I feel as though I owe you all an explanation as to the ridiculous delay in getting this project done, so I’m going to explain what has been going on. I was going to wait until after I released this, but not anymore.
I’m a teenager. I started this thing in 9th grade and I’m now in my senior year of high school. After all, what grown man would think up something as crazy as this project and then actually try to do it? I hadn't mentioned this before for obvious reasons (I would probably not have gotten help or have been taken seriously).
I started this project eagerly, but the farther and farther I got, the more and more I realized the magnitude of what I was trying to do, even with all of your help. And my time on the computer is obviously limited to some degree. I had schoolwork and all kinds of other things that took priority over this. So work slowed.
But the other thing is this—over the span of this project, I began to admit to myself how much I love film (and film music). Despite others peoples expectations of me to go into fields in math, science, english, or music (I’m number one in my class, do well in school), I have a burning passion to put great things on the screen and, through editing and brilliant music, create impact and thrill an audience. I don’t think a day goes by without my brain stringing shots together, whether it’s for a western or for an imaginary film adaptation of “Brave New World.” The most rewarding part of this project for me was going to be sending the movie out to all of you and hearing back from you about what you liked, who you invited over to watch it, etc. And on the flip side, it angers me a lot more than other people that movies today are so awful, but I know I’m not the only one. A very smart person said, “Most films are a reflection of the culture that produced them.” I think there’s a lot of truth in that.
Anyway, I began to think this- if I don’t do this, then nobody will. Most of my generation doesn’t have my taste in film, but many, many other people do. Maybe I should go into film or film music for a living, despite all of the risks, in order to try and bring film back to its former state of glory, which was fizzling by the 80’s and IMO was completely wrecked by the turn of the century. My original dream was to go solely into film scoring, but the problem seems to be that because directors have no taste anymore, they dictate what the composer does, even going so far as to make him do MIDI mockups of the score and compose over his shoulder. It sounds like nowadays, the only path would be to change it from the top (become the producer or the director). Then, I either hire a great composer who understands film and does a great score, or I compose the score myself. If I could just get myself into the (political) position to make a movie that goes into wide release, I think I could really make an impact because I believe I truly understand filmmaking (and the role of music in film). I know this is an ambitious goal.
But I’m an ambitious person.
Regarding this project: what I think I’ll do is overlay the rough sound mix onto the finished video (soon) and just send it out to the people who are still following this thing- as long as I have your word that you will not distribute it, because I don’t want this unfinished version out there. I feel like I should do this because you’ve had to wait for way too long, and finished or not, I want you guys to see what I’m doing. As I’ve said many times, the creative content is all there, but the audio needs some polishing and a couple FX shots are not done. I just don’t have 16 hours a day to spend on this like Adywan (who is really doing a knockout job on his own project right now). I have practically no time at all nowadays. Hopefully by the time summer rolls around, Ady and I can finish this before I go off to college. As for now and for the next few months, I will be all over the place interviewing and submitting portfolios (for music composition) in order to get into a competitive school not only for music composition, the area I am studying, but also for film, so I can start making contacts in the film industry. There are only three or four major schools for that in the U.S.
I know what you’re probably thinking. Everybody wants to make movies. How are you any different?
Because not only do I have a true talent for film, I have a true talent for music (and perfect pitch too, ha ha), and not only do I understand both art forms, but I also believe I can play the game and get into a position to make an impact, like Spielberg and “Jaws”, Coppola and “The Godfather”, Stallone and “Rocky,” and George Lucas with “Star Wars.” It was possible back then. Is it possible today? I hope so. The film industry is obviously not a fair thing, but I believe that I can make it and still stick to my morals and not go broke in the meantime. Any advice on what is possibly a very stupid career choice would be much appreciated.
I hope this whole thing makes a little bit more sense now.
Merry Christmas everyone,
TM