Without losing sight of the fact that I only produced one Process film in all of 2022. I’d like to mention that two months ago (December 2022) I finished a film about the fleeting nature of my medium. The difference between analog and digital. The perceived permanence of a tactile element and my perceived loss in creating visual art in a digital world.
This sounds extremely heady… I get that. For some time now I’ve been grappling with the notion that all of the work I’ve made in my life… Probably tens of thousands of final video files. Have all been lost to the sands of the digital space. You can watch tickers and stats of how many YouTube videos are uploaded every minute. EVERY MINUTE (500 hours worth).
It’s so hard to continue to invest interest in making this kind of work without hearing a constant refrain in the back of your head. “You’re not that good at this, there are others who have more time, more effort, more creative ability, a better voice, a better point of view…. Plus, who cares. There are 499 hours and 58 minutes worth of other work uploaded. What do you matter?”
The real kick of the whole thing is that even after reading all of that. Internalizing it. Realizing that even those who are perceived as my best friends don’t share my work, celebrate it, or even just open a dialog with me about it. Some of those people openly talk about how much of a waste of time it is. Because there are 499 hours and 58 minutes of other work uploaded this minute. What does it matter?
None of that derails this bizarre innate need to tell stories. Those stories can be as dull and drab as coming to terms with the fact that it’s time to erase our “Pandemic Calendar”. Some of those stories are as intense as what it feels like to finally become a Father…. Either way, the hard drive keeps filling up with stories I’d like to tell without the time or energy to devote to editing those stories.
If you’re reading this and it resonates. Start a conversation with me. I’d love to be able to figure out how to rekindle my love of storytelling in the digital medium. Where can I hold my work sacred so that it feels like an accomplishment, rather than what it currently feels like which is an anchor holding me down from the next project?
Do you want to help? Are you interested in editing, post-production, and storytelling? Do you want to help me take some of these captured scenes and craft stories that resonate personally? Passion projects which have no deadlines, no clients, and no notes sending you back and forth?
LMK.
