Blog 9, Spencer Tasso

Gee whiz is there anything more shallow than a stream of feedback summarizing why it’s good, great, perfect, awesome, interesting, or cool? Yes of course there is, and to a slight point, this is flattering, but I think I’ve very much outgrown this monotonous form of response, at least when it’s from my common peers. If my good friend Steven Spielberg solicited me with such a response, I’m sure I would take it with all due sincerity. But nonetheless, my claim persists. I understand many people don’t possess enough knowledge or familiarity with film to critique my work, but even so, an effort might be nice. With my entry film for the program, I got lots of congratulations and consolations, but very little criticism. I did get some on my plot, it was a little hard to understand, or open to interpretation.

The reading talked about finding someone who appreciates your style of film. I find this very important- for example, I have a friend who’s pretty competent with video, although we do frequently have different, even conflicting, productional opinions about what’s good and what isn’t. But this to a point is the nature of film, and I need to work around these differences and breed something substantial and productive from our differences. Compromise is king.

Frequently I wish I had someone, or I just planned better, who could predict or specifically outline shot problems I’ll have before or during filming. Consistently I get back to post only to find I’m missing a couple of shots I really wanted, or what I thought would make sense, doesn’t seem completely obvious, and would be remedied with a simple additional shot. But I suppose this is poor directing on my part.

The opinions of others will almost only ever bring improvement to your work. Others spot what you miss, or improve and find what you ignored. I need to collaborate and produce more projects, taking in others thoughts and compromising the whole way through. Yeehaw.