After your film turns out mediocre...

A

AndAction

Hey guys,

Little background on me. Never went to film school but made a lot of no budget contest entries and documentaries through college. Moved to LA right after. Made a low budget but widely loved music video and a few commercials that came out great.

But my first short film, that was written and produced by someone else, came out mediocre at best. It's not really the style of filmmaking that I normally would want to do. Very sitcomy and we made it for like $500. Have shared it with my friends and family but response was meh. I filmed a bigger budget short since then that we are about to start post on. That one is more the style of film that I want to make but we did have some minor production issues so really hoping it still turns out great.

Anyways, I've been feeling kind of depressed about this short. I think it's due from getting so much praise for my other projects and then to have my first short film fail just kind of sucks. Have any of you been in this situation? How do you get out of the mind state of being disappointed?

Thanks everyone!
 
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Yes my first short wasn't very well received.
It was called 'Friend Zoned' and I learned after I made it that a film about a girl that doesn't like a guy back just isn't terribly dramatic.

I think it was doomed to fail from the start.. The other thing that I did wrong was not having comedians in the roles. There WERE some funny lines "You've been beating around her bush for too long" but when my actors said them it fell flat.

Just .. let it go. I decided not to promote that film.
Instead I zeroed in on my errors and threw myself into the next project. Next short film I made everyone seemed to enjoy and that helped lessen the pain from my first failure.

And now I will never try another dark comedy again :)
It's not my genre. I learned front that. It also put the fear of god in me about things falling flat on screen. I think that has helped make me a better writer.

It was like 5 minutes, I salvaged 10 seconds that I think was pretty funny.. but I didn't redo the sound or anything just cropped out the 10 seconds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOUOK4pwwh4

As you can see it was also a little 'artsy' with metaphors etc and I think that's where I lost a lot of people. Most of the meaning just doesn't show up on screen. Especially not for an average you tuber viewer. Nobody 'got it'
 
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AndAction said:
Hey guys,

Little background on me. Never went to film school but made a lot of no budget contest entries and documentaries through college. Moved to LA right after. Made a low budget but widely loved music video and a few commercials that came out great.

But my first short film, that was written and produced by someone else, came out mediocre at best. It's not really the style of filmmaking that I normally would want to do. Very sitcomy and we made it for like $500. Have shared it with my friends and family but response was meh. I filmed a bigger budget short since then that we are about to start post on. That one is more the style of film that I want to make but we did have some minor production issues so really hoping it still turns out great.

Anyways, I've been feeling kind of depressed about this short. I think it's due from getting so much praise for my other projects and then to have my first short film fail just kind of sucks. Have any of you been in this situation? How do you get out of the mind state of being disappointed?

Thanks everyone!
Click to expand...

I have had multiple projects where someone else wrote the material that was less than fantastic. Just get back into doing your own thing and try to realize that the "meh" reactions were in response to the bad content/writing, moreso than the execution (which was probably fine). Why did you decide to do this person's script instead of your own if you've had success with your own ideas in the past? Just trying something new?
 
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sfoster said:
Yes my first short wasn't very well received.
It was called 'Friend Zoned' and I learned after I made it that a film about a girl that doesn't like a guy back just isn't terribly dramatic.

I think it was doomed to fail from the start.. The other thing that I did wrong was not having comedians in the roles. There WERE some funny lines "You've been beating around her bush for too long" but when my actors said them it fell flat.
Click to expand...

That is a very good line :) Is that film online anywhere (it's basically the story of my life)?
 
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Thanks for the quick responses guys. It's nice to know others were in the same boat. The reason I did this project was due to a girl I was dating. She was attached as the lead actress and producer and wanted me to direct it. The script was pretty bad so had some re-writes with the writer and had the actors improv a bunch too.

I guess it was worth it as a way to practice and gain credits/material for my reel. But feel even more so now that my next project has to kick ass.

Sfoster- forgot to mention that I appreciate you sharing that. I had a few punchlines fall flat that I just cut out in the editing bay so I can relate to that completely.
 
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AndAction said:
It's not really the style of filmmaking that I normally would want to do.
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Perhaps your attitude contributed to the fact that the "response was meh." Part of being a professional is to treat every crap job as if it was your potential Oscar Opus, or Grammy Gold, or whatever your craft may be.

