scene 100

last friday, i had the chance to work on the rough cut of the film for a good portion of the day. it was a good day, i got through about 15 scenes and i'm onto scene 100. there are roughly 143 scenes in the film, which may seem like a lot for a 90 minute movie, but in actuality, it's fairly normal for a somewhat experimental film. scenes 94 through 99 were particular difficult scenes to edit because of the heavily dramatic content. but i'm really happy with the results, and i hope to finish this lo-res rough cut in the next couple of weeks. the film will still need a lot of work with the music, audio, CG, and it could also use some feedback for the overall asthetic. it's good to remain focused on the project, and i feel very close to finishing this rough-cut.

a couple of days ago, i caught a documentary on Turner Classics about the major 'independent' filmmakers of hollywood, which included interviews with current directors talking about their influences and also the directors of the past. it was good see this. they covered all the major directors of a typical film 101 class: orson welles, john ford, john cassavettes, stanely kubrick etc., along with interviews with spike lee, darren aronofsky, john sayles and martin scorcesse. basically, there was a recurring theme with the major 'independent' directors who ended up making big pictures for the major studios: most ended up making incredible first features, but got caught up in the whole hollywood system to the point that they couldn't make the kinds of movies that they wanted to make as they got later on in their careers. some directors were able to cope with this dilemma, while others were not. it basically came down to whether or not that particular director had to compromise their vision for the finacinal backing to produce the films that they wanted to do.

ultimately, i think that anyone who is able to make movies is lucky. staying 'independent' is always difficult. but at the same time, no one forces a director into making a movie, even with millions of dollars of backing. if you want to retain total creative control, then raise the money yourself, and/or make a movie with the resources that you have. people make independent films because the films have to be made, and that they want to express a different vision that they don't see represent in current cinema. the film is the most important driving force, and i think that you should be wary that ego doesn't get in the way.