the friedorange years

Hello blog reader,

This is what I wrote down on 27th Feb this year:

TO DO FOR 2006:

Short films to complete:
Orphans -march
Hands - april
Why Monkey Why -may
Untitled longer project - august

Semester 2:
work part time
get full driver’s licence
do untitled stop motion vid - october
do substantial short screenplay - november

Summer Break '07:
begin to work as production assistant

I did almost none of the things I set out to do. Yes, I finished the short film exercise in March – it was a bad film. I finished a substantial short film screenplay in October, something that I’m quite proud of, it was my first.

Instead of making the ‘Hands’ movie, I made baguette ads.
Instead of making the short films I set out to do, I made ‘Production Exercises’.
Instead of making the Why Monkey Why music video I made Sandcastles.
Instead of making a stop motion video I made a fight scene.

It’s quite surreal. I still haven’t attained my full licence. I’m not working part time either. I get a few dollars here and there, but that’s not regular income at all. Nothing’s turned out as I expected.

I never thought I’d start crewing this early, and it’s the biggest step I’ve taken this year. The other day I sat down and really worked out how many hours of filmmaking/crewing I did every year.

2004 – 10 hours of filmmaking
2005 – 35 hours of filmmaking
2006 – 250 hours of filmmaking and counting.

The above figures don’t include preproduction or post, but it shocks me how little filmmaking I was doing previously. The bulk of filmmaking I’ve done has been in the past six months, or more accurately, the past four months.

There’s conflict and there’s love. Stepping onto a set, signing up for a shoot, putting my hand up, it’s been very difficult, there’s resistance all the way. But it’s all worth it.

In the past two years I’ve met so many people like and unlike myself. I’ve been exposed to so many different filmmaking and learning philosophies, not to mention attitudes to art in general. It's been eye opening.

To wait or to not wait.
To read about filmmaking or to make films.
To make many small films or one big film.
To crew or not to crew.
To be selective or to be selected.

Not that these things are mutually exclusive, but getting the combination right is pure genius, and it’s different for everyone. I’m still tryin’ to figure it out.

It’s been two years since I started blogging, and two years since I said (rather impulsively), ‘I want to be a filmmaker.’ Well, two-thirds of this film degree is over, and I haven’t changed my mind.

friedorange
I wanted 20,000 page hits, I got 17,000.
I wanted 1,000 posts. I got 800.
I wanted to make 50 gazillion short films. I made 10, most of them experimental and bad.

I fell short on so many promises.
I lost touch with so many friends.
I invested my heart into relationships that came up empty.
I made new friends and things were good.
I found God, lost faith, slept in, laughed.
I even cried, for the first time in many, many years.

So I guess this is the part where I talk about what’s happening now. I’ve made some random short videos, and it’s nowhere near enough. I want to make more. But this is sorta the end of an era. This is the part when I say, again: Film is the life. Or television. Or music. Whatever it is. But this time, it’s a statement that I’m absolutely serious. There will still be fun times ahead, and experimentation, but yeah, it's at that point where I have to be realistic. It’s a commitment to myself, and to everyone who’s supported me all this time: I want to spend my life in the popular arts. I want to make a contribution.

So I’m gonna close the door on Effo Films and friedorange.blogspot.com. You may have noticed that during that ‘really busy’ period, blogging frequency and quality suffered. I will still have a blog. But I just won’t post as frequently. Perhaps once a week. Or once a month. Or something.

The general tone will be slightly different. And I probably won’t be ‘writing’ as much about my life. Although my life will probably show itself in various forms. The blog will be about stuff. And when I say stuff, I mean music and film specifically. Part of it is a response to the changing audience of friedorange.blogspot.com over the last two years. And my inability to post as openly about what I ate and so on because of that. friedorange.blogspot.com will still be online. But this will be the last post. Blah. So I guess it’s officially an archive of 2004-2006. Two years in the life of Dennis. Yay.

Thanks for an awesome two years. ’05 things were moving so fast. ’06 so many things happened. The drama I thought only happened in movies, it happens for real. All of it has fuelled me to be a better artist than I am today. I’m just starting out, but I think I know what stories I want to tell. Had to grow up fast, but at the same time I’m still immature and selfish and all that.

Thanks for being with me while I grew up just a little. And to my friends who tagboard and hang around, thanks for all the great conversations, and for your great blogging. Specifically: David, Ray, Henry, Kat, Helen, Wills, Steve, Sonny, Simon, Mischaberg. If I forgot you, apologies.

…

By the way, this isn’t my Ear in Review (a term coined by Ray btw). You’ll be able to read that later. That is, if you wish to join me at…

ethanwaters.blogspot.com

Cheers,
Dennis