No Imagination (reference quote)

[Chris Light]

I have no imagination at all. I see beauty in the world and frame it correctly. -Akira Kurosawa

I read this quote in the Cinematography forum here and it hit me. I realize that i go out into the world with a nice camera -for me anyway- (Canon xh-a1), and i never know what to shoot. I am not ambitious enough these days to take an idea for a film and run with it, network, get actors to work for free, and all that. ( i spent 25 years playing in bands and networking til i burnt out, and when you "quit" playing music, suddenly "friends" disappear), but i have a love for film and the art of making it ever since i was a kid. i stole my dad's Panasonic vhs shouldercam every chance i could when i was young....


this is more a rant to myself more than anything, but i thought i'd make it public.


i film my 4 year old until she tells me to "put that camera down", and i have an extensive collection of "nature set to trendy music" clips on Vimeo...yup....i'm one of those guys....but man, i'm tired of it. and while i've been complimented on some of the "concepts" of my videos, they are entirely by accident, and don't usually reveal themselves until the editing/music stage.

that brings me back to the quote at the top. i have NO imagination these days. everytime i have an idea which seems cool, i wake up the next day, and it embarasses me, because it's not good enough...

i'll stop here.

tell me that there are others out there who have this problem. haha


Thanks
-Chris
www.vimeo.com/chrislight

 

[Alex H.]

and i have an extensive collection of "nature set to trendy music" clips on Vimeo...yup....i'm one of those guys....

And what's wrong with "those guys?" Honestly... it's a growing genre (though it may not be that new), and there are some folks who have pretty impressive followings with little vignettes like that (see: Philip Bloom, Tom Guilmette).

Don't be so down on yourself. No, you aren't the first or only person to be so hard on yourself. After all, you are your own worst critic. When you have a concept that you think is really cool, write it down. Something there interested you, and you need to develop it. If you wake up in the morning and think, "Well, that sucks," don't give up immediately.

The first draft of a concept rarely looks exactly like the final cut. Sometimes, it's even drastically different. But no matter what, it started with a concept. What was it about the idea that you liked? What stuck with you? How can you use the base of the concept for something you will enjoy?

Vignettes are a great way to experiement, too. You've already got some great stuff there. And it's stuff that people watch and enjoy... embrace that! Those little pieces are where film makers explore new cameras, lenses, transitions, color grading, filters, etc.

And personally, I love just getting out and shooting on a beautiful day, whether I have a purpose or not. Something about simply being out and about with my camera, playing with the lighting, experimenting with perspective... it's kind of a Zen moment for me. Even if I'm just shooting what amounts to stock footage, I find a satisfaction in being able to create a vignette out of it as well.

As for:

while i've been complimented on some of the "concepts" of my videos, they are entirely by accident, and don't usually reveal themselves until the editing/music stage

Well, that shows your strength as a storyteller in post. That's a strength in editing.

I think you're selling yourself short. There are certainly days that many of us (myself included) wake up to yesterday's idea and say, "What in the world was I thinking?" But you cannot let that stop you!

 

[Jim Brennan]

I think you can re-define the word "imagination", because Kurosawa did have imagination... and so do you. Do you think he could have made Rashomon without imagination? Storytelling is a way to re-invent the basic underpinnings of our human experience into something that is both personal and relatable. As filmmakers, we are storytellers. That goes for whether you are making a feature film, or creating a fundraising video for a struggling non-profit.

Are you struggling with the whole concept of filmmaking, or is your goal only cinematography? (as a former 'rising, then plateau-ing, then falling rock star', I feel your networking aversion) Have you thought of just finding one or two collaborators? That can often get the wheels spinning. Nothing is more inspiring than bouncing ideas off of a like-minded individual or two...except maybe bringing them to life.

