reFilM Day 1: The first blog post. We start here. Make this your Day 1.
reFilM — remote filmmaking and production, a 100-day journal
re = reimagined; relentless; resourceful; remote
FilM = FilmMaking and Production
Don’t be always aspiring, move on to be what you want
For a long time, you wanted to be something. You have been an aspiring writer, an aspiring freelancer, an aspiring entrepreneur, and so on.
Today I call upon you to move on. Don’t aspire. Become the writer or anything else that you’ve been planning, thinking, and evaluating for far too long.
Start doing. Write. Compose music. Make that video. Start that business. Do.
Well, I am starting this project today. I will tell you in detail some other day, but for now, suffice it say that I hate the word “aspiring.” It’s been that way for way too long. And there are no signs of ending with these mad times that don’t seem to end. It’s like you’re trying to escape through a tunnel you’ve dug but you keep ending up into another one, then another.
I want to tell you and myself — just stop aspiring. Just be. Or give the fuck up and move on. For me and most of you, giving up is not an option.
I know this is bad timing, which is like saying you’re wet when you’re actually drowning. It’s a screwed-up-understatement. But I can’t wait for things to fall in place, can you? Not anymore. Shit will always happen. Hence, for good or bad shit, I want to remove the “aspiring” word from the long-time self-description of being an aspiring filmmaker.
Day 1 of 100
Here it is. The filmmaker. It’s Day 1.
Think about how many days you need and make today your Day 1.
I don’t know how or why — I’m just throwing it out there. I want to finish this project in 100 days.
I don’t know a lot of things. I just have a theory of how it could work out. That’s where I’m starting now. I don’t have a team yet. Success is not in sight. I’m not investing a lot of money.
All I have is the sleepless-nights-kind-of desire to start and finish this project. To make a movie. This year.
My hope and wish are that somehow the universe and all the full-of-shit dreamers like me will get together on this and make it happen. Who the fuck gives a shit! What have we got to lose? Let’s just do it. Yay, doesn’t it already feel good?
I know what you’re thinking
Have you gone mad? What are you talking about? Is this the right time to do any project, let alone making a web series/movie?
You must be either mad or taking an awful lot of risks to get it done, putting not just you and your family (my homemaker-and-YouTuber-writer wife and my 10-year-old-son who has a lot of opinions about online learning and zoom) at risk, but also your cast and crew and their families at risk.
How are you going to follow social distancing? How are you Iar the masks and still shoot the damn scenes? How are you going to do any kind of justice to pre- and post-production work?
And a ton questions more. All valid concerns.
I hear you
I’m paranoid, probably more than most people. I’ve not stepped out unless it’s essential and unavoidable — like going to the parking area with a mask, hand gloves, head cap, and face shield helmet to collect groceries, medicines, and couriers. Then, I had to accompany my wife to the dental visits for Root Canal Treatment (RCT) for the teeth problem that chose to make its presence felt in April of all these months and years, in the midst of the exploding pandemic. For a month, we managed the pain with teleconsultations with the doctors and their prescribed medicines — none of the dental clinics were open due to lockdowns. RCT was done only in May when a clinic was open with new machines and PPE kits. All this while managing our son at home alone. My day job. Among other things, I’ve stopped going for my walks and cycling. Resisted the temptations to go out for motorcycling rides, camping, trips, and many breakfast/lunch/dinner meets with family and friends.
My point is, I know the risks and how my family has been dealing with innumerable hassles and inconveniences like the millions of others out there.
You ask — so what if you know the risks? What the hell are you talking about?
Day 1 of reFilM project
reFilm is a remote, borderless filmmaking and production venture that starts from zero, from today, from me.
You can call it remote filmmaking or something like that — the idea is to make a web series or a movie from the safe confines of our homes.
I don’t have a name for it yet (suggestions are welcome 🙂) nor do I have the complete plan worked out. What I do know is that it is one of the safest (if not the only way) route for a team looking to make an audio-visual enterprise such as a movie in the current circumstances. Let’s be clear — nobody knows for how long it’s going to prolong. Even after a solution is found, such as a vaccine, my guess is as good as others — it will take time for the experts to know the cure’s side effects and effectiveness for sure. Meaning, we have a year or two of the same thing going.
What next?
- Firstly, I will continue to work on the outline of a story that would be suitable for this kind of filmmaking.
- Secondly, I’m going to make a few calls today and share this post with them. They will either get on board either as teammates, as onlookers to see what this probably-good-for-nothing guy is up to, or tell me that it’s a shitty idea, that it will never work, that the output will never be the same as a shot-on-set movie, that it’s a ridiculous idea that’s going to die the damn death because nobody would care to make or watch such a movie.
As I said earlier, I don’t give a fuck about why, who, when, or how — as long as we make this damn movie or web series in 100 days.
At this point, all I know is I will treat my day job as the first thing I will finish every day before getting on to this project work. It’s paying the bills and I respect it for that.
In any case, I will write about it tomorrow. Take care!
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This is a 100-day journal on remote filmmaking and production. For the full list of journals, see this page:
