Ego, Fear and Filmmaking (eBook)

A Survival Guide for Creatives

Ron McPherson (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2021 | 1. Auflage
124 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-0983-9557-5 (ISBN)

Infos

'Ego, Fear and Filmmaking' is a survival guide for navigating the entertainment business. Author Ron McPherson shares the stuff they don't teach you in school! McPherson is an award-winning Director of Photography who guides you through the chaos and mystique in the business of storytelling and entertainment. This is a must-read for anyone interested in content creation. If you're thinking about making a project and are facing some big challenges, this book will help get you back on track in a fast, healthy way. This book is for storytellers of all kinds - Directors, Producers, Cinematographers, Writers & Artists. Learn the truth about working in movies and making a profit as a creative.

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"e;Ego, Fear and Filmmaking"e; is a survival guide for artists and a must read for content creators!Learn about getting what's in the script, not a version of it. Pro advice on the best investments in cameras and lighting. Managing your business side and your creative side. How creativity works and trusting the process. Powerful scheduling and budgeting strategies. Ego, Fear and Filmmaking is packed full of tips and tricks that will allow you to grow faster as an artist. It will save you time, money and frustration. Be the storyteller you want to be and make a profit. Learn how to get where you want to go as an entrepreneur in a healthier, happier way, right now. Your inner artist will thank you.

Textauszug

CHAPTER 1
The Wild West

Being a freelance filmmaker can be like living in the Wild West. Everyone’s a gun for hire, you’ll be traveling into all kinds of different towns, meeting interesting people and shooting them, with a camera. You’ll brave stretches of rough terrain and harsh weather. And, you’ll be doing this with equipment that usually can’t get dirty or wet. When things go right, you get the credit. When things go wrong, someone else gets the blame. You’ll encounter people that are “in charge” but lack serious leadership skills.

Nobody gets to tell you what to do in the Wild West. You represent everything—you are the company and the talent, and you’re taking the risk. There’s no real “freelancer union” or labor board that truly has your back. And the “rules” you might have heard from one or two people might end up to be more like myths, or distortions of the truth. Just like the real Wild West.

You’re going to need to be prepared to deal with all kinds of people. You’ll need to be ready, in case you end up in a shoot-out, or what we might call creative differences. After all, this is how you make a living, and if your pay gets held up, things can get heated very fast. Next, we’re going to talk about what you might encounter and how to prepare for your own safety, health and prosperity.

Let’s not forget about the fun factor as well. We make movies and tell stories because it’s fun! When it stops becoming fun, you may be getting into some trouble. Here’s how you’re able to tell.

ask yourself why you are doing a certain project

or working with a specific person?

If your answer is “because I need the money,” then that would be the first red flag. I personally have spent years chasing the money, and I can tell you it doesn’t work. The bottom line is you end up prostituting your skills and talents, and it’s always a temporary patch that really ends up being what I call the hamster wheel. You know the little wheel that hamsters just run in place on and don’t go anywhere? Yet they’re exhausting all their energy. That’s what happens when you chase money. You will likely get swept into a vortex of busyness, and the last thing on your mind will be course correcting. You’ll be distracted paying all the bills and meeting demands, all the while running on the hamster wheel. If you try to tell someone they’re on the hamster wheel they might be easily offended because they have to keep running. There’re bills to be paid, deadlines and some stressed-out drama that’s likely around the corner. And we’re looking forward to this. After all, it’s just “how the business works.” Or at least that’s the story we’re telling ourselves. Are you telling yourself some version of this story?

Start to question your sacrifices and where you’re putting your energy.

Here’re a few questions to ask yourself:

• What are the benefits to me?
• Whom and/or what am I sacrificing time away from to do this?
• Am I enjoying the people and the process?
• Am I using my superpowers or being a victim?

We should be asking, why do we allow ourselves

to be our Career’s Bitch?

It’s easy to blame money and always be busy, multitask and totally sell out to our career. We even claim it: “I’m a workaholic.” So you’re married to your job? “Yep, that’s my life.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard some version of this. And yet, a lot of those same people aren’t really happy with what they’re making, whom they’re working with and how the journey is happening. How do I know this? Because I was one of those people.

It’s the hamster wheel. When we’re so busy and wrapped up in everything that’s coming at us, there’s no time for balance or meditation. Ha! And you can forget eating healthy or sometimes even eating at all.

