Months, long nights, crashed computers, sad sloths, and some energy drinks later, "What's Behind the Trees" has come to life. A documentary showing the ignorance and selfishness of man, the beauty of the world around us, and the strength that we can have together has risen in full effect. Running roughly 21 minutes, I am, for once, thoroughly pleased with a product of my own. Of course this was a test of patience, creativity, and technical skills, I've learned some incredible new things about the field and myself, and even continued to polish some elements that I already possess in my "bag of tricks". So what have I learned? Try and keep up with the list. First, and most importantly, I learned the true power that self indulgence in a topic can have on the overall product. I learned that to produce a good product, you must believe in what you are creating and also understand why you chose it. A project that you truly love doing will always be better than one you chose becauase you were told to. So, BE PASSIONATE. It's simple. Love what you do, and the rest will come easy. Next, from a technical standpoint, I learned many things such as timeliness and organization. As I traveled to Costa Rica and other areas, it was beyond important that I was on task at all times, because my time was limited. I learned to prioritize shots I had on my list. What came to me though as I worked, was the fact that most of my footage was stronger when it was based on improvisation. Being in the right place at the right time is huge, but sometimes, you can predict when you should be there. It's a feeling that you get; a feeling when you absolutely know that what you are doing is right. I feel as though most of my documentary was based on feeling, and cues in the environment. I learned to understand the environment that I was in. It was important for me to practice patience. On a side note about patience, I spent 2 hours filming leaf cutter ants. I learned that their trail could stretch over a mile. Picture a mile long highway of ants, passing by as they worked harder than 99% of the humans on this planet. After 2 hours of investigation one day, I was happy with only 23 seconds of footage; but those 23 seconds were worth it. I can continue to formulate a list of things that I haev learned, but I'll just save that for the next project.
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AuthorDoltyn Snedden Archives
December 2016
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