Yup! I'm passionate for chocolate too. Hmmm...chocolate vid...where's Willie Wonka?

In life, as in film, there are an amazing number of things that all must come to bear, together, to create success of any kind.  Three of those things inhabit this series. Next up? Passion.

Passion. We’re those crazy, wacky things called humans. And if we just knew what it was that we needed, we could become adept at life, and everything would be peachy. Juuuust peachy.

But wait! We do know. At least, part of us does. What is it for you that drives you bananas – in a good way? That just makes you tingle even thinking about doing it? (Yes, including that. I think that’s, potentially, a completely valid life choice, at whatever level.) Writing? Eating? Playing wit da kitties (or puppies or bunnies or…)? Seeing the smile on a child’s face when s/he figures something out? Feeding others? What is it for you?

As you may have noticed, it’s been over a month since my last post. Waaaaaay too long. Sorry about that. Partly I’ve been workin’ on da biz, and partly I just didn’t know what to say in this blog. I was wrestling with it in late April, when I was doing Script Frenzy. (www.scriptfrenzy.org. I won!) I was hammering my script out, even when I didn’t want to. And that’s when it hit me – sure, Persistence is what got me to go back to the writing, even when I was resistant. And sure, Perspective showed me that if I didn’t get back to it, it certainly wouldn’t get done.

But…why do I care? Yup. You guessed it. Passion. It’s my Passion for writing, and for telling an original story that says, “Yes. Use your Perspective and your Persistence here. Because this is where the juice is. This is where the sweet Passion is. Go, man, go!” And so I got back to it, and with just a few hours to spare, finished the script.

Persistence will keep you on task, even when you don’t want to. Perspective will show you where you need to go next. And Passion will deliver you to those things worth doing.

What’s your Passion? Your Passion in work? Your Passion in life?

Thanks for reading!

Shake the foolish tree,

Ian Carruthers
Filmmaker
www.foolishtreefilms.com
Let’s make a movie!

Persistence (click here for part 1 of this 3 part series)

Perspective (click here for part 2 of this 3 part series)

If we go to dictionary.com, we get several views on this word. Here’s one that’s particularly appropriate to film: “a visible scene, esp. one extending to a distance; vista.” What is film, but visible scenes, strung together? We’re all fairly familiar now with the idea of individual frames of film, individual pictures shown to the human eye, one after the other, many times per second. Even digital video, which doesn’t truly exist as different frames of film, is presented to the human eye in this fashion. In order to represent movement, we parse it out into thousands of individual, static pictures, each with its own perspective.

In film, we must choose our perspectives wisely. There are so many factors to consider! Cost of the shot, availability of the actors at a certain time and place, the amount of time the shot will take, the artistic merit of the shot, and whether or not it will make any bloody sense in the overall context of the film, just to name a few. And the choice of visual perspective for a particular shot in a film is based entirely on the perspective of the people working on that film. From the writing of the script to the editing of the final cut, the entire film is based on choices we make.

And while there must be (I believe) a director or directors for the film, someone to guide it and have the largest “perspective” on it, I also believe that each person who works on the project, no matter at what level, must be allowed, somehow, to bring a certain amount of their own artistic perspective to bear.

We’re trying to make art, after all, and if I’m your director, I see you as an artist – at least potentially. It takes all our perspectives, collectively, to make this world we’ve created and that we continue to create. We all have to choose our perspectives and then live from them. And although life may never be “finished” like a film can be, we can still shape it as much as we are able – from our own, unique perspectives.

Which nearly always takes quite a bit of persistence (click here for part 1 of this 3 part series).

What’s your perspective on…perspective?

Thanks for reading!

Shake the foolish tree,

Ian Carruthers
Filmmaker
www.foolishtreefilms.com
Let’s make a movie!

Passion (click here for part 3 of this 3 part series)

Yes, it’s possible to get what I want without doing a darned thing. Just sit around, thinking about nothing, doing nothing. A knock on the door, and there’s the guy with just that exact thing I need/want/crave! Possible? Yes. But not bloody likely.

