Perspectives
I was just thinking. As Ric and I have been hanging out this past summer and shooting the Amaretto Sour video, we’ve been talking about the many formats in which to tell stories. He told me about one such format in terms of a series he came across on the internet—a web series*. (Incidentally, it was also funded by an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign!)
An intriguing thought occurred to me, the stories we are about to tell, and the stories that have been told since the beginning of filmmaking are all told from a particular point of view. What gave me pause for thought was… today, as more and more barriers are broken down and themes or topics previously deemed taboo, too shocking or downright banned are reaching the forefront, the real difference in the telling doesn’t just come down to the presentation of the subject matter or pacing of the work, but rather the filter through which it is told. Meaning—its’ perspective.
Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash
The Spin on the Tale
This could be given by the director, writer or producer. And the filter is usually their life experience, their perspective. Essentially, this is their economic status, sexual orientation, gender, and race; in any or all variation of them. Filmmakers of every type have a spin. Time and time again, we’ve all been exposed predominately to a male spin, but the time has come for more tales from different perspectives to be accessible, exposed, and promoted whether it be female, LGBT or from people of color…
You see, I believe we all have a story to tell. Because life throws the same things at everyone in different degrees; place of birth, death, relationships, illness, money (or lack thereof), accidents, racism, personal intent and the consequences of life choices. Stories born of these circumstances provide a wealth of drama, comedy, romance, mystery and yes, even fantasy. How could we possibly run out of ideas?
Interestingly enough, the presentation of these ideas can get tricky when collaborating. A constant sharing or expression of ideas and being open to reimagining a scene or an important ARC of a story can make all the difference between good and great.
No matter what format in which we’ve chosen to create, each little teaser or music video we’ve produced, Ric and I have honed our skills—the shooting, the editing, the budgeting and pulling together all the elements necessary for making an informative or amusing short film. Every endeavor has been an enlightening experience… regardless of how simply entertaining the end result appears.
I enjoy a collaborative process. As they say, two heads are better than one. And fortunately in our case, the creation of DRAFT Productions was due to how in sync Ric and I tend to be… Although we’ve had different life experiences, generally we see life through a similar filter based on our shared background, which leads us to speak the same visual language.
*D-Source Note: A web series is a scripted or non-scripted videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet and part of a newly emerging medium called web television.