Reflection

My goal as a Mormon artist is to be a Mormon and an artist. I don’t plan to produce content for the church--although I’m certainly not against it. I want to produce technically sound and aesthetically pleasing content which is wholesome but never sugarcoats the realities of the human experience, with all it’s struggles and beauties. The interview with Kelly addressed this subject. There is a definite and important place for religion and faith in personal identity, but we must also address and come to terms with our primal nature. The field of psychology is fascinating and can answer many of the questions we have about ourselves, and should never be discounted or made subsidiary to religious teachings. Kelly put these two supposedly opposing fields into a nice harmony. I’m a naturalist and a Mormon. I recognize the contradictions, but it is possible for two contradictory theories to be true at the same time.

The collaborative process has always been a difficult thing for me. John Jacob Astor said that if you want something done, hire someone; if you want something done right, do it yourself. I have a hard time letting people help me. Not because I don’t want help, or because I think I can do a better job than others could, it’s because I am very particular about what the work that I produce says about me. How my work represents and portrays me is an important issue to me. I would rather not turn something in than turn something in that is mediocre and not an adequate reflection of my ability and creative motivations. By that same token, I want my work to be a representation of me, and not diluted by the contribution of others. I must get rid of these ideas if I am to progress in the BYU film program, as collaborative as it is. This project was good practice. I had my idea that I pitched for the project. I had it all planned out, and felt like I could have done it alone. However, it didn’t work out, and I was back at square one. Luckily, I was in a good group and we were able to plan and produce the project together. I enjoyed the experience.