the amateur

Sometimes, I get so caught up in the logistics and the stress of trying to be a 'filmmaker' that I forget about all the fun stuff. When that happens I watch movies or shorts that I love, or I go see something new in the hope that I'll have that moment when I nerd out about a great shot or an amazing edit.

I'm pretty sure my friends all hate when I do that. (sorry, guys)

I'm in script writing this semester, and while it really stresses me out because I've never done it before, the endless possibilities are really exciting. If I don't like the way something happened in real life, I can just write it into a script with a better ending. Or if someone else has a really great story, I can adapt it.

For instance, say you sort of accidentally publicly turned a guy down twice in the space of an hour. And say that you make things right and the next time the guy asks you out you don't reject him. In real life, you probably go out on a date or two with the guy and that's it. In a movie, you marry the guy and at the rehearsal dinner he mentions in a toast how you turned him down twice in front of people before accepting a date. And your friends and family laugh knowingly and smile at you and you pretend to be embarrassed. 

In real life, you go through a bad break up and it rocks your world in ways you never imagined. You take months to get over it and eventually move past the pain but spend a lot of time in sweats eating your feelings. In a movie, your depression takes away your appetite, you lose weight, end up getting a great new job and meeting the love of your life. Oh, and Judy Greer is your best friend.

That's where the good and bad comes in. The good: in a way, I can rewrite history. The bad: it doesn't change what actually happened.

Real life will never be like a movie.

Sometimes, I'm sure it's better. But when it's not...I highly recommend a rewrite.