As a hard rocker in my youth I would never even have considered playing 50s music. Yet the high point of my music career was as musical director of a famous oldies band playing some of the most famous venues in the world. How/why did my attitude change? Most of the backing bands were converted lounge lizards and wedding band players. My backing band were all former rockers, so I took us all the way back to real, raw rock'n'roll - the four of us in the backing band rocked the hell out of those old songs as if it was 1958. I took a potentially blah gig and turned it into something fun - and eventually quite lucrative.

I get numerous lame singer songwriters as well as lots of crappy shorts through my studio, but I immerse myself - and somehow convince myself - that every one of them is Grammy or Oscar worthy.

That's the essence of being a pro; every job gets everything you've got, no matter the quality. The work will always be the absolute best the budget, schedule and circumstances allow.




Someday ask Sound Designer Randy Thom (and everyone else associated with the film) about "Howard the Duck."

09bb5b9bb3a81c77dcb93793cd3737895b00d3a3.jpg



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_the_Duck_(film)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091225/
 
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Thanks Alcove. When I was doing the project, I was very excited and passionate about it. It was my first time trying this genre and was very experimental for me. It was only afterwards when all was said and done that it turned out less than I had hoped for.

I wouldn't have done it if I wasn't going to give it my all. That's probably the main reason for the disappointment. You're your own worst critic and even though I was out of my comfort zone, I honestly thought I would nail it. You have a really great mindset though. Thanks for sharing!
 
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Did you think that every project you ever did was going to be “widely
loved” and turn out great? Every one – no exceptions?

Other than finding someone to fault (the writer and/or producer) did
you learn from the experience?
AndAction said:
How do you get out of the mind state of being disappointed?
Click to expand...
I don't know. I have never expected every project I direct to be great
so when one isn't I'm not disappointed. I've made several films that
were not loved, that were down right terrible. My state of mind has
always been to focus on what I learned. Sorry I can't tell you how to
not be disappointed.
 
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I think it's fine to be disappointed, it gives you motivation to do better on future projects! Use the disappointment to learn, instead of letting it devastate you. Every failure is an opportunity to get better. Like others on here are saying, some of the highest budget, most widely-respected and loved films are still rejected by certain audiences - that's their problem, not yours! (unless of course you're seeing this purely from a marketing standpoint)
 
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Hey directorik,

Not nearly as concerned with it being widely loved (though thats a plus) then I am with loving it myself. I've done a bunch of projects and have loved all of them so far, even ones that weren't neccesarily greatly received. More of a personal need for myself to be proud of it once it's done I guess.

And yes, definitely learned a lot. It was my first time editing something so quickly paced so learned a ton as a director and as an editor. Which I guess in and of itself makes it worthwhile.

Also didn't mean for it to sound like I was faulting the writer/producer, she did a great job and I read the script prior to committing so I take full responsibility for its turnout.
 
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maz said:
I see what you mean about the delivery of that line :)
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I think it took two hours to get 3 lines from that dude in the scene.
I found out later he was in special ed classes all through high school.

He also sent some unsolicited video of himself masturbating to the asian chick after I had him in the movie :censored:

It was my first movie so i didn't do auditions, big mistake :)
I just needed someone that would take their shirt off for the movie and act like a douche
 
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AndAction said:
Hey guys,

Little background on me. Never went to film school but made a lot of no budget contest entries and documentaries through college. Moved to LA right after. Made a low budget but widely loved music video and a few commercials that came out great.

But my first short film, that was written and produced by someone else, came out mediocre at best. It's not really the style of filmmaking that I normally would want to do. Very sitcomy and we made it for like $500. Have shared it with my friends and family but response was meh. I filmed a bigger budget short since then that we are about to start post on. That one is more the style of film that I want to make but we did have some minor production issues so really hoping it still turns out great.

Anyways, I've been feeling kind of depressed about this short. I think it's due from getting so much praise for my other projects and then to have my first short film fail just kind of sucks. Have any of you been in this situation? How do you get out of the mind state of being disappointed?

Thanks everyone!
Click to expand...

film school is the equivalent to getting a degree in music. people who cant do cant teach talent nor can you learn it
 
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