The Democratization of Film (or The Unexpected Virtue of Brutal Criticism)
I should be heartbroken over his words, but that my movie could reach such a distance is awe-inspiring.
By ELVIS DEANE
In 2013, for about $10,000, I co-wrote and directed the independent feature film Separation Anxiety. In 2014, we released it for free on Vimeo and Bittorrent. Since then, several thousand people have watched.
Even though it’s far from perfect, I’m proud of the film. It was an experiment in minimalism: we wondered if we could make a 1950s-style thriller with our limited resources? The answer: yes.
On any given day, our crew ranged from one (just me) to three people. My co-writer and lead actress, Sara Miller, was in every scene with no more than two other characters onscreen with her at any time.
We used four battery-powered lights, a $1200 Panasonic camera, and stole many a location. But most importantly, we finished the film and got it out in front of an audience.
Last night, I found a review of Separation Anxiety from a blogger in another country. The critique was scathing, to say the least. Over several hundred words, it tears apart the film I spent hundreds of hours of my life working on. Nothing is spared except the (award-winning) score by Emily Klassen and my animated title sequence.
I should be heartbroken over this, and honestly, I am a little hurt. But I’m even more excited the technology exists that allows me to make a film and release it with so few resources, a technology that also lets someone in another country find my film, watch it, hate it, spend an hour of his life thinking about it, spit hateful adjectives at it, and then release that review to the world.
He may be a “nobody film reviewer,” and for now, I’m a “nobody filmmaker.” But the fact that my movie could reach across such a vast distance and spawn his criticism is pretty awe-inspiring.
For a while now, people have been talking about the democratization of film. This little experience of mine tells me it’s nearly here.
Sure, it would’ve been great to release Separation Anxiety on 3,000 screens. And I’m sure my new critic-friend would love to publish his reviews in a major newspaper or to be included as a top critic over at RottenTomatoes.
But even five years ago the chances of a no-budget film’s getting to an audience without a festival run or distributor was next to nothing. Now it’s happening. In time, hopefully it’ll be commonplace.
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