Do we encourage each other enough to keep trying?

http://www.cspinet.org/new/cafchart.htm
http://www.energyfiend.com/the-caffeine-database

I encourage a better diet for energy than a dependence on a caffeine crutch.
Furthermore, WalMart brand drinks (diet for me) are almost half the price of Coke & Pepsi.

Considering the homework involved in researching the detailed tapestry of ancient history to blend with cyborgs and the fate of humanity I think you're quite qualified to research online the full elements of a proper diet which does not include the glories of kid's meals.


The next job you get you need to "fall down" and "injure" your back, get prescriptions from multiple doctors for pain killers and start peddling prescription drugs to fund your low cost intermediate crime drama film project of "How I Became a Filmmaker by Selling Prescription Drugs on the Streets", the proceeds of which you'll use to finish your true passion: IC the Series.

You got not much to do till spring time when all that vegetation begins to return before those pickups.
Start hacking out a rough screenplay for your crime drama to keep your mind from buggin' on too much spontaneous mental energy creation with nowhere to blow it.



And to the "other" Mike C. -
I'm glad to see the reviews for EXILE were favorable, esp when compared to it's predecessor.
I now better understand the appreciation you have for Cervello's considerable production improvements from IC1 to IC2.
Been there. Done that. Can see it elsewhere oh so much better.

Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC said:

... if I listened to the guy who told asked me why bother to try again, the new and improved IC2 would not exist. Clearly, members here can do more to support each other to try again.

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Exactly. Screw 'em.
Just keep doing your thing.
You're good.

Whomever gets elected into office still has to serve all the people that didn't vote FOR them.
If they can do it, I can do it, and so can you.

And getting back to the point of the post before Murdock side tracked the whole discussion, if I listened to the guy who asked me why bother to try again, the new and improved IC2 would not exist. Clearly, members here can do more to support each other to try again.

@Mike: I hope you understand that I am trying to be supportive of you (indeed I was one of, I think, 3 people who donated to your KS campaign) but you've either got to start listening to/taking onboard the advice that people give you on this forum or stop asking for help/feedback/advice/whatever the hell it is you want.

It's not fair to bite Murdock's head off for expressing an opinion that, let's face it, most people on here share. You're obviously having a really tough time of late and it might well be better to shelve the filmmaking dream until you're in a better place to pursue it. At the moment, the quality of stuff you're producing (IC2) is not high enough for you to sell (very few people here are at the selling level yet) so you've got to treat filmmaking as a hobby. And if a hobby is bankrupting you then it's probably better to ease off it for a while, until you're in a better place financially and emotionally.

Actually, I think Murdock has been rather on-point, and disagreement is not the same as side-tracking.

MDM, you don't think your work is impeccable, do you? I must assume that you see flaws in your work. Me -- I've actually never received one single piece of criticism on one of my finished films that I didn't already see myself. Truth. But when I ask for it, I'm glad to hear which problems are most problematic, so that I can refine what I do.

To be honest, I actually really don't like unsolicited advice or criticism. I don't like it, not one bit, and I think people are being rude when they offer it, even though I know that their hearts are in the right place. I'm selective about where and from whom I ask for criticism. I do ask for it, and I take it to heart, but I don't want it from the entire world.

So, I get you on that front. But I have to wonder -- from where and whom are you getting your constructive criticism? Based on my relations with you here, I'm not sure that you're currently getting honest critiques from anybody, anywhere. If that's the case, that's a problem.

To improve, we need criticism. Psychologically, we need encouragement. On the whole, I think IndieTalk is a good place to get healthy doses of both!

Oh, and as for living cheap, avoiding brand names is always good. Store brand soda is perfectly drinkable (one of the chains here has a white birch beer that's actually really tasty). Avoiding premade foods also helps; you can make yourself a week's worth of soup for much less than the cost of buying cans of it, though learning the finer parts of cooking-on-the-cheap does take time. And the time to make it, of course.

Those who dish is sure as helll can't take it.

So, get out of the kitchen.

In the real world, failure is EVERYDAY. Someone loses their job with a family to support, a motrgage to pay, and more. So, they end it all.

