Production Journal #1
"So many fail because they don't get started - they don't go. They don't overcome inertia. They don't begin,"
W. Clement Stone.
For me, the beginning is always the hardest. Starting; stepping out of the comfort zone of the thinking process and actually doing. Throwing myself out there, exposing myself and my ideas out there in the open for all to see. This stage of transition between possibility and action scares me the most. Sure, this idea could sound brilliant in my own head, but how will people react when they come across it? What if they hate it? What can I do? Panic!
The only cure I've found that can get me out of this state of inertia is finding something that inspires me; discovering that spark that can transform my idea into something visual, then eventually something tangible. This can be anything, a piece of music, something I heard, an image, an experience. This experience is the key to my engine. Without it, I wouldn't find the energy or drive to go forward.
In my last film project Moleque (2009), something I saw drove me to take the idea out of the mind, expose it to the light, and document it on 16 mm film. I found the inspiration for Moleque one summer when I was in Dominican Republic visiting family. One day we stopped at a gas station where outside sat two young boys who were shining shoes for money. They waited there patiently for clients, but for some reason there was a sense of animosity between them. They were competitors after all, trying to survive in the cut throat business of shoe shining. They were both struggling to find clients to shine shoes for, in a beach town nonetheless were everyone wears flip flops. Feeling bad for their ordeal, my dad took off his shoes and gave them each one. Their worries were put aside for the moment, and they were happy. Satisfied with this solution and with the fact that they were temporarily getting along, they asked us to take a photo of them and we did.
Nagua, Dominican Republic (August 2008)
After going home, I contemplated using the experience as the premise for my next film project. Of course, I spent months thinking about it, but I couldn't manage to pinpoint exactly what I wanted. It had been a while since that day at the gas station, and I couldn't manage to visualize the thoughts in my head. It wasn't until months later when I was looking at pictures from our vacation that I came across the photo of the boys sitting on the stoop of the gas station. For some reason, the image struck me; it wouldn't get out of my head. I couldn't stop seeing that frozen moment where the boys smiled and laughed at their success, even if only for a short while. Eventually, the image became my inspiration for creating Moleque, which is about a young boy shoe shining on the street who unsuccessfully looks for clients.
Once I found my inspiration, I was able to put my vision down on paper and then bring it to life through film.
Still from Moleque (2009)
Some might see the final cut of the film as the end of the line. In my opinion, for a filmmaker the final cut is just the beginning. What is a film if no one sees it? No inertia for me! I quickly submitted my film into a festival before I let thinking get in the way.
Now that I've finished with Moleque, the process is nowhere close to done. I've begun to move onto my next project which I'm going to be shooting this weekend. Here we go again! I wonder how this production is going to go down.
Until next time,
Diana.
p.s. Fortunately for me, Moleque was accepted as a finalist for the student film competition in the Mid Atlantic Black Film Festival. The festival is in Norfolk,VA where it will be showing this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes!
Here's the link to Moleque (2009) on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNRwckVrt90
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