Will film even matter?

[Nektonic]

I agree with the general sentiment that you just have to write and/or direct what moves and excites you and do your best and the rest is up to chance and the sands of time. It is one thing to aim for something profound and meaningful in your work, but another whole level if you want to make something that is relevant thousands of years into the future. I think the more ambitious you get, the more you tempt fate, which can both bless or curse your creative endeavors.

If one were truly intent on having their film seen in the far future, the best way to do that would probably be to create your own time capsule or "crypt of civilization" project and put your own film(s) in there, along with that of other people's films. That would be a cool project though, a time capsule loaded solely with films of a particular era. Coming to a theater near you, 10,000 years from now.

 

[Batutta]

You don't have to be handsome, just successful.

Exhibit A--

 

[Paul F]

Sun,

You may be making the very masterpiece that will define the 21st century. We just don't know. Consider that Vincent Van Gogh made really crappy art. It was so bad that even his dedicated brother, who worked at a gallery, couldn't sell his stuff. Now look at it.

For all we know, Jackass II may be the show that is the definitive work of this century. Go make some films. Make them for yourself or make them commercial or make both. Who cares. Have fun.

 

[Mitch Gross]

Why would you assume that your films would not be around in the future. Look at what we have to tract history over the ages. Other than a relatively few historical or legal documents, it is art that endures. Paintings, sculpture, architecture, poems, stories, plays, etc., etc. The oldest forms of comunication we have are verbal history narratives, usually a parable to teach a lesson. What is the oldest known creation of man? The earliest record of any fom of sentient life? Cave paintings.

Art, in one form or another, endures. Most of what people think of as substantive is actually transient. Working at a bank or hospital or factory has value of course, but it is value for the here and now. Art has the rare ability to transcend time, even if only to be a comment or record upon or on it.

 

[kylevant]

Why would you assume that your films would not be around in the future. Look at what we have to tract history over the ages. Other than a relatively few historical or legal documents, it is art that endures. Paintings, sculpture, architecture, poems, stories, plays, etc., etc. The oldest forms of comunication we have are verbal history narratives, usually a parable to teach a lesson. What is the oldest known creation of man? The earliest record of any fom of sentient life? Cave paintings.

Art, in one form or another, endures. Most of what people think of as substantive is actually transient. Working at a bank or hospital or factory has value of course, but it is value for the here and now. Art has the rare ability to transcend time, even if only to be a comment or record upon or on it.

Tough to consider what really is art in these times of ours. I think the OP is more worried about how and if his stuff will survive, especially a concern today where there is so much content being created. I mean, I've never really worried about my stuff lasting for centuries because I know that the life-cycle of the content today is minimal, especially so on the internet. Stuff only has a certain amount of time to gain traction, and after that it almost completely dies. If it can't raise above the sea of crap, it's quite likely it never will. The question, really, is what happens to the unpopular stuff in a thousand years? Servers don't last forever, HDD need emptying - does it just get deleted to make space for more cat videos? I can imagine people a thousand years from now having the cat that plays piano displayed in some huge museum, sadly, because it's one of the few things that weren't deleted.

Even in commercial cinema: Something's hot for a few weeks and then people forget about it, unless it's really great - in which case it survives a little longer.