Matthew 13 Blog

At some point or another, gentle reader, we have all been asked the age old question. "If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound"? It is supposed to be a thought provoking question. It's purpose is to make us think about the way we view the world around us, and give that world view a closer look. Now, being the son of a science teacher, I always thought the answer to that particular question was a fairly obvious "yes". Sound is produced by vibrations moving through the air. Those vibrations are then sensed by the inner workings of the ear and are in turn, processed by the brain which then categorizes and interprets them. The fact that no one is close enough to the falling tree to sense the vibrations it's falling creates on their eardrum, does not mean that the vibrations weren't present. So, yes it makes a sound. The true question is not whether or not the tree makes a sound, but rather, what purpose do...

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 hav...

Well, it seems like only last week that I was sitting here musing over the laws of physics and how they could effect the filmmaking process. Overcoming the inertia of sitting still and turning filmmaking dreams into filmmaking nightmares....... I mean realities, is one of the most difficult obstacles for the fledgeling filmmaker to overcome. A contributing factor to this most diabolical of phenomenon, is none other than "The Problem of Perfection". I can hear your voice even now, gentle reader. "What is this, how do you say...... problem of perfection"? Simply put, the problem of perfection comes into effect when said would be filmmaker, is paralyzed into inaction by the fear that their would be film, will not be perfect, or great, or pretty good, or even watchable. When faced with the idea of making something bad, some filmmakers will opt instead to make nothing. Such action, will in turn take away one of the key ingredients necessary to becoming a filmmaker...