There’s just no time for it. We just jump back on the hamster wheel. Maybe it’s unspoken, so I’ll say it. If I’m busy, I don’t have to deal with certain things. If I’m busy, they’ll understand why it’s not the way it should be. If I’m busy, you need to cut me some slack. It’s the reason that when people say it, they usually lead with it. “Hey, I’ve been so busy….” And then the conversation begins from there.

It’s incredibly refreshing to know people that are never too busy for you. It just feels good knowing you have someone’s full attention and it only takes a little more awareness. Anyone can do it. Imagine talking to your favorite celebrity or someone important and they were only 40% in the conversation because 60% of their energy was elsewhere. The real professionals that I’ve seen under pressure that take the time and give their full attention always get a more satisfying result. Imagine giving 100% of your attention to a project or a person in the time you have. People know when you give them 100% of your attention; they can feel it. This earns respect and builds trust. You will positively stand out and be remembered. This is an essential for directors and leaders.

Professionals like Kevin Hart make it a point to say hello to everyone on the crew and thank them. Even though he’s busy— he’s got lines to remember— he has an awareness. You can imagine the cool impression it leaves on people too.

GIVING Your full attention to others is a superpower.

You’re about to learn some powerful tools for raising your artist awareness. Many of us are gifted and very much in tune with creative frequencies. And some of you are going to find how to better communicate with your inner artist. It’s kinda funny to actually catch yourself in these crazy moments or even on the hamster wheel. And that’s progress. You might have spent weeks or months on the hamster wheel before. As you’re practicing raising your artist awareness, you’ll notice you’re saving loads of time and energy.

In the Wild West, you’ll encounter varying displays of uncontrollable attention deficit’s. You’ll recognize these characters easily. Most of them will just tell you, “I’m super ADD, but I’m listening.” They usually say that while trying to have a conversation with you and a couple others at the same time. You might even have to give them a second because they’re just handling something important. We’ll be talking about doing business with some of these colorful characters and how to stay protected and less frustrated.

Underpromise and overdeliver. One of the things

that still holds true, especially in The Wild West,

is your word. Your word is your bond; it’s all you’ve got.

Your word is powerful and earns trust.

In the Wild West, people wore guns. Why? Well, for a lot of reasons. You could say protection is what comes to mind first. And you’d be right because survival in the Wild West means you don’t know whom you can trust. In fact, you were probably taught don’t trust anyone. But eventually, somehow, you’ll start trusting people. And they’ll start trusting you. They’ll trust you with things of great importance, even their lives.

Creative Health = Creative Wealth

I know a lot a wealthy people that don’t have big bank accounts. They happen to be wealthy in a lot of other areas. Creatively, you can be very wealthy, and it has nothing to do with what’s in your bank account. The idea that we’ve been programmed to believe that we have to have a certain amount of money to be wealthy is actually a myth. I know several wealthy people that are just not visual people. They’re not creative in the same way, yet when we combine our resources, projects get made. Is it possible to have one without the other? Actually, there’s another way to look at it. I would ask, what can I contribute? Is it possible to make a profit and have a great journey? If you ask these questions about everything you’re embarking upon, you’ll be using another superpower. In fact, you’ll be determining your future.

Sometimes the answers (or the outlook) are uncertain.

Learn to find comfort in uncertainty; it’s where creativity thrives. Rather than fear it, trust it. Some of my best experiences in filmmaking have come from not knowing exactly how I was going to make something work out. When you surround yourself with the right people, you always find a way together. It’s because you share a trust, a belief in the project and each other. This is why, especially on really hard projects, when they come to an end, we’re glad but also sad. We’re sad that we’ll be saying goodbye to our film family. Because that’s the part we cherish the most. Sure we got great shots; we did all this and had all that. But the people you connect with, what you’ll learn and the experiences you’ll share are priceless. That’s why certain teams just go from project to project together. They have their people that they trust. There’s that word again—trust. What happens when a new person is hired that hasn’t been on the team before? That person is instantly trusted if they were recommended by a trusted person. When I break it down, it’s simple. I encourage productions to hire specific people because we won’t have to worry. When they say, “But they’re too expensive,” I remind them to think of the extra expense like an insurance policy. You’ll have far less risk and worry because you know whom you’re investing in. It’s the closest guarantee I can give a...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 31.10.2021
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Gesundheit / Leben / Psychologie ► Lebenshilfe / Lebensführung
• ISBN-10: 1-0983-9557-3 / 1098395573
• ISBN-13: 978-1-0983-9557-5 / 9781098395575