Charlotte, thank you so much for this incredible deep dive. You articulated the themes better than even I could! Truly appreciate you and your willingness to spend time with the film. 💙
Thrilled to hear you're making a feature of your own! There's nothing quite like the filmmaking process; it's exhausting, it's crushing, and it's consuming, but it can be so rewarding when it all comes together. Can't wait to see what you create!
We have very similar approaches to the act of directing. I've tried it a few times with shorts and music videos, but I always leaned very heavily on my DPs to help me with the technical aspects and my actors to help me coach them through a scene. A director by default, in a way. It can be tough surrendering yourself to your director's decisions when you establish a creative collaboration, but I think filmmaking has always been about compromising to achieve a shared vision, not a singular vision. (Auteur theory is a sham, etc.) All that said, I've found that being a writer/producer is a really rewarding combination. It allows me to stay involved in the entire process, and even if I'm not ultimately calling the shots, I'm involved in all of the conversations and helping bring practical ideas to the table long after the story ideas are on the page. It also makes me sound more important. 😂
Pleasure's all mine, Jeremy! May the Burgess pantheon continue to grow and glimmer 🙏
Yeah, I'm gonna make sure not to sign off on any verdict until I've actually finished making the film, and even then it will have been an experience where I had no DPs to lean on, so really I should just give in to the adventure and say "yes" to things.
One of my actors is classically trained, which is helpful. It's been really fascinating, even just in these early stages, to watch this story decentralize from myself so as to be a product of a compartmentalized, cooperative consciousness. That's what I love about collaboration-heavy artforms like cinema; at the end of the day, it really is its own thing. And if there's a version of its story that I'm a bit greedier about, I can always just write a book.
Anyhow, writing-producing sounds like the dream. I'll definitely keep that as my north star while I drift around this charmed sky. Much love, dude!
CONGRATS, Charlotte, on the big announcement! So excited to see what you create, if and when you make it available. The test shot looks promising.
Directing isn't for everyone, and that's ok, of course. I love writing and directing equally, perhaps because they call on such different skills / muscles. They inform each other, but they are so different. Working with actors to brig words to life teaches me to be a better writer, and vice versa. I wonder if you will find editing enjoyable - that is more similar to writing, in my experience. Keep us posted!
And thank you, Alex, for scheming up this challenge! I'll definitely be hosting screenings in the Filmstack Discord once the time comes, so look forward to it!
Supremely curious, atm, to discover which parts of the process end up being for me from film to film. It's an adventure!
I'm so freaking thrilled to hear about your movie, Charlotte. And as to your thoughts on directing, I know this is obvious but it truly is two different forms of storytelling - screenwriting and directing. I've found the latter is truly incumbent on the team you gather: how they help elevate the story and bring it to life. You have a tremendous imagination and that can make the execution of a story seemingly unsatisfying because it may never be as robust and alive as you see in your head especially like you said when the resources aren't there. But I will say that's the challenge isn't it? That's what directing ultimately is - you are now the translator of what lives in your head and your job is to find the best ways in which to tell that story so that other people get to see it too.
Cheers, Taylor! And yeah, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if the directing experience changes exponentially as the group around you expands and evolves. Tbh, I won't be terribly surprised if this all crescendos into a life where I write novels and then adapt them as screenplays, just to be sure I've satisfied every itch I have as an artist. Thrilled to be on this path, in any case!
I’m so excited to hear this! I can’t wait to see what you create. In my experience writing is definitely one of the best parts because everything is possible and there are no limits. But then you direct and realize you can’t quite get it exactly as you saw it because perhaps the location doesn’t work for a shot or sometimes it’s physics and there’s no possible way to do it ….but at the same time seeing an actor make these characters come to life is rewarding and revealing in a completely other way. After the shoot there’s always a bit of disappointment and as a writer and director you can tend to see the mistakes or things that didn’t play out exactly as they did in your head. But then you get to editing and suddenly the written movie changes again and you get over that disappointment (mostly)….I’m sure not everyone has this same process but I know many do…..all this to say if you can accept and flow with the process, it’s fun….but writing to me is always the best. ❤️
I 100% feel you on directing / filmmaking! I don't think I'd love being a director too much. I've been helping out on Jon Stalh's short shoots lately, and I watch him completely lose himself to the moment, looking at the monitor, all sense of his surroundings goes bye-bye, you almost have to physically slap him to bring him back to the real-world moment, he's SO UTTERLY HAPPY during filming, it's wild. And I just don't know if that would happen to me. And I think it has to happen to you, to keep doing it.
Exactly! I haven't ruled out that I won't lock in to the process at some point, but I just can't help considering the ostensible implications of the fact that I haven't yet. It's no skin off my teeth either way!
Charlotte, thank you so much for this incredible deep dive. You articulated the themes better than even I could! Truly appreciate you and your willingness to spend time with the film. 💙
Thrilled to hear you're making a feature of your own! There's nothing quite like the filmmaking process; it's exhausting, it's crushing, and it's consuming, but it can be so rewarding when it all comes together. Can't wait to see what you create!
We have very similar approaches to the act of directing. I've tried it a few times with shorts and music videos, but I always leaned very heavily on my DPs to help me with the technical aspects and my actors to help me coach them through a scene. A director by default, in a way. It can be tough surrendering yourself to your director's decisions when you establish a creative collaboration, but I think filmmaking has always been about compromising to achieve a shared vision, not a singular vision. (Auteur theory is a sham, etc.) All that said, I've found that being a writer/producer is a really rewarding combination. It allows me to stay involved in the entire process, and even if I'm not ultimately calling the shots, I'm involved in all of the conversations and helping bring practical ideas to the table long after the story ideas are on the page. It also makes me sound more important. 😂
Pleasure's all mine, Jeremy! May the Burgess pantheon continue to grow and glimmer 🙏
Yeah, I'm gonna make sure not to sign off on any verdict until I've actually finished making the film, and even then it will have been an experience where I had no DPs to lean on, so really I should just give in to the adventure and say "yes" to things.
One of my actors is classically trained, which is helpful. It's been really fascinating, even just in these early stages, to watch this story decentralize from myself so as to be a product of a compartmentalized, cooperative consciousness. That's what I love about collaboration-heavy artforms like cinema; at the end of the day, it really is its own thing. And if there's a version of its story that I'm a bit greedier about, I can always just write a book.
Anyhow, writing-producing sounds like the dream. I'll definitely keep that as my north star while I drift around this charmed sky. Much love, dude!
CONGRATS, Charlotte, on the big announcement! So excited to see what you create, if and when you make it available. The test shot looks promising.
Directing isn't for everyone, and that's ok, of course. I love writing and directing equally, perhaps because they call on such different skills / muscles. They inform each other, but they are so different. Working with actors to brig words to life teaches me to be a better writer, and vice versa. I wonder if you will find editing enjoyable - that is more similar to writing, in my experience. Keep us posted!
And thank you, Alex, for scheming up this challenge! I'll definitely be hosting screenings in the Filmstack Discord once the time comes, so look forward to it!
Supremely curious, atm, to discover which parts of the process end up being for me from film to film. It's an adventure!
I'm so freaking thrilled to hear about your movie, Charlotte. And as to your thoughts on directing, I know this is obvious but it truly is two different forms of storytelling - screenwriting and directing. I've found the latter is truly incumbent on the team you gather: how they help elevate the story and bring it to life. You have a tremendous imagination and that can make the execution of a story seemingly unsatisfying because it may never be as robust and alive as you see in your head especially like you said when the resources aren't there. But I will say that's the challenge isn't it? That's what directing ultimately is - you are now the translator of what lives in your head and your job is to find the best ways in which to tell that story so that other people get to see it too.
Cheers, Taylor! And yeah, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if the directing experience changes exponentially as the group around you expands and evolves. Tbh, I won't be terribly surprised if this all crescendos into a life where I write novels and then adapt them as screenplays, just to be sure I've satisfied every itch I have as an artist. Thrilled to be on this path, in any case!
I’m so excited to hear this! I can’t wait to see what you create. In my experience writing is definitely one of the best parts because everything is possible and there are no limits. But then you direct and realize you can’t quite get it exactly as you saw it because perhaps the location doesn’t work for a shot or sometimes it’s physics and there’s no possible way to do it ….but at the same time seeing an actor make these characters come to life is rewarding and revealing in a completely other way. After the shoot there’s always a bit of disappointment and as a writer and director you can tend to see the mistakes or things that didn’t play out exactly as they did in your head. But then you get to editing and suddenly the written movie changes again and you get over that disappointment (mostly)….I’m sure not everyone has this same process but I know many do…..all this to say if you can accept and flow with the process, it’s fun….but writing to me is always the best. ❤️
Much love, Amanda! Yeah, it's very much a directorial deflowering in a brave new world for me here; we'll see where the winds take me!
If your film is even half as thoughtful as your criticism, we’re in good hands. Looking forward to it, Charlotte!
Cheers, Matthew! Eager to share it with y'all proper!
I 100% feel you on directing / filmmaking! I don't think I'd love being a director too much. I've been helping out on Jon Stalh's short shoots lately, and I watch him completely lose himself to the moment, looking at the monitor, all sense of his surroundings goes bye-bye, you almost have to physically slap him to bring him back to the real-world moment, he's SO UTTERLY HAPPY during filming, it's wild. And I just don't know if that would happen to me. And I think it has to happen to you, to keep doing it.
Exactly! I haven't ruled out that I won't lock in to the process at some point, but I just can't help considering the ostensible implications of the fact that I haven't yet. It's no skin off my teeth either way!
Wow. You're the first reviewer to recognize the subtext. You nailed it. I feel seen! Thanks, Charlotte!
Twas an honour, Michael; I'm glad I clocked that t, haha!
Hmm… #clockedthatt is a good hashtag. 👍