A true artist feels more than any critic here. Their feelings translant into their art and people who see it, feel it. The insensitive people here are doomed to spend the rest of their lives building themselves up by knocking others down because they cannot feel.

A true artist is emotional and needs more moral support than the average person.

I stick together with fighters who don't listen to people who tell them to stop, they are worthless, they will starve to death, all they can make is junk.

Up your nose with a rubber hose.

When I see a true artist here a true filmmaker here, I will give them the moral support they need and I suggest the other artists here do the same.

Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC said:

Artists are generally thin skinned as experts have pointed out in many meeting and conventions I have attended.

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Wow, well, that has not been my experience. Any true artist is compelled to keep creating regardless of positive or negative feedback. Perhaps your 'experts' have come across wannabees playing up the myth. Like any vocation, the ones who persevere through the ebb and flow of *their* industries, are the ones who should be there (here).

In regards to your circumstances...have you tried the local food shelves, public subsidized housing?

Cracker Funk said:

I really want to watch "The Awakening". Scoopic, how do we make that happen?

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PM me and I'll get you one.
It's also available for download though Igigaplex

rayw said:

And to the "other" Mike C. -
I'm glad to see the reviews for EXILE were favorable, esp when compared to it's predecessor.

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I'm glad, also. Thanks, rayw. TERRARIUM does have its fan base, though. Some people, like our own Mick or Escher still prefer the claustrophobia of TERRARIUM (shot on film, has an ambitious set), over EXILE, but the latter is better executed and more adventurous.


I was just reminiscing through some of the old reviews and I admittedly did fall on their encouragement to help get me through rough waters (kind of the idea of this thread). At the press premiere, we handed out a couple hundred of these candy boxes (made by my wife, Sheila), which got some interesting responses:

A twelve member crew boards a spacecraft called "Cetus One" and embark on a 15 year mission to colonize a distant, earthlike planet. They are to spend the entire voyage in cryo - suspension, and awaken while still in space. Unfortunately, something went wrong and they awaken after the spaceship has already crash landed on the distant planet.

They quickly discover that they are trapped in their cryo-beds, too weak to break out. As they start trying to figure their situation out, a carnivorous creature attacks and eats one of the astronauts as she is still alive. They now realize that not only are they trapped, but they are sitting ducks for this creature. As one of the astronauts puts it, "We are like food in a fridge for that thing. We are the goodies behind the glass!" (It's at this time I looked at my wife, she looked at me, and we both looked at the now empty box of candy that we didn't notice before also looked an awful lot like a small cryo-bed! We giggled and thought 'What a nifty way to pull us into the film'!)

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Matt Ingersol

WAR OF THE PLANETS (aka TERRARIUM)

Now this film isn’t for everyone, but fans of extremely low budget sci-fi might be surprised. This is a science-fiction flick on the same budget as Rodriguez’s EL MARIACHI and it has a good deal of charm to it, and some surprising aspects that you just wouldn’t expect. Worth a look for those that scour the indie scene for Sci Fi.

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Ain't It Cool News - Harry Knowles

If Jesus has looked for encouragement he probably would have packed it up and gone back to carpentry.

I almost never offer my critiques on other peoples work unless specifically asked, and mostly confine my comments to areas in which I have knowledge. I can very rarely express why I like or dislike something, I only know when something affects me. I like music and films that others don't, I have no feeling at all for things others uphold as "great", whatever that means. And, of course, there are many things that I like or dislike along with almost everyone else.

The biggest decision an artist has to make is whether to work solely for personal satisfaction or to work for financial gain. There are very few who manage to do both. But either way, when whatever it is you are working on is completed, are you proud of your work? If the answer is "yes" then no matter what anyone says you have achieved some measure of success. But we all measure success by our own personal yardsticks.

As an artist our job is to affect our audience emotionally. This can take many varied forms. We can divert our audience from the vicissitudes of every day life with a laugh. We can take them on a roller coaster ride of an adventure they can never have for themselves. We can put them into the middle of history. We can present them with a mystery to be solved. We can tell a story that they identify with - love, tragedy, pain or redemption.