I'm with C2V. I think you are being too hard on yourself. But we all go through that, and it means you care about what you are doing. No one but you can judge whether you efforts are truly justified. Just be honest abut what you want, and even more honest about whether you are willing to do what it takes to get there. If nature montages set to music, or shooting video of your kid aren't doing it for you anymore, that might mean that you are ready for something more. WHat that "more' is, is entirely up to you.

But yeah. We all get the "what the hell am I doing?" bug when we do something that is creative, with no real benchmarks except our own impressions of how well we are doing.

 

[Sad Max]

Maybe you might try spending some more time on still photography. Keep an eye out for compositions that are just geometrically appealing, subjects that tug at your eye and enjoy the visual/compositional aspect of the art without having to follow up with story etc ideas. You may find that narratives or portions of narratives come to mind when you're playing with compositions and subjects that you enjoy for themselves.

And, find people with whom to work on projects where *you* don't have to play the producer/writer/director/top creative vision role. Just serving as someone's camera operator or DP can be very rewarding in that you get to focus on that portion of the process (which is plenty to keep one occupied) and enjoy that aspect of it without being constantly dive-bombed with all the responsibilities of the other positions.

 

[Chris Light]

you guys all hit it , and thanks...

Sad Max...unbeknownst to you, i have thought of this. i have had my xha1 for over a year and a half, but i've been considering selling it for a Panasonic GH1. but there are lots of reasons behind the decision. but one of them weighs heavily in my situation, and i neglected to mention it in my post.....the part about going out and not knowing what to shoot.

in particular, i am too nervous to shoot in public and annoy people. i am uncomfortable drawing attention to myself in that way. it's bad enough i'm 6'2", heavily tattooed on my arms, and i make a lot of eye contact, cuz i'm a friendly and observant, but very shy dude. i am extremely self consious of this when i venture out.

so my thinking recently is to go the DSLR route and still shoot what i want to shoot, and deal with the workarounds of shooting video with such a camera vs holding myself hostage with a camera that people are not used to seeing, being shot by a guy poeple arent used to seeing (believe it or not, tattoos are weird to many people still haha) Plus, i'll get the benifits of a nice still camera to be able to do exactly what you're suggesting i do. i think i need that.

i dont know.

i'm trying not to be so hard on myself. i guess the problem isn't whether or not i want to handle the task of filling every pair of shoes involved in bringing an idea to "film"....though it's daunting....i guess i failed to indicate that the core of my problem was going out and shooting in places where poeple may not want their picture taken.

i really appreciate all of your input here, and i have followed many posts that the 3 of you have made for a long time, and you have all taught me a lot without even knowing it. you guys constantly humble me with your honesty and caring here. that's why i love this site.

gonna go grab a smoke.

 

[MattinSTL]

Dude... I've seen your stuff... it's good for the content. You show an eye for interesting composition and good pacing. (To me "pacing" is knowing how long to run between cuts... racks... etc. and frankly... I rarely see indi-flicks with any sense of pacing... so I consider that a significant compliment.)

You just need to hook up with somebody who has no problem coming up with ideas... then find some other people who are passionate enough about filmmaking to motivate one another and see the project through... while not driving you insane with a prima donna attitude. (this is harder to find then you may realize)...

Almost everything in life is a team effort to some extent... You may be better at one thing then another... or maybe you'll even discover you have more imagination then you thought once you get some collaboration going.

Do you usually try to produce everything almost totally by yourself? You sound a little burned out more then anything... and that's what happens to me when I try to do it all by myself.

 

[Sad Max]

I think that a way to get past your discomfort with public photography is to just get out there and do more of it. After some number of hours being out there in the world shooting your stuff you will become more relaxed when you find that no one's jumping on you for being there (and if someone does...well, defusing that sort of thing is valuable in that it teaches you that it's handle-able and not something you need to fear). It may require some effort but that's the kind of effort that pretty reliably pays off.

Alternately you could go with super-long telephoto lenses, tripods, camouflaged blinds and a ghillie suit but I think you risk missing a lot of good shots, that way. And being mistaken for a sniper is not nearly so much fun, as it sounds.