Like this post. I really would, right at this moment, rather be asleep. It was a long and fulfilling week, with a killer weekend right behind it. And now I’m up too early because I have a schedule to keep. And part of that schedule is writing this post. Fortunately, it’s fairly quiet, even here in the big city, and I have a kitty on my lap to keep me warm. There are perks, after all.

For much of my life, I followed passions consistently, but serially. I’d have one idea, follow it with commitment and verve, and then realize that I was wrong; this wasn’t the thing which I’d be spending the rest of my life doing. And so I’d move on to the next thing, trying to find that task/way of being/set of experiences that would mean, “I have found IT.”

And I went through a bundle. Poetry, social justice politics, acting, and many more. Okay, I was never a religious evangelist. Or a career criminal. Or sought public office. Not because those aren’t necessarily worthy pursuits, but because I never found any passion in those directions (thankfully, for me). And when I pursued something and then found out it wasn’t what I was meant to be doing, I moved on to the next thing.

And so, I came back to film. Been makin’ ‘em since I was a kid, and now I see how amazing a path it is for me. I must make art – and what other art form allows you to write, direct, perform, create stunning visuals and sound, and physically build things? And I get to go places, meet cool people and shoot amazing stuff? None that I know of.

I’m 40, and I feel as if I’ve finally found “IT.” Only time will tell, of course…time and persistence.

What is “IT” for you?

Shake the foolish tree,

Ian Carruthers
Filmmaker
www.foolishtreefilms.com
Let’s make a movie!

Click here for Part 2 of this 3 Part Series – “Perspective.”

Click here for Part 3 of this 3 Part Series – “Passion.”

I found the advertisements at the beginning fascinating. They were all aimed at kids from 5-15, and heavy on the girl (buying) power. I had heard this was a dark movie. And there were dark moments to be sure, but no real menace. Some of the character performances were strong, if not great (not sure where the writing / directing was really going). I’m a big fan of Crispin Glover, and except for some digital / irl mash-up problems (his physical head didn’t really move with his digital body), I enjoyed his performance a lot.

I guess the main thing is…it wasn’t BIG enough. It was a small story, in a small land (yes, I know Alice shrinks to get there), and I wanted a BIG story in a HUGE land!

I didn’t really get Depp as the hatter, until he really started going bonkers-raving-stark, which wasn’t nearly often enough. (I wasn’t fond of his Willie Wonka, either.)

I liked Hathaway as the White Queen. I felt like she was light enough for the aperitif that was this movie. She moved the digestion along well. What else is a White Queen for, after all?

The Jabberwocky wasn’t scary, and the final battle was silly. And I love Helena – but hate most of her roles.

Bitch, bitch, bitch. I didn’t ask for my money back.

Oooohhhh! The first part of the closing credits was delightful!

Shake the foolish tree,

Ian Carruthers
Filmmaker
www.foolishtreefilms.com
Let’s make a movie!

Inspiration, for me, is often a matter of getting down to it. It’s my understanding that many writers (for instance) get “writer’s block.” Well, when I’m writing, at least for the past 7 years, I don’t have any problem actually writing. The words come. The trick, for me, is getting to the computer. I get, “sitting down at the computer” block.

One way to combat that is to have a regular schedule for writing. Every morning for a half hour, or every evening for an hour, or, if you simply don’t have the time, 20 minutes every other day. I had a teacher once, in Chicago, named Dr. Robin Herndobler. She was an amazing woman, and really the strongest “womentor” I’ve ever had. She taught English and writing and women’s studies. What she told us was something along these lines: “If you can’t find at least 15 minutes, every day, to write, then you shouldn’t be a writer.” Strong words, but I think she’s right (for the most part). A writer writes. That’s it. Getting published – and getting paid – are wonderful. But they do not make you a writer. Writing does that.

I adore being a creative person. If I thought that I could no longer create…that would be a bad, bad day for me. Part of the trick about running this business is allowing my learning about the business to be as creative as possible. Simply enjoying the newness – the creation – of the business. Tricky for me, sometimes, but worth it. This is the path, and it’s a way for me (and my lovely lady wife / CEO) to make our dreams happen.

So here I am, sitting at the computer, and pounding it out. It’s creative – and I hope inspirational for you all.

Best,

Ian Carruthers
Filmmaker
www.foolishtreefilms.com
Let’s make a movie!