I tend to hate everything I create

Defjon

Defjon

Anytime me and my buddies get together and brainstorm, and write up ideas for some shorts, it is awesome. The idea feel like gold! And we can't wait to shoot it... but,

after it settling in my mind for about a week, I just doubt the idea and the script I wrote for it. Like RIGHT NOW. :grumpy:

I was just wondering, does this happen to anyone else?
 
Defjon said:
Anytime me and my buddies get together and brainstorm, and write up ideas for some shorts, it is awesome. The idea feel like gold! And we can't wait to shoot it... but,

after it settling in my mind for about a week, I just doubt the idea and the script I wrote for it. Like RIGHT NOW. :grumpy:

I was just wondering, does this happen to anyone else?
Click to expand...

Yes! All the time, it seems whenever this happens...

A. The video ends up being amazing, in my mind and everyone elses.
B. The video ends up being terrible to me, but everyone else loves it.
C. Everyone hates it, including me.

A: is the most usual.
 
Consider yourself lucky, it often happens after you've made the film.
 
The problem is either the idea itself, or in the execution of your script. Since you and your friends were all jazzed about the idea, I suggest that it might be the script that's in question.

Doubt is good. Doubt makes you into your own worst critic, so you'll strive to get better.

But the only way you learn how to make movies is to actually make them. Even shooting your half-assed ideas is good, because only then will you learn exactly why they were half-assed to begin with. You gain experience from every movie you make.

Also, in script form, it's never too late to get feedback -- ask your buddies what they think of the script. Since they were the idea's cheerleaders, they should also be able to tell you what doesn't work -- assuming you have honest communication. If they can't tell you what about the script sucks, then find somebody who will.
 
I'm going through this right now. Had a great idea for a visually stunning short where a character steps into the pit of hell. Did some 3D test comps to see if I could model this hellish environment and was completely stoked that I could indeed pull off this visual feast with some technical wizardry. And then...I discovered a major plot hole in the script that I've been unable to resolve. Now I'm stuck in an apparent endless battle with the script.

Granted, I know I'm not going to make some grand masterpiece, but I know I can do better. And that's what helps to motivate me to push on. I just have to find the balance between getting it "perfect" and getting it done!
 
Defjon said:
Anytime me and my buddies get together and brainstorm, and write up ideas for some shorts, it is awesome. The idea feel like gold! And we can't wait to shoot it... but,

after it settling in my mind for about a week, I just doubt the idea and the script I wrote for it. Like RIGHT NOW. :grumpy:

I was just wondering, does this happen to anyone else?
Click to expand...

Yeah I've been there.

I had to write and direct two shorts back at Columbia. The first project was my first ever film and it sucked. My second was suppose to be an homage to Quentin Tarantino. i thought of an awesome 8 minute story that would unfold with a screw up between a drug dealer and buyer and have some sort of Mexican standoff.

Unfortunately, I didn't realize how god awful it was until half-way through filming. It was painful editing, having to re-watch the same terrible scene over and over again, and have to deal with the fact the story felt like a direct ripe off of his films and not an homage. My teammates weren't helpful either. Two of them happened to drop out of school in the middle of filming and the third just kinda stood in the background......but I learned a lot from those experiences.

anyway...your lucky you think they're bad while they're still in your head as IndieTalk pointed out earlier. I get ideas in my head that I think are awesome and about a week after letting it float around, it seems like shit. most likely, because it is shit.
 
I can't say I've consistently
- Had an idea
- Wrote or planned it out
- Then called it quits before it even actually started.

On occasion? Yes!
As a routine thing? No.

Those ideas that perished in the flame of developmental pursuit I thank my lucky stars for. (Minimizes my time and resources investment losses!)
However... I have a prolific imagination.

While normal people come up with ten bright ideas, two or three turn out to actually be pretty decent and can thus claim a 20-30% success rate, I churn out three-hundreed-forty-five ideas and only two percent turn out to be worthwhile. But 2% of 345 = maybe 6 or 7, which puts me way ahead of the normal people as far as productivity goes even though my idea "failure rate" is sky high.

I'm used to idea failure!

I'm just also used to figuring out which one's will never make it to the planning stage.
And that's where your ponies are kicking the bucket.

How many of your PLANNED projects
- Get completed?
- Turn out to be cr@p, after all? (D@mn! Should trusted my instincts!)

Seriously, no snark, is it possible you're just getting a little case of Nervous Nellie cold feet before committing time and resources?
Or do you think the idea and the planning are both genuine sh!te?
Something's gotta change, 'cause that ain't good or healthy.
 
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Who said is a bad thing to hate it?
Let's say I'm into wood working, and I make a bird house. It might be the best birdhouse ever, but I'm convinced that is a shitty piece of shit. Fine! I'll work an dmake it better till I'm satisfied with what I've got.
 
Disliking your own ideas, particularly during the writing phase, might not be an entirely bad thing. I mean, if you see things you dislike within your writing, you can go back and tweak and rewrite endlessly until it fits your standards. If you hate the idea before you start writing, maybe look for something you like about the idea and use that as a skeleton for something else.
 
If you are making these projects purely out of joy and you are not putting money into them.... I feel like you should take the time to make the project. It might actually help you understand why you hate it. Might sound silly, but if you learn what it is your disliking in your work then it is all worth it.

I know I look back on things I've COMPLETED and am completely embarrassed in a fun kind of way... I know immediately after I finish any project that it wasn't great but only after I've learned more about the art form do i know WHY it wasn't great.
 
This is a good thing if it means you try harder. It's a bad thing if it stifles you from ever actually creating something.
 
I believe the differences between what you envision in your mind and what comes out as the end result is what "art" is.

The rest of the world may not see all of your "mistakes". Michelangelo was never happy with the Sistine Chapel, he was a sculptor and not a painter.

Go shoot something and learn from it... then shoot something else. Repeat.
 
Tooootally normal man. The problem i usually face is getting my butt up and doing it. I ALWAYS struggle to get up and go film haha, but yeah man completely normal! :rolleyes:
 
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