or want because they are asking only particular questions fashioned to give them particular answers. And how much money a superhero franchise makes is the biggest form of market research that the Hollywood studios utilize to let them know that they are already on the right path, which is, of course, ridiculous when you are a normal person in the normal world, just seeking quality entertainment with value. Content that people "need" such as cultural myths that contain "values" are often the first to go in this kind of environment.
In a world like the one we have now, the studios will be happily ignoring what consumers complain about when Hollywood's films miss the mark. And instead, profits and propaganda will rule the minds of the Hollywood elite because this speaks far more loudly to them in their immediate lives. Propaganda makes them feel that they are morally and thematically on the right path, and the money gives them what they consider an "objective yardstick" to confirm their suspicions correct when they have no other metric to gauge it. Essentially, it allows them to continue to give their own propaganda-laden art-pieces another chance when they make just enough money to keep from being shuttered... no other considerations required.
So, what am I getting at? If personal, intimate films that feature "different" or "unconventional" political, social, moral considerations are given a fair try they will likely do well, when part of a new movement. Being less technically perfect may even be a plus, because Hollywood prides themselves on accomplishing things that unlimited budgets gives them. IMAX cameras or celluloid, Volume studios or game engines to drive a new kind of studio experience. Hollywood loves this technical superiority. But a new movement will be forced to be a reaction to the weaker, ideologically-centered structural choices of Hollywood film studios, and they are going to gain ground in this new kind of film movement. Indie comedies and satire that skewer this ideological weakness in Hollywood may do even better than a $150mil budget Hollywood blockbuster, given the satire is authentic and caustic enough. But most importantly, the relevance of personal stories that reveal REAL problems in American communities rather than propaganda that elitists value- this is of central concern.
Step-by-step on How to Make Strong Local Film Movements
This then, needs to be given central focus in our local American communities instead of continuing to worship at the feet of Hollywood idols.
1. Write intimate & relevant short stories (5-20 pages) that are going to be easy to produce locally.
2. Assemble local filmmakers that believe in this vision and shoot it economically. Pay people.
3. While editing it, regroup with your crew to weed out people who do not believe in how you made this film. Keep it small and purpose-centered.
4. Work towards turning this short into a feature, or work towards writing a "proof of concept" short that CAN be made into a feature (or a larger episodic show) that can garner funding enough to build repeat business.
5. Release the short with a larger purpose indicated as part of the "marketing campaign". This larger purpose can be goal-oriented on your larger project or on building more local support, or even on a larger more expansive artistic theme that you wish to develop. But building something larger than your single short should be made very clear to your audience because it demands more attention than what you are currently getting. People will feel this supply and demand disparity and many will want to join the ride.
6. As you continue to grow, never forget that your fans and their personal challenges ought to help give you themes that provide grounding and intimacy to your work.
Repeat this process from 1-6 and IF you continue to improve with every film (technically & artistically) you will impress many and will continue to be an essential part of this Film Movement that is now growing.
My Contribution
So, how am I participating in this new Film Movement which I think needs to happen? For me the aesthetic has been forming as a B&W, economically shot (DSLR or iPhone), intimate story, which may be based upon a previously written public domain work such as The Bible, or romantic literature writers such as George MacDonald. I like the idea of making a western from a 19th century Scottish writer (MacDonald) where only the setting and dialogue changes, but almost everything else is the same. This is an intriguing premise because, like a lot of "conservative values", they hardly change with time, but their locations and affectation does. Imagine for example, the Divine Comedy, or Canterbury Tales, rewritten and told as a western or period drama? Very interesting results may be forthcoming.
But this is "an assist" for people without their own scripts. I have stories and scripts now, and many are coming in time, as I like to more "directly" face modern challenges with my own stories and themes. This isn't to say that classic stories can't do this though, and I still feel that many older stories may do this just as well. Stories of the Saints (such as St. Patrick), Bible stories, or epics such as Paradise Lost or Pilgrim's Progress are still very much on my list as essential storytelling opportunities.
However, my first short planned in the near future is for the purpose of building local crew. In particular, I feel the need for forming a better cinematography department to round out my crew. Tim and I both feel that powerful visuals should be the cornerstone of what makes the best cinema, and this is pretty much an indisputable fact for us. So, my short film "Will" which used to be called "Something to Lose" is on the burner. Getting back to social media and advertising at my church is going to be a new experience, but getting back to organizing productions and solidifying some much needed crew positions will be paramount.
A proof of concept will be coming after this, and a friend of mine (Debbie) has reignited some Bible-telling story ideas that seem prescient in our day and age. After all, who doesn't know that the Elijah vs Jezebel story needs a revisit? The old testament prophets became an interesting touchstone for my Bible reading lately, and this seems to me the most relevant story for our current day and age. Corruption, idol-worship, political stupidity, and ignoring our past as a moral anchor- these themes can resonate with many today. Doing a mini-series about these stories may make this opportunity even better, and considering the success of The Chosen series, we may be on the right track!
If you are interested in discussing these new projects, please email me, or approach me on facebook here where you can message me. More to come.
