The group of people I work with are about to focus on a short film aimed towards festivals. This decision was made last week and today we each brought forward two scripts to champion as that next short film. There was no conflict, no anger and a lot of laughter.
It was a meeting of simple, frank discussion about each project. Here's a sampling.
PROJECT ONE:
A 3 episode web series. Shock comedy exploiting a niche.
In this open environment my feedback was "I neither relate to or care about any of the characters, and the handling of the subject matter leaves a bad taste in my mouth." The above is politely paraphrased, of course; I originally used more colorful language.
Afterwards I admitted a scene in the third episode was genuinely entertaining, suggesting it could be the basis for a much stronger project.
PROJECT TWO:
A dying man speaks with the devil. Drama.
And in return one of mine was described as "going nowhere" and as being very "film student". This term, for the record, is basically the biggest insult you can lob at a filmmaker.
He was right, of course; to an extent. The dialogue is interesting but isn't strong enough on it's own; the script is a minimalist piece which requires unified production design and a bold visual style to compliment what is otherwise simply talking heads.
In other words, it's an art film.
They tend to walk that line between profundity and pretentiousness.
PROJECT THREE:
Two men plot murder. Comedy.
Another of mine. I'd not originally brought it to the meeting, but we were coming up short and finding most we liked were a bit ambitious for the resources we had available. The script's one I'd brought out before.
It met with a resounding "meh", with the criticism that it "goes nowhere" again coming up.
EGO IS JUST ANOTHER 4-LETTER WORD
Everyone has an ego. A certain amount of self worth is required simply to get up in the morning and face a world which on the whole cares very little about whether you even show up.
For an artist you put yourself into your work; it's hard to separate yourself from the fruits of your labor and any criticism of it feels like it's directed towards you. The tendency is to retract; to protect your creation from those that would judge it harshly.
And this is fine, as far as it goes, but it breeds stagnation.
Nothing is ever so good it can't be improved upon. To do that, an artist needs at some point to be open to an outside perspective.
Speaking of my own experience with Trenchie, I got so concerned with the minutia that I was completely taken aback when three separate people pointed identified a glaring issue I'd not even considered. This was after a full eight months of nothing but glowing praise for the video in question. Even with the harshest of self criticism, and believe me I am unforgiving in that department, I was too close.
Put a monkey in a cage with only three possible exits and you'll watch the monkey find a fourth.
It's very easy to let ego get in the way of perspective. You are not your work. While you are beautiful, the fruits of your labor can always, always be improved.
RESPECT
The only reason the group of people in the meeting can cut the bullshit out of our discussion is because there is strong mutual respect. We're not afraid of treading on egos because we each want the same thing; a good short film we can stand behind.
The final decision was unanimous.
