I See Dead People

The road to becoming a real live, honest to goodness filmmaker can often seem like a lonely one. To many people, the idea of making a film, writing a book, recording a CD, or most other artistic endeavors for that matter, seems like a magical process that only certain people with certain magical skills can achieve. As a result, when the aspiring filmmaker tells those around him about his aspiring dream, many people don't know how to react. Some furrow their brow in genuine confusion. "You want to what?......... Make a film you say? Are you allowed to do that"? Other people laugh. Not because they are trying to crush one's spirit, but because they think that said one, must be joking. Others who might have been tempted to laugh, but can tell by the now struggling filmmaker's face that this is not in fact a laughing matter, will just nod and say how interesting that is before quickly changing the subject. It is not that those around the budding filmmaker have decided they will become the gatekeepers of happiness and the crushers of dreams, they just don't understand. Recording artists, authors, and filmmakers are all famous people, and I, gentle reader, am not famous. So, in their minds they think "How could he possibly become a filmmaker? He's just..... well, him". Most folks don't take the time to think that Steven Spielberg is just little Stevie from down the street to someone. Most forget that he too picked up a camera for the first time, with no idea how to use it. So when faced with the idea of someone they know reaching for what seem to be impossible heights, they are unsure of how to respond. The result can often be a sense of isolation for the filmmaker to be. Some, when faced with this isolation, give up their dream and take up a new dream of being an accountant (and probably make more in a year than I have in the last three). Others decide to go it alone. The lone wolf. El Lobo Solo.

Since the road from aspiring filmmaker to actual filmmaker can be a lonely one, when I was given the opportunity to help my friend with his latest film project, I jumped on board. As you well know gentle reader, getting started can often be one of the most difficult obstacles for me. Here was a project that was written and ready to go. A chance to be behind the camera with actors in front of it, saying lines and being recorded. Sounds a lot like movie making to me. This represented a chance for me to stop dreaming about shooting a project, and actually go help shoot a project. While the project is not my own, and the name read following "and the Oscar goes to......" will not be mine, it does feel good to be working on something tangible. Working with someone who shares a similar dream and faces the same odds. It feels good to have a little company on the road less traveled. So gentle reader, that is how I came to find myself working on the set of the moving picture, with the working title, Zombies during third period..... Again!