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The Chicken or the Egg (An introduction to Matthew 13 Blog)

Hello. Let me first start by welcoming you, gentle reader, to my blog. My name is Matt, and this blog is going to be an account of my efforts to become a real, live, honest to goodness filmmaker. Kevin Smith was once quoted as saying that you become a filmmaker by "Being a filmmaker". Now, while that advice appears a little vauge, and may seem to vere toward the useless side, at least on the surface, I think that what he was trying to say was, in order to be a filmmaker you must believe that you ARE a filmmaker. There is no degree, no certificate, nor power ring that you can achieve that will suddenly make people stand up and take notice that you not only are a maker of films, but have in fact achieved the title of "Filmmaker"tm. If you think of yourself as one, you are one. It does not matter the quanity, or maybe even the quality of your work. No matter whether you shoot on 35mm, Super16, MiniDV, or VHS, if you have the desire to tell a story through the use of moving pictures, and are working toward that end, you are a filmmaker. There you have it. Of course with that title, even if it is that easily attained, there does come the assumption that you will, at some point at least, you know..........make a film.
Which brings us back to me and my desire to "become" a filmmaker. I have, to date, completed a couple of small short form projects. A short film loosely based on the Old Testament book of Hosea, which you can see here, and another short fanfilm based in the world of Smallville (the TV show about a pre Superman Clark Kent) which can be watched here. However, even with those projects under my belt I still have great difficultly calling myself a filmmaker with a straight face. I feel I still lack. I am sure there are plenty who would agree. So, I am trying to do something on a larger scale. Something those film types might call a "Feature". Well, to be honest some of those film types can be rather critical at times, so I have no idea what they would call a Seventy-five to Ninety minute piece of video written, shot, directed, and edited by me, but I, gentle reader, would like to believe that they would call it a "Feature". But what, if anything, does that have to do with chickens and eggs?
Well, I have noticed with my smaller projects, that while this here new internet thing, really does offer boundless potential as far as making one's work available to literally millions of people, that does not mean one's work will be seen by millions of people......or thousands........or hundreds.....or anyone who isn't gathered around the ol' computer screen at my parents house when I ask if they want to see my latest stroke of genius. You need people to actually care about your content if you want them to view it, read it, talk about it, and (if everything goes right), someday pay for it. You need to build a following. So when that next master piece arrives it will be met with the open arms of a loving public that has been waiting on pins and needles for it to be available. Once you have created something, you can't garner anticipation, or excitement for it's arrival. It has already arrived. However, how do you create anticipation for something that has not yet been created? How do you get people interested in something that is little more than an idea coupled with a large helping of ignorance that makes one believe that said idea could actually blossom into something tangible? Answer, you start a blog. So here we are, gentle reader. On the begining of a jouney together. My journey to become a real, live, honest to goodness filmmaker, and your journey of reading about me becoming a real, live, honest to goodness filmmaker. Let the excitement begin.
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Comments

  1. JeffOctober 4, 2009 at 9:31 PM

    Way to go Matt. Follow the dream. I'd love to see what you've created.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Matthew 13 BlogOctober 5, 2009 at 1:36 PM

    Thanks so much! I'll keep you up to date. In the meantime you can see some of my aforementioned work here

    www.youtube.com/user/Matthew13tube

    Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Billy HawesNovember 16, 2009 at 9:38 AM

    Gentle reader? I plan to be a fierce, voracious reader of the Matthew 13 Blog.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Matthew 13 BlogNovember 19, 2009 at 10:54 PM

    And suddenly, I'm just a little bit frightened.

    ReplyDelete

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