But the hardest part for any artist is to stand aside from the process, put aside our own involvement, and be entirely objective about our own work. This is our greatest challenge.

Audio visual storytelling is the most complex of disciplines. We must involve our audience in a completely artificial construct in a way that they will believe. We have to do our best to eliminate anything that pulls the audience out of the artificial reality we create. This requires enormous attention to detail and a high degree of skill in using the tools available to us. And this is where many low/mini/micro/no budget filmmakers fall short. Its those small, almost subliminal details that many indie types ignore at the technical level. My gig is sound, but even I am cognizant of the affects of set design & dressing, hair & make-up, wardrobe and the dozens of other details that flesh out these artificial worlds filmmakers create. It is this awareness of the combination of pure artistry and the strictly technical that is almost instinctive to the true artist.

Too many low/mini/micro/no budget filmmakers attempt projects that they cannot achieve on their limited resources. And that is the secret of, at least, financial success; to be able to create within your financial boundaries. The smaller your budget the more attention you must pay to all of the small details. You must spend more time, effort and creativity to overcome the limitations you face. IMHO it is the attitude of "it's good enough" that kills many valiant efforts.

So in the final frame it comes down to personal discipline, not encouragement or lack of it, not people telling you you can or cannot do it. Can you make a great film on very limited resources? Yes, but, putting aside talent, you must expend prodigal amounts of creative energy and not compromise on the small details.

AS with all things there needs to be a balance between encouragement against all odds and egging on someone who has no business anywhere near film.

People with talent/skill and people just starting out who are still developing talent/skill need encouragement.

People with no talent/skill or people whose pursuit of film is detrimental to themselves or others need a cold glass of water to the face.

A good community knows when to give both. Indietalk seems to be such a community.

I encourage all people to make good videos....it gives more power to people to work hard and give them a right direction.

I get a lot of hate. Especially from YouTubers. It seems like... there's more haters on there than anywhere else on the planet haha
But really, when I'm with the family on Indietalk, it really is a LOT nicer, because there's constructive criticism, but encouragement as well, and all to grow and help each other (at least that's the intent of most of us lol)

So, at least you found what you need to keep trying.

Let's click on like.

It seems success stories like George Lucas and Spike Lee make the news. I've been told by people Spike Lee maxed out his credit cards to make his first movie.

What doesn't make the news is how many others have maxed out their credit cards or gambled the mortgage on their house on a movie and failed?

I think it was actually Robert Townsend who maxed out his credit cards to make his first feature. Although Spike Lee may have done it, too.

gelder

I keep trying because I feel that I MUST, and that I CAN'T stop. I will always make movies, no matter what people say or do.

Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC said:

With all of the negativity in the industry, do we encourage each other enough to keep going and not let set backs, a bad day, a bad production, professional jjealousy, and discouraging family members make us want to quit?

In today's economy too, we face tougher times looking for both funding and jobs.

That is probably why so much media is devoted to heroes and hope. We need it as a survival mechinism.

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In my case, yes. I've learned so much these few years just by asking questions.

this is a tough one. i have found over the years that, particularly in the area of screenwriting or just writing in general, that writers (myself included) find it v hard to read the work of other writers, unless they don't know the writer personally.

it doesn't seem to be strictly related to how famous/not famous the person being read is.. it seems to relate to whether one writer knows another.

it sounds so arbitrary but that's been my experience and many others have concurred

there definitely should be a lot more fraternity or whatever you wanna call it... but there isn't!

Morto said:

this is a tough one. i have found over the years that, particularly in the area of screenwriting or just writing in general, that writers (myself included) find it v hard to read the work of other writers, unless they don't know the writer personally.

it doesn't seem to be strictly related to how famous/not famous the person being read is.. it seems to relate to whether one writer knows another.

it sounds so arbitrary but that's been my experience and many others have concurred

there definitely should be a lot more fraternity or whatever you wanna call it... but there isn't!

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I agree!

Even putting a cast and crew together to function as a team is a challenge where there are always people who are self-absorbed and not team players.

I am continously working to weed out the self-absorbed people. They hold back productions. But, with every new production some will slip through with new faces.