Happy 2008, everyone. Hopefully last year wasn't terrible, something that's out of our hands now, but more importantly I hope this next year is fantastic. In life, in love, in money, in creativity, and in pancakes. I've heard IHOP is going to be including all you can eat pancakes with certain combo platters, so already we're off to a good start.
It's been said we make our own luck, usually by leprechauns trying not to get hog-tied, but there's some truth to it. I've gone on plenty about getting out there and doing, and sometimes I need the extra push as well. That's why instead of saying what you should do next year, I'm going to go over all of my plans.
QUIT SMOKING - This may not seem like a film-related decision, but the cost of cigarettes just went up to over $5 a pack here in Maryland. While I'm not a heavy smoker, I did the math. On the conservative side, I would be spending at least $1,000 dollars on cigarettes, probably closer to $2,000 within the next year. If you already have a nice DV camera, you can easily make a feature for that sort of money. Or you can get a whole bunch of software. Lighting equipment, two nice shotgun microphones, plenty of tape, a spare hard drive or three, something more useful than an ashtray full of butts. Plus it's harder to type with a cigarette, so that's more writing time I gain. The mood swings will add to the conflicts for my characters. Someone's gonna hurt, may as well be them.
RE-READ EVERYTHING - I plan on digging up everything I can find that I've written and going back over it. Every column, review, script, poem, short story, everything. At some point it was important enough to write down. Maybe there are some good ideas that were lost along the way. Maybe I'll see where I've changed for the better or the worse. I plan on making notes, making copies, and maybe even typing it all up as time allows. I have web space if I feel like embarrassing myself. Either way, I want to see what I've done with some more experienced eyes.
WATCH MORE MOVIES - Last year was one of my weakest years yet for catching movies. There were some great revivals, rereleases, and remasters out in theaters and finally on DVD. I heard some great buzz about far too many movies to count. I completely missed things I'd been anticipating for months if not longer. I slacked bad. This year, maybe with some of that cigarette money, I will try and see as many movies as I can.
READ MORE - This is another case of input deficiency. There are way too many books I've bought, fiction, history, software instruction, too many things not to know, experience, or just have someone else's take on.
LEARN FRENCH - A second language, third, fourth, or eighth never hurts. Looking at all of the languages to choose from, I think this would be a pretty useful one. If someday I need to film in the French-speaking parts of Canada, it will be a little more efficient and less expensive than going through a translator. I know most are fluent in English as well there, but when in Quebec... And say the project goes well and I find myself at Cannes, well, if nothing else I'll be able to order dinner.
WRITE SIX SCREENPLAYS - Sure, it's a lot, and I probably won't, but the more I plan on writing, the more I'll need to get done to even cut it close. Also, by keeping more than a few irons in the fire, so to speak, I'm less likely to obsess. If I'm having trouble on one part of a script, I can jump to another just to get the first draft done. I'm also able take my mood for the day or the week and open up the right file. If I'm a bit tense and need to blow off some steam, like maybe for the next couple of nicotene-free weeks, I can work on a horror movie. If I'm horribly drunk but can't sleep I can work on a romantic comedy, since I'm not sure my take on a romantic comedy would be worth keeping anyway. I also tend, when working on several things at once, to keep my scenes tighter. I get to the point and get to the next scene instead of letting the dialogue ramble on. My time wasted on fluff is going to be the audience's time wasted too.
WRITE TWO BOOKS - They won't be good. They'll probably be a giant dump for things in my brain that won't go anywhere else, more a clearing house than anything else, but at least they can be that. Get some stale concepts out, brush a few ideas off, expand on them somewhere so than maybe down the road I can cannibalize the concepts into something better. It will also be practice for any ideas that might deserve to be books. I can learn from these what not to do while I don't care. On the off chance I wind up writing something really good, thought provoking, and entertaining, well, that's just a bonus I suppose.
MAKE A SHORT WEB SERIES - The technology is out there, cheap and easy. The internet is loading up on stuff like this. It could very easily be a major part of entertainment as a whole in not too long. I may as well jump in now. I'm leaving this resolution fairly vague, since I want to collaborate on this with people from the get go. Concept, casting, writing, length, episode count, marketing, DVD, the whole shebang. Because of the collaborative nature, I almost left it off the list. It's something worth doing.
Things I am leaving off of my list of goals for this year include getting into a nice relationship, selling a screenplay or three, get some shorts ar a feature shot, or other things that require other people. They are things I would like to happen, things that I can work towards, but since they require outside factors, I cannot hold myself to them. I am not going to consider this coming year a personal success or failure if other people don't follow my plans.
Right now my immediate plans involve a lot of pancakes to curb a lot of cravings. Luckily everything goes well with coffee.
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| Make Me Proud |
Every other Monday
Exploring everything you should consider as you make your
indie masterpiece.
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| Patrick Storck |
Patrick hails from Baltimore, MD, where playing by the rules is frowned upon. Only average things come from playing it